Forums > Areas > Jalisco's Lake Chapala Region

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mrssarge

Mar 30, 2010, 9:00 AM

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coffee cost

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How much does coffee cost in lake chapala area..For example large can of folgers or maxwell house? what are the local brands and average cost? Thanks.

bournemouth

Mar 30, 2010, 9:40 AM

Post #2 of 34 (8316 views)

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Re: [mrssarge] coffee cost

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A kilo of freshly roasted and excellent beans at Cafe Grano Cafe, which is opposite the Ajijic Church, costs 122 pesos. As that's all we use, I can't give you information on the canned stuff.

Hound Dog

Mar 30, 2010, 10:05 AM

Post #3 of 34 (8306 views)

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Re: [mrssarge] coffee cost

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How much does coffee cost in lake chapala area..For example large can of folgers or maxwell house?

This is meant to be humorous, right?

(This post was edited by Hound Dog on Mar 30, 2010, 10:06 AM)

esperanza

Mar 30, 2010, 10:14 AM

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Re: [mrssarge] coffee cost

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In Morelia, I usually buy whole-bean Mexican coffee (Café de la Selva) at Costco and grind it myself. Last week I paid 112 pesos/kilo (2.2 lbs).

http://www.mexicocooks.typepad.com

gpkgto

Mar 30, 2010, 11:36 AM

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Re: [esperanza] coffee cost

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I've tried every Mexican coffee I can find and I am sorry to say that I think Mexican coffee is not very good--never rich or full-bodied; almost no aroma. It seems you can only buy Mexican coffee in Mexico--even Starbucks uses Mexican coffee. I saw a Columbian coffee once, but it was at a ridiculous price--I think US$10 a pound.

Zardoz

Mar 30, 2010, 12:16 PM

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Re: [gpkgto] coffee cost

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Columbian coffee is an import so like Oreos and Wheat Thins it costs a fortune in Mexico. I got use to
the taste and now I like Mexican coffee. The Mexican Decaf at the little coffee store at the front o
the wallmart is quite good and affordable if you want decaf. Mix half and half with regular mexican and
it tastes pretty good and cuts down on the coffee wired situation without losing too much taste.

Opinion and we all got em.

Z

sparks

Mar 30, 2010, 12:26 PM

Post #7 of 34 (8257 views)

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Re: [esperanza] coffee cost

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Cuzalapa dark roast is the best I've had anywhere. Ground or whole bean but you can only buy it at the Co-op or Barra de Navidad. $60 pesos a 1/2k

Cuzalapa Organic Coffee Cooperative
http://sparks-mexico.com/.../cuzalapa/index.html

Back Roads to Cuzalapa
http://sparks-mexico.com/...apa-drive/index.html

Now if I could figure out how to make a link of the title without the whole link

I see you can edit the link in the Basic editor ... but no HTML option in the "advanced"

Sparks Mexico - Sparks Costalegre

(This post was edited by sparks on Mar 30, 2010, 12:30 PM)

Rolly

Mar 30, 2010, 12:30 PM

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Re: [sparks] coffee cost

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Highlight the title before you select the url icon. That will embed the url in the title or any other word you have selected.

Rolly Pirate

sparks

Mar 30, 2010, 12:39 PM

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Re: [Rolly] coffee cost

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Tried that but didn't show as a link in the editor the way a real link does. Try again later

Sparks Mexico - Sparks Costalegre

La Isla

Mar 30, 2010, 1:10 PM

Post #10 of 34 (8236 views)

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Re: [gpkgto] coffee cost

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In Reply To

I've tried every Mexican coffee I can find and I am sorry to say that I think Mexican coffee is not very good--never rich or full-bodied; almost no aroma.

Wow, I'm surprised you feel that way about Mexican coffee. Right now I'm drinking Tazza Gold, the variety from Vera Cruz, and I think it's wonderful; the odor knocks me out every time I open the refrigerator door. What sort of coffee did you indulge in before moving here? Surely it wasn´t Folger´s!

Vichil

Mar 30, 2010, 1:25 PM

Post #11 of 34 (8227 views)

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Re: [La Isla] coffee cost

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I agree, you can can excellent coffee in Mexico. Chiapas, Oaxaca and Vera Cruz to name a few states produce great coffee.

As a rule it is not roasted very well and is not always sold freshly roasted hence the bad coffee...If you buy local coffee from a person who knows how to roast it you will find you do not need anything else.

rockydog85251

Mar 30, 2010, 1:37 PM

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Re: [Vichil] coffee cost

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When in Comala, Colima, we always stock up of several of their fine, wonderfully roasted coffees...particularly El Viejo or Nogueras...most of it that is available is organic & a lot of it is shade grown. WONDERFUL-WONDERFUL!!!! It is hard to find their coffees outside of the local area & I'm sure that is true of many coffees of Mexico.
Willie

Kevin K

Mar 30, 2010, 2:31 PM

Post #13 of 34 (8209 views)

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Re: [rockydog85251] coffee cost

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As a professional coffee buyer and taster for 28 years I admittedly have an atypical perspective here. I think that the fresh-roasted coffee one can buy here at Lakeside from either Café Grano Café (Ajijic - and the better of the two places) or The Coffee Tree (Chapala), at around US$4 per pound, for ultra-freshly roasted organic fair trade coffee, represent great value for money. I'm also a fan of the La Selva co-op's coffee mentioned by Esperanza.

Mexican coffee is quite mild by nature, and one only gets around that by burning it ("French Roast"), which substitutes power for any actual taste of coffee (not my thing, but obviously very popular). Mexican coffee at its best is not one of the great coffees of the world - those honors belong to producers in places as diverse as Guatemala, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Kenya and Yemen - but it can be very good indeed if you know how to brew it to optimize what it does have to offer. Cafe de Olla with stick cinnamon and pilocillo is not to be missed!

More info can be found in an article I wrote for Mexconnect awhile back:
http://www.mexconnect.com/articles/3562-buying-and-brewing-good-coffee-in-mexico
http://eatinglocalatlakeside.blogspot.com/

(This post was edited by tonyburton on Mar 30, 2010, 3:47 PM)

Zardoz

Mar 30, 2010, 3:35 PM

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Re: [Kevin K] coffee cost

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Other high ranking coffees are Celebes also call Kalosse islands, Sumatran coffee is also very good.
One can spend a life tasting fine coffee like one can spend a life trying single malt scotches. I
drank some high altitude coffee from Jamaca once it was wonderful but almost all of it is sold to
the japanese so you won't see it around.

mrssarge

Mar 30, 2010, 5:11 PM

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Re: [bournemouth] coffee cost

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thanks so much...maybe sounds silly, but trying to ask any and all questions, as well as read posts about cost of living, food, retirement, etc. Since we are such big coffee drinkers, thought it would be informative to know and by the way since we are still here in U.S. had no idea what brands you do and do not have in Mexico.

sparks

Mar 30, 2010, 5:47 PM

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Re: [rockydog85251] coffee cost

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The problem with the 4-5 coffee places in Colima is they only do a medium roast even tho one place claims to have a dark. They have their markets and won't budge

A couple of friends in the Melaque area wanted to sell both the bags and cups of coffee and finally found Cuzalapa that they were able to talk into doing a 'real' dark roast. They do a medium but now sell 5 times dark over medium.

I could even part with some if you're in the Joco area but it's whole bean. My brother in Seattle wanted me to ship 10 bags to him but don't know what customs would say

Sparks Mexico - Sparks Costalegre

Papirex

Mar 30, 2010, 6:22 PM

Post #17 of 34 (8153 views)

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Re: [mrssarge] coffee cost

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As many posters have said, many Mexican coffees are weak, but some of them are excellent, but you usually must buy them at specialty shops that roast and grind their own coffee beans. Some of the Mexican brands of coffee that are packaged in paper bags and are not in cans have fillers in them and are not pure coffee, they usually are very weak.

Until about a year or two ago, Sams' Club here in Cuernavaca sold Folgers coffee and until about 3 months ago Costco here did too. Costco still sells Maxwell House coffee, it is a little too weak for me, but they do sell their own brand of Kirkland brand that is Colombian coffee, it is not great, but OK. Sams' Club also sells their own Bakers and Chefs brand of coffee, It is OK too, but I don't know where it is produced.

They used to sell Folgers brand coffee at the Superlake grocery in the Chapala area too, I haven't been over there in a few years, so I don't know if they still carry it there.

You will probably find coffee to your liking here, but you may need to experiment and shop around to find some to your liking. A few years ago, I used to buy a can of coffee at Sams' Cub, it was very weak, and a can of coffee at Costco, it was very strong and bitter. I used to mix them, and I had strong coffee with a good flavor.

We paid $179.03 Pesos ($14.47 US Dollars) for a 1.36 Kilo can (about 3 pounds) the last time we bought coffee at Costco, that is a reasonable price here. I personally drink so much coffee that it is not worth my time to look for cheaper coffee here.

As my dear old Dad told me when I was a boy, “there is no such thing as strong coffee, just weak people”.

Rex
"The supreme happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved" - Victor Hugo

Kevin K

Mar 30, 2010, 8:45 PM

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Re: [Papirex] coffee cost

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Forget about Costco for coffee and just about anything else if you choose to live in Mexico. Imported goods are taxed at roughly 50%. You can buy just-roasted whole beans from local farms for less than stale canned garbage from NOB. Make sure to bring a grinder from home (they are hard to find here).

The coffee at Lake Chapala is far better than what you will find in Colima or just about anywhere else in Mexico (except Chiapas), and far fresher than anything from Starbucks or Costco back home. Unless you've been roasting your own all along, or buying from top sources like www.terroircoffee.com, you'll be thrilled by what you can find here. Just remember whole bean coffee should be bought like good bread - and used within a week from roasting.

When or if you can't be bothered, just get some decent pre-ground Mexican coffee, boil it briefly in a pan with a stick of cinnamon and lump of local unrefined brown sugar (piloncillo) and add some hot whole milk and you'll have cafe de olla, the old staple. A cup of that with some huevos alla Mexicana, frijoles and fresh tortillas will cure you of any foolish impulse to live (or drink coffee) anywhere else.
http://eatinglocalatlakeside.blogspot.com/

Hound Dog

Mar 31, 2010, 7:59 AM

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Re: [Kevin K] coffee cost

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Kevin K and Dawg are usually in agreement about coffee and we find that the Chiapas coffee we typically drink is better in Ajijic at Cafe Grano Cafe than any Chiapas coffee we buy here in Chiapas and the secret as earlier indicated is in the roasting. The only decent coffee we have found in San Cristóbal is dark roasted by a branch of the Mexico City chain La Selva Cafe. The more or less equivalent of what would be designated Dark French Roast in Ajijic is called Cubano Roast in San Cristóbal. Good coffee is not appreciated nor generally consumed in either Oaxaca State or Chiapas except that one may find with diligent searching around central plaza areas in places like Oaxaca City or San Cristóbal. The favored coffee in most parts of those states is Nescafe instant coffee with hot water - you mix. Otherwise, one can find pretty decent cafe de olla if that specialized coffee is to one´s liking and cafe de olla certainly goes well with a southern Mexico style breakfast.

Speaking of Nescafe, when we were visiting relatives in Paris last spring we discovered that all the rage in France right now is "Nescafe" (Dawg´s little joke) as made in espresso machines manufactured in Switzerland by Nestle, the makers/providers of Nescafe instant coffee among many other foods and related services. These machines are known as Nespresso machines and one can buy one of those machines in Mexico City for the equivalent of about $500USD and up. While in Mexico City we purchased their home brew machine they call Le Cube which, like all the Nespresso machines brews espresso utilizing small sealed plastic cups proprietary to Nestle. As we like a true, intensive espresso made with a very dark French roast style of coffee, we purchased their espresso blend (one of many) they call "Ristretto" which is an espresso roast blend made with a mixture of primarily arabica coffees from South America and East Africa. The Nespresso machines automatically dispense your desired cup of "short" or "long" expresso and each cup is intensely flavorful with a consistently rich "crema".

When we are back in Ajijic we still have our home Italian espresso machine in which we brew espresso and various espresso based concoctions with steamed milk using the excellent dark French roast Chiapas, Oaxaca and Veracruz beans we buy at Cafe Grano Cafe which has a coffee roaster who knows his stuff.

There. I´ll bet none of you thought you would read accolades to any Nestle coffee products in this thread but there you have it.

By the way, that Nescafe instant coffee you may be tempted to buy when traveling through rural parts of Chiapas and Oaxaca since that is generally all that is available, can make you sick if you drink it made with the local tap water unless that water has been purified by intense boiling rather than simply heated up. That Nescafe instant coffee may not be worth the risk unless you are sure the local water has been properly purified. Take it from the Dawg who is still suffering a little bit from salmonella and amoebas contracted after eating lunch with coffee at a rustic mountainside restaurant on the slopes of the Tacaná Volcano at the Chiapas/Guatemala border about a month ago. No cup of coffee or tainted salsa is worth that although I did lose about 10 pounds. You might ask for an ice cold beer with your meals down there and skip the coffee and raw salsas in which many unpleasant creatures lurk awaiting a prized junket in your abdominal cavity.

(This post was edited by Hound Dog on Mar 31, 2010, 8:04 AM)

dmhaun

Mar 31, 2010, 8:09 AM

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Re: [gpkgto] coffee cost

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The next time you are in Michoacan, try La Lucha coffee. It is a full-bodied, dark roast from Uruapan, the avocado and macadamia nut growing area of Michoacan. They also make coffee liqueur that is delicious. There are several La Lucha restaurants in Uruapan, and places to buy the coffee in Patzcuaro and Morelia.
.
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The Michoacan Net
Supporting the Arts in Michoacan
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Michoacan_net/

esperanza

Mar 31, 2010, 9:42 AM

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Re: [dmhaun] coffee cost

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La Lucha coffee from Michoacán is okay, but my favorite Michoacán coffee is the original: Café de Uruapan. I sometimes buy it when I'm in Pátzcuaro, at a tiny grocery store in the portales across from the Basílica. That store carries both La Lucha and Café de Uruapan, so if you go, make sure you pay attention to the bags and get the one you want.

Better yet, try both and then decide!

http://www.mexicocooks.typepad.com

Peter

Mar 31, 2010, 12:14 PM

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Re: [mrssarge] coffee cost

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Since the door has been opened to discussion of instant coffee, café soluble, I feel safe to come out now. Outside of higher-end, chain, or tourist hotel restaurants when ordering coffee you are most likely to be given a cup of hot water and jar of Néscafe or a cup of café de olla, sweetened coffee brewed with cinnamon in a large pot (olla) with loose grounds - the latter being my preferrence though I seldom sweeten my coffee otherwise. It should be noted that you will always be given sugar but do not count on any type of creamer being available even on request, though some places will have it.

There are numerous $3 dollar cup coffee houses like Starbucks, Café Europa, and others but in time you will likely frequent those places less and less. Any city or larger town will have specialty coffee places places with a variety of roasts to sample and purchase, coffees of sufficient quality to dazzle guests and visitors from the US and generally give you a warm feeling that you have not yet compromised your tastes and standards. But in time if you are coffee drinkers like me that consume cup after cup from the time you rise in the morning till you go to bed at night, after living here awhile you may turn to the solubles (instant) for your regular fix leaving the fresh-brewed delicacies for the aforementioned guests.

My bottled water dispensers have the instant hot water taps. I highly recommend having such as they are excellent for not only tea and instant coffee but also for preparing many other very readily available Mexican standard items found in any small street corner tienda like instant oatmeal (avena) and cups of Maruchan Instant Lunch. In these small tiendas they are most certain to have Néscafe available in most smaller sizes, 50 gram up to the common larger 200 gram size, the larger running from about $50-60 pesos. Whole bean or ground coffee will likely not be available in these ubiquituous tiendas that you will come to utilize often for their convenience of location.

In the supermarkets you will find a variety of coffees; whole, ground, or instant. I will only comment here on the instants. Café Oro is a lighter, golden (as its name indicates), and smooth-flavored brand which I buy often but after time I tend to like a darker type like Legal and sometimes blend a bit of the two. Bodega Aurrera has its own brand Columbian-type coffee, but again I prefer something darker after time. There are many solubles to be found and may be a good idea to try those as they go on-sale at a good price. Néscafe is to be found at all supermarkets.

Taster's Choice is often favored among many drinkers of instant coffees but is not usually to be found in most Mexican supermarkets but will be found in Costco or Sam's Club. It is higher priced, 200 gram size around $95 pesos compared to around $50 for other brands but Sam's house brand Member's Mark is comparable to Taster's Choice and better priced at around $100 pesos for a 340 gram size and is the brand favored in my household these days.

This is not Lake Chapala-specific info but should apply in general.

(This post was edited by Peter on Mar 31, 2010, 12:31 PM)

Hound Dog

Mar 31, 2010, 1:58 PM

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Re: [Peter] coffee cost

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Well, Peter:

Since you had the nerve to praise (more or less) the virtues of instant coffee, allow me to sing the praises of a joint that serves the best instant coffee drink Dawg has ever tasted and, while this post, as yours, is not specific to the Lake Chapala area, it neverthless is appropriate here.

When Lakesiders and/or other coffee lovers have the opportunity to visit the Montebello Lakes National Park region and other attractions near that park along the Chiapas/Guatemala border, I urge they stop and spend the night in the wonderful Santa Maria Parador - Museo (of Arte Sacro) at Kilometer 22 of the La Trinitaria-Lagos de Montebello Carretera near the very interesting ruins at Chincultik. This a a very interesting rural hacienda and museum of ancient Spanish religious art which is also a fine and beautiful hotel with a great restaurant known as Restaurante Los Geranos with the adjacent Bar La Bella Época and this introduction to this marvelous hotel is my way of introducing as well their signature coffee drink made - you guessed it - with Nescafe. This is one of the best coffee drinks you will ever taste and if you throw in some spirits to your liking from their ample bar, all the better.

I believe this coffee drink is called "Cafe Santa Maria" and it is exquisite. They take instant Nescafe freeze dried coffee which they then mix with heavy cream and sugar and they float this thick concoction on top of a glass of steamy hot milk so that this mixture slowly blends with the hot milk aided by your impatient blending with a spoon and, as outrageous as it sounds, you will heve rarely if ever had a better coffee drink and I speak as one who has enjoyed all sorts of coffee the world over.
Don´t miss this and, unless you are under the thumb of a responsible wife or doctor, have the kitchen throw in some Bushmills or Havana Club Reserve Dark Cuban Rum.

The people who own this place also own the excellent hostelry known as the Parador San Juan de Dios in San Cristóbal de Las Casas. The restaurant at their San Cristóbal hotel is locallly famous for its cuisine so you can stop there on your way to the Lagos de Montebello which is about a four hour drive from San Cristóbal. A finer way to gain weight has yet to be invented and you can walk off the excess baggage on the endless wooded trails along the splendid, crystal-clear and multi-colored lakes in the Montebello Lakes National Park. From the national park there is a wonderful drive along the fronteir highway to the Montes Azules Reserve and then up to Yaxchilan and Bonampak before arriving in Palenque from whence you can return to San Cristóbal via Agua Azul, Ocosingo and Toniná. A not-to-be-missed Mexican experience.

[corrected to fix geographic typo]

(This post was edited by tonyburton on Apr 1, 2010, 8:56 AM)

La Isla

Mar 31, 2010, 8:42 PM

Post #24 of 34 (7937 views)

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Re: [Hound Dog] coffee cost

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Couldn't resist posting today's Garfield cartoon on this thread:

MORE COMICS: Archives, E-mail Delivery, Postcards, Custom Pages, Web Exclusives!

dmhaun

Mar 31, 2010, 9:05 PM

Post #25 of 34 (7933 views)

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Re: [Hound Dog] coffee cost

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Hey Hound Dog, Santa Maria Parador sounds like the place for me. But, I can't find it on the map. Where is it located?

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