Coffee in a Barrio? Of course... in Oaxaca!

The Church of Saint Matthias in the Barrio Jalatlaco Coffee in the barrio? Yes please… When I am in Oaxaca, inevitably, I will be spending time in El Barrio Jalatlaco, the oldest neighborhood in the city.  When I first started coming here back in 1999, good coffee was something desired, but seldom found. Thankfully as this area of the city has started to find it’s personality, it has left behind the vestiges of years of coffee abuse at the hands of Nestle and their ubiquotis brand Nescafé Classico, or as it is known here, No es Café! Now we are seeing a growing coffee and culture in Jalatlaco anchored by Café El Agora, owned by Arnel Cruz, longtime owner of Casa Arnel, a wonderfully quaint bed and breakfast hotel that has been in the area for years.  (Full disclosure, I have stayed at Casa Arnel many times and count the owner Arnel as a friend.] Think of Café El Agora as the gathering place.  Holding court at the corner of Aldama and Hidalgo, Café El Agora has been open a little over two years.  In that time it has gradually increased its menu and is now offering baguettes and breakfast alongside the typical coffee house menu of frappes, lattes and cappuccinos.  Weekends also give you live music in this beautifully designed shop. If an up and coming crowd, live music, coffee and a snack is what you are seeking, this place is for you. Next up is Café Xiguela, located a block away in the shadow of the Church of San Matias.  This is the anti-hip option in Jalatlaco.  It serves up organic coffee and has an extensive tea list.  Small and friendly, Xiguela is only open until the afternoon. The coffee is good, fresh and strong, the way I like it.  Xiguela is quiet and they also offer free Wi Fi, not an option at Café El Agora. With lots of tables, clean restrooms and plenty of snacks to munch on, it’s a great addition to this part of Oaxaca, and if you need to work and connect, it’s perfect. Finally, we take a look at Café Blasón, located kitty corner to Xiguela in Jalatlaco.  This is a small place and it is more like a coffee bar.  In fact with only four tables, their bar is actually filled most nights with people talking to the baristas like they might talk to their local bartender. Now if you’ve been in Mexico for any length of time, you will recognize the Blasón name as one of the more famous Mexican coffee brands.  For years you could only find this brand in local tienditas and supermarkets.  The trouble was, what you found then was not what you would want to drink.  Think dry, bitter and old. But the product that this company store is offering here was remarkably smooth.  I ordered a latte and it was strong, but not overpowering.  Just like I wanted it.  The barista even added a nice little touch of latte art. I went back a few days later and ordered a half kilo of their coffee and it made a great, smooth pot of coffee. So here’s the deal… you just want coffee?  Go to Café Blasón.  Looking for a quiet place to work while getting some great organic Oaxacan coffee? Head over to Café Xiguela.  And if you are on a date or maybe want a late night snack for cena, you can’t go wrong at Café El Agora. All three are within a block of each other in the Barrio Jalatlaco, the oldest corner of Oaxaca City, Oaxaca, Mexico.  And all three are, in their own right, adding a few distinctive touches to the growing reputation of Oaxacan gastronomy and cuisine.

Looking for a good cup o' joe? Try these places out on your next road trip...

We should thank Kaldi. He’s the Ethiopian goat herder who noticed that when his goats nibbled on the bright red berries of a certain bush they became more energetic (jumping goats).  After trying the beans himself, he was exhilarated and took the berries to an Islamic holy man in a nearby monastery. But the holy man disapproved of their use and threw them into a fire, from which an enticing aroma billowed. The roasted beans were quickly raked from the embers, ground up, and dissolved in hot water, yielding the world's first cup of coffee. We should also thank the Brits, who through their attempts to tax tea, unwittingly helped make America a nation of coffee drinkers. When I travel, one of the ways I stay grounded is by connecting with a local town or population at their local coffee bars.  Some choose a different type of watering hole, but for me, the preference is coffee. This last week I had the opportunity to visit a few coffee houses unlike what we usually see in the cookie cutter strip mall infused Southwest. First up was Palenque Coffee and Doomsday Donuts in Ripon, Wisconsin... With a faux log cabin look on the outside and a stereotypical Mayan logo, I’ll admit, I was skeptical.  Was I ever surprised.  Once I entered the doors, I was welcomed into what can only be described as coffee heaven.  Rugged and minimal on the inside, this place is off the charts! I had a cup of Indian Monsoon coffee.  Light, medium roasted, this coffee was exceptionally smooth and had absolutely no bitter after taste.  100% stunning. But coffee is not their only gift.  These guys also sell the most ambitious donuts I have ever come across.  Imagine a s’mores donut.  That’s right... a plain cake topped with chocolate, small graham crackers and tiny marshmallows.  Or maybe you’d like a cream puff sandwich filled with raspberry filling or an old fashioned maple bar... topped with a strip of crispy bacon. They call them one of a kind donuts and the selection changes everyday.  Believe me, they are worth every penny of the $1.00 - $2.00 price, and they look great as Cesar demonstrates here. I’ll be honest, I have no idea how a place like this will stay afloat in a small town like Ripon.  I hope it does... because it is the only place in town where a young man from Puerto Rico can work in a Mayan themed coffee house selling fresh roasted java from around the world paired with a great American classic, the donut, updated to a new standard. Next up are a couple of places, Spots Coffee and Cafe Aroma, both located in the Elmwood District of Buffalo, New York. Spots Coffee has a few locations around town but since I was in the Elmwood area, that’s the one I visited.  Here’s what you get. A large interior with a distinctly rugged urban feel.  Brick walls surround the coffee bar and kitchen area while the exterior of this corner building is framed in large glass windows, making you feel like you are right in the middle of the action. With local art and fantastic coffee, this place oozes coffee house charm. We took up a seat in an old church pew that had been repurposed and became a nice local addition to the interior design.  Surveying the crowd, there was definitely a mixture of the local population.  Moms with kids, students from nearby Buffalo State studying and businessmen in suits were all sharing space in the large dining area. But as nice as the facility was, the coffee was why we were there and we were not disappointed.  I had a wonderful cafe breve, my friends had a caramel machiatto and a double espresso.  My breve came with great art on top and the machiatto was also well displayed, a Spots tradition.   Spots is a big place.  Think tables everywhere and lots of small groups populating the place.  If I lived nearby, I’d be there often.  It’s spacious, has free wifi and a great menu for lunch and dinner.  In the end, we were all very satisfied and not wishing at all that we had gone to Starbucks, just a block away.  My final stop before heading to the airport and the flight back to Las Vegas was Caffe Aroma.   This place is other worldly if you have been raised out west.  Small, with not a lot of tables, dark wood and granite, it was old school, complete with local microbrews and beer on tap. My espresso was strong and not bitter at all and my friends Americano, hot and smooth, as it should be.   What separated Caffe Aroma from nearby Spots or Starbucks was the atmosphere.  Small and intimate... if you are here, you are part of the village.  My friends called it the neighborhood coffee house and it was.  Think of it as the bar where everybody knows your name.  If you were a regular, my guess is that they would even know your drink.   If you want to understand the ethos of the people of this area, spend a day here.  I had a great conversation with a guy just talking politics.  Other groups were discussing the baseball playoffs.  This is where President Obama or Governor Romney ought to be if they want to know what is important to Buffalo. So there you have it.  If you are in Ripon, Wisconsin, get a great cup of coffee and a fantastic donut at Palenque.  If you are in Buffalo, don’t miss a chance to check in at one of the Spots locations around town... And if you want to know what makes Buffalonians tick while enjoying some great java or even a glass of Southern Tier Pumking Ale, make sure to visit Caffe Aroma in the Elmwood District.

Coffee Anyone?

If you open the doors to the smell of fresh coffee, look around and see yourself surrounded by handmade teapots, baseball cards, scarves and a wine bar, where are you? In the middle of Café Earth, a local coffee house that doubles as an eclectic small town emporium in the heart of downtown Silverton, Oregon. Silverton is perhaps most famous for Stu Rasmussen, the first transgendered mayor in the US. Stu stopped in while I was there and we had a nice conversation as he was waiting for his mocha. I must say the fire engine red platform heels, the midi skirt and the handcuff strapped purse were a stunning combo for the mayor. But while Stu is famous, I went in for the coffee and the local character of this downtown venue. I was not disappointed and knew I was somewhere special as soon as I opened the door of this 120 year old historic building. Too often a cup o’ joe has been reduced to a strip mall Starbucks, or perhaps in Oregon, Coffee People. But if you really want to get some local flavor, leave those behind and visit the non traditional places like Café Earth. Here you’ll find cards, cribbage boards, games and books to occupy your time and even a small living room alcove complete with HD TV. Once you add the fresh coffee from Silver Falls Coffee Roasters, you’ll think you are in heaven. Michelle, queen of the kitchen, makes sure her customers are happy, whether that means responding to a request from a customer for a specific lunch soup, like she did today, or putting the finishing touches on one of the daily vegetarian or gluten free offerings. Trust me on this. In an era of big box coffee retailers, a place like Café Earth, owned and operated by locals Monte and Michelle Fenney is a welcome throwback to an earlier time. You’ll like it, you can talk to the owners, and in this case, if you visit in the afternoon, you can even taste some wine from the Pudding River Wine Cellars. And who knows, maybe Monte will even point you to the famous murals of Silverton, Oregon.

Coffee Anyone?

I have been on the road the last couple of weeks in the Pacific Northwest and as is my routine on these jaunts, I drank a lot of coffee. Portland for all you uninitiated is Mecca for coffee drinkers. Now I know someone is going to write me and say it is really Seattle, but they are just wrong. And I can tell you why in one word, Stumptown. Stumptown Coffee in Portland is not coffee, it is a religion. A way of life. And with good reason. The java served by this place is fantastic. Couple that with free Wi-Fi, and they are hands down better than their main rival, Starbucks. I think one of the main reasons for this is their size. Because they only have a handful of locations around the city, they can keep an eye on their coffee quality. And believe me, for Stumptown, quality coffee is king. Another little place I visited is called Silk Espresso and Pastries. Now when you look at this place, it comes across as just another strip mall coffee joint, but it so much more. Owner Leah McMahon has done a fantastic job of putting together the neighborhood coffee shop. As I sat there working, again on the free Wi-Fi, [seeing a trend here?] I noticed that the employees working there knew almost every customer who came in by their first name and their drink of preference. It literally was like I was living in an episode of the old TV show Cheers, complete with Norm and Cliff. Finally, one place I stop every time I am in Portland is Papa Haydn's for dessert. Suffice to say, in my opinion, there is not a better place for a cup of after dinner coffee and dessert. Here is a picture of what I ordered. It is called Autumn Meringue and is Swiss meringues layered with rich chocolate mousse and pot de creme, wrapped in ribbons of chocolate. Know that it was fantastic and tasted as good as it looks.

For the Love of Joe!

A few years ago, okay almost 15 years ago, I got into coffee. It was a ministry decision. Really. It was. I was serving in Mexico helping build churches and almost every night I had to sit down with a family or a pastor for dessert and inevitably they would drink coffee, which I hated. On one particular weekend I went to a local restaurant in La Mision, about 60 miles south of San Diego, for dinner. After eating, the owner Dmytriw came over and asked if I would like to have a cup of good Mexican coffee. I was cold, and it sounded good so I said yes. It was wonderful and I was hooked. I learned later it was also spiked with Kahlua, but that did not matter. My love affair with java had begun and now I could drink coffee with my pastors, and be part of the club; leaders, men, God lovers, coffee drinkers. Soon I was trying all types of coffee from every place imaginable. I remember the fear of going into one of those fancy coffee places and not knowing what to order. Heck, I was such a novice at this, I couldn't work the creamer thermos at most places. I would never take a refill at a coffee shop because it would always mess up my coffee, sugar, creme, mixture. But over time I learned. Over the years I have had many great moments centered around coffee. I have been to a coffee plantation in Oaxaca and will be visiting another this year in Veracruz. I was taught how to roast coffee by Juan at a small coffee hut in Ensenada. I have listened to, prayed with, and shared with more people over coffee than I can count. I have been to coffee houses that would make you think of "Cheers", the Boston bar manned by Mayday Sam Malone and crazy Dianne. And I have had cappuchino from that famous Mexico City locale, El Jarocho. But perhaps one of my favorite coffee moments was when I came across the magazine "Coffee Journal." It was published for one year in 1998 and it was fantastic. It came out quarterly, looked great, and had a host of good articles and resources. I still have the only 4 issues ever published. I reread them all each year and even make some of the great desserts that are featured. Thank you great Briton for taxing tea. Without that small act, we might never have become the coffee country we are today.