As Pedro, our proprietor at Posado El Arco, told us; or as Dave Browne, espresso maker/seller to the stars; or Laura Lindsey, sommelier to many of us in Santa Barbara might say – coffee is like wine. We’ve found this to be very true in Guatemala. Of course, it all starts with the beans, but then there’s the roast and the water and the brewing method, and often the time of day when it’s a complementary cup at the end of some tour that also makes a difference.
La Azotea has the corner on the market in Antigua. It’s everywhere. Every shop and restaurant sells the colorful bags of beans or grounds, and presumably uses only La Azotea in their machines which range from heavy duty Italian espresso machines to giant percolators and “Bunn†type drips.
We took one of the many free bus rides to the La Azotea vinca (farm) and then paid more than the most expensive drink at Starbuck’s per person for a tour of the music museum (well worth the price of a good latte), a video about regional dances of Guatemala (worth a decent cup of coffee), and another guided tour through the coffee museum and surrounding gardens (worth a couple of Krista’s lattes). We actually stayed on a beautiful coffee plantation a few years ago so the process of cultivation and processing wasn’t terribly new to us, but it was very interesting to learn about some of the economics of coffee exportation. Fun fact: Viet Nam, in the last 6 years, has become the third largest producer of coffee in the world, behind only Brazil and Columbia.
Pedro’s coffee in Chichicastenengo was by far the best and he said it was just something from the grocery store. The mocha Alan ordered at The Bagel Barn (swear to Dios, that’s the name) was very good. The free stuff at the jade museum was horrific. There’s no way to predict who brews a good cuppa and it’s not particularly inexpensive, so coffee has become, for us, another daily curiosity. How will we like it today…?
I didn’t know they even HAD coffee in Vietnam. Did the Bagel Barn have good bagels, too? Did Starbucks also infiltrate Antigua?
Hey, how come there’s no place to leave comments at your Pacaya Volcan blog? I have a question about that. Do you have to wear sunscreen near the lava? Does it smell like the mud baths?
Have you checked into the franchise for a SB Bagel Barn? We get some of those Gautamalan coffee beans and some avocado cream cheese…
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I’m so jealous.. what a wonderful trip. I’ve never been a coffee drinker but if I make it to Guatemala it sounds like I should start. Keep those cards and photos coming.
Gorgeous shot of the coffee plant. How come my little coffee plant doesn’t look like those pictures? I think I need some growing tips.
Well, the coffee scene’s changed in the last decades. When I was there, they exported all the good coffee and offered only Nescafe in the cafes. Cheap, but terrible.
I had the same experience as Tara when I was there in 2003. The only place I did not get instant coffee was on a plantation. Glad to hear that has changed.
When you make your trip to Long Beach, breakfast is on me. We have a Bagel Barn here, too. Corner of Long Beach Blvd and San Antonio. From now on, I will refer to Long Beach as Little Guatemala.