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alex .

Jun 10, 2003, 9:52 AM

Post #1 of 11 (1791 views)

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stuff in guidebooks that just ain't so

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Just yesterday someone was telling me that if you want a cup of coffee without milk in it you have to specify cafe Americano. Maybe so, but everytime I order coffee I get a styrofoam cup of hot water and a jar of instant Nescafe. Maybe I need to get out more?

Alex

mstack

Jun 10, 2003, 11:07 AM

Post #2 of 11 (1767 views)

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coffee

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This brings up a silly question that my wife and I were debating about the other day: For us tourists, is it relatively safe to drink coffee down there? On one hand, I am leery because its made with water. On the other hand, the water is heated to just short of boiling. Furthermore, travel writers always seem to rave about how great the coffee is in Mexico (thus giving the implication that it is OK to drink it). Any opinions on this?

Uncle Donnie

Jun 10, 2003, 1:49 PM

Post #3 of 11 (1745 views)

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Re: [mstack] coffee

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Si, Alex, get out more!

I too am most familiar with the Nescafe Classico serving ceremony but in many of the gringo havens (heavens?) brewed coffee is becoming as much of a social affectation as it is at Starbuck's or Bobby's Brew Ha-Ha up North. Rumor is that they're (S-bucks) even invading Mexico.

Here at Lakeside there are a number of places offering fresh-brewed of many types and styles, and some folks occasionally ask others to bring back certain blends from the States or Canada as well as the best of Mexico. At one place, a Mexican restaurant out on the highway to Guad, they even mass brew Cafe de Olla in the big stainless steel servers. Talk about sacrilege!

As for mstack, no problem with the coffee regardless of whether it's brewed or you mix your own at the table. The best cup I ever had was the one that a helpful young lad in Tepic brought me from a curbside stand after I had escaped the slowest and stinkiest passenger train in Mexico at the time. Three in the morning, tired, dirty, and lost (I was hoping that 14 hour ride from Mazatlan would land me closer to Guadalajara) but mercifully revived by hot Nescafe in styrofoam laced with waaay too much grainy Mexican sugar. Ambrosia.

And as we all know, some travel writers usually write about first visit experiences in a small area and then ascribe the local customs and mores to a national level. I understand that Veracruz State and areas in the Yucatan produce some excellent beans. Maybe I'm just too common, but I never notice much difference whether it comes fresh from a bean grinder and brew pot, or straight from the jar.

One of my traveling companions of the past loved ordering coffe her way. "Con crema" she'd order, and then break into a delighted smile. Some of my friends are easily amused.

This report comes from Western Mexico, the Costa Alegre, and the Sierra Gordas, the upper East Coast, and a few border towns. I don't how how it goes elsewhere. And as always, just my opinion.

Shameless self-promotion:
http://www.headformexico.com

jrice

Jun 10, 2003, 6:00 PM

Post #4 of 11 (1724 views)

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Re: [mstack] coffee

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Interesting question. In theory, I suppose, it should be possible to get ill from something like that. But I've never heard of anybody who did from drinking coffee or tea here (in 13 years). I think a lot of places wind up boiling the water anyway before making tea or coffee from it. And I suspect that a lot of it is made from bottled water anyway.

esperanza

Jun 10, 2003, 8:14 PM

Post #5 of 11 (1708 views)

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Re: [jrice] coffee

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IMHO, the best coffee in Mexico is grown in the state of Michoacán. I always buy a kilo or two when I'm in Uruapan or Pátzcuaro, at a shop called 'Café de Uruapan'. You can get either beans or ground.

You can also almost inevitably order café con leche in either of those two towns~or in Morelia or Mexico City, or most other good-size towns~and be assured of getting fresh expresso, poured to the depth you like in a glass, and then the glass filled with steaming hot milk. WAY better than café americano. Another alternative is to ask for a capuchino (with or without the traditional sprinkling of cinnamon).

If your restaurant only serves Nescafé, ask for a mug of hot milk rather than a mug of hot water. Then spoon in as much of the instant as you like, and sugar to taste. You'll be surprised how much like real coffee it tastes.

http://www.mexicocooks.typepad.com

ChargerBlue

Jun 11, 2003, 5:23 AM

Post #6 of 11 (1690 views)

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Re: [Uncle Donnie] coffee

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Yes it's true, Starbucks has invaded Mexico as there are 3 here In DF currently with more on the way!!

Did you realize they charge about $36 bucks a gallon for that stuff?

Don

Jun 11, 2003, 7:32 AM

Post #7 of 11 (1666 views)

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Re: [esperanza] coffee

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You can also buy some very excellent coffee grown in Amacueca, Jalisco. They even export their coffee to other countries.

jrice

Jun 13, 2003, 11:06 AM

Post #8 of 11 (1592 views)

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Re: [Don] coffee

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The most famous traditional coffee-growing area in Mexico is the Coatepec area of Veracruz state, close to Xalapa. It's a very pretty area. Good place to visit.

The two other famous, or at least traditional areas are Pluma de Oaxaca and Chiapas. There are coffees grown in many other areas, as people have noted -- Guerrero (tobacco there, too), Michoacan, etc. Some have come to regret it: while coffee is relatively environmentally friendly (or can be), so many areas were encouraged to grow it for reasons beyond strict supply and demand that there is a serious crisis _ low prices caused by oversupply _ in many coffee growing areas, including increasing incidences of malnutrition among coffee-growers in parts of Central America.

I think the best Mexican coffees I've had are from Chiapas, where there has been a lot of effort put into producing international-quality, often organic and shade-grown coffees meant for gourmet consumption. But the others can be very good too. I've had great coffee in Coatepec, though a lot of the Veracruz stuff seems flat to me. We bought some wonderful coffee from a woman hawking beans on the beach below the Pluma area in Oaxaca.

In Mexico City, you can get a kilo of gourmet-style Chiapas stuff for about 100 pesos a kilo. Starbucks is charging about 120 pesos for a half kilo!

I drop by Starbucks quite a bit: there's one a block from my office and unlike most Mexican-origin places, it opens early in the morning so that I can stop and get a cup when I start work at 7:30 a.m. The coffee is good, too.

There has been a boom in supposedly gourmet coffee shops in Mexico City -- at least in the upper scale areas. Gloria Jeans (which has never impressed me) is in many malls. There's a thing called Coffee Station (which also is mediocre) that fuels anxious relatives from franchises at many hospitals. There are a few new chains that specialize in Veracruz coffee, a couple that specialize in Chiapas -- notably the excellent "La Selva" outlets -- and quite a few in the Condesa and Roma now that are independent places.

It's quite a change from a decade or two ago.

You still see processed Nescafe regarded as a luxury product in some parts of Mexico, but, happily, that is a practice that is gradually in retreat.

"El Gringo Jalapeño"

Jun 13, 2003, 11:11 PM

Post #9 of 11 (1551 views)

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Re: [esperanza] coffee

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Esperanza:

"Beauty(or taste) is in the eye(or mouth) of the beholder(or drinker)" and I am sure Uruapan is excellent(I have tried it several times...and of course there's no argument about the Moctezuma chocolate!!!!!!!) BUT..........have you ever tried the "Café de altura"(classification) from the area of Coatepec, Veracruz, 20 minutes from Xalapa? Very good, especially when you get the right blend and roasting. My xalapeña wife's favorite is the somewhat over roasted(Starbuck style!) coffee called Bola de Oro, where I like the milder but richer "Mana" of Café Las Animas. BTW, Café Las Animas has a wonderful "coffee museum" where you can walk through the old INMECAFE(Instituto Mexicano del Café) plantation of over 100 varietes of coffee and maybe even participate in the "catación de café"(coffee tasting/classification). I keep telling David Mc that I'm going to write more articles about this wonderful area where I've lived for 31 years, but something is always coming up, like Junio Musical, a wedding or XV Años, and of course, my new grandson! Drop me a line, anyone wanting to come this way.

¡Portense mal y cuidense bien!
Roy B. Dudley "El Gringo Jalapeño" See more about Xalapa at www.xalaparoy.com

gpk

Jun 14, 2003, 5:42 PM

Post #10 of 11 (1509 views)

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Re: ["El Gringo Jalapeño"] coffee

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I have had Veracruz, Colima and Guatamalan coffee. Nothing beats Costeno, which I have only been able to buy in Michoacan.

alex .

Jun 16, 2003, 7:29 AM

Post #11 of 11 (1471 views)

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Re: [alex .] thats it?

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Everything else in the guidebooks you take at face value? No me digas....
Alex