EAT IN ASIA / Destinations / Other destinations / Northern america / Mexico
The best Mexican coffee
Nothing is better than a cup of coffee to start an active day. Coffee with milk or black coffee. Coffee with sugar or without – up to you. In Mexico, every morning, local people head to convenience stores or street stalls for their cup of americano or Mexican café de olla – coffee from a clay pot and prepared in a special way. If you like that way of living – you surely won’t be disappointed.
So, we fallowed the same pattern. Every single morning, we were heading to any coffee stand. Sometimes our coffee was bought in a convenience store, sometimes in a local restaurant, sometimes at the bus terminal, another just grabbed from a street stall. Every morning we were trying to try something new, from another place and enjoy it till the last sip.
As coffee is so popular in Mexico, it is hard to find any place, that would not be selling it. If you are staying in hostels, guesthouses or hotels, you may be sure that you will get coffee for a breakfast. If you go for a combined breakfast – desayuno Mexicano, coffee will be there too. What was surprising to us, was that sometimes you had no choice between coffee and tea. There was only coffee! Surprising, isn’t it?
Coffee that you might expect to get is mainly a filtered coffee or coffee from a big pot, that is all the time heated. Your first impression is that, that coffee is not strong enough. The drink is clear and might seem to be wishy-washy, but in fact that Mexican coffee will wake you up. Apart from that, what is important in cooler places in Mexico, it will warm you up. BTW, yes, sometimes it is really important.
Café de olla – a MUST try
It is unique. It is traditional, tasting perfectly and so addicting! Coffee, cinnamon, unrefined cane sugar (known as piloncillo or panela) and water. That is all. How to make café de olla? Take a pot, pour into water, add cinnamon and panela. Let the sugar melt. Bring it to the boil. Add coffee and boil all together for about 5 minutes. Originally no milk is added, but it tastes good with milk too. What is traditionally important, is to prepare it in a special clay pot and also serve it in a small clay cup. So cute, isn’t it? Especially when you know that the cup was handmade. You see all imperfections, unwanted spots, irregular shapes and patterns. But all these aspects make that cup so unique.
Coffee a la Café de olla
Apart from local restaurants and bar, your café de olla will be probably served in a latte glass and served with milk. Still that will not have any impact on how it tastes. Well, rather will not have. Of course, the clay cup has its own taste that might appear in the taste of the café de olla, but that is a very subtle aroma, and you will probably not distinguish it.
What is good about serving it in a glass, is that you can see it. See its density, spices in it and coffee’s consistency. The first time we had it, was in Cuernavaca. That Mexican coffee was dense, thick, creamy and bitter. But bitter in a nice way. It was well combined with a little bit of milk. On top of it and on fringes were some parts of spices. This coffee was so good. We had it twice 😊 once in the morning, and once in the afternoon. Creamy, aromatic and with a lot of power!
A regular morning coffee in Mexico
It is to early for a breakfast? All restaurants open at 8 a.m.? Either grab a coffee from a convenience store opened 24h or just find a small canteen. These small, usually family-run bars are places, where you feel as at home. Nice people, warmly inviting you to order your fist coffee, and what is so good, is that while sipping your coffee you could observe local people! Your coffee will, probably, either come in a clay pot or in a mug. Poured from a big pot staying all the time on the heat, will be served with milk already added or in an additional small glass.
Desayuno con café
Breakfast sets almost always include coffee. Black or white with sugar apart. Still with a strong aroma, clear and powerful. Just black coffee or coffee with milk, depending on the place you are having your breakfast. I must admit that is not the highlight of the breakfast, but such a nice bonus, let’s say. Something warm and tasty.
Classics – Cappuccino and Latte
You don’t like americano or filtered coffee? Don’t worry. In many places, especially in bigger restaurants you will get a well-known cappuccino and latte. These places usually are prepared to serve them. Have special cups, glasses and the coffee is from a real coffee machine. Be careful, sometimes you should ask whether your cappuccino is a real cappuccino or from powder. The hint is – if you sea in the menu flavored coffees, ask before ordering. These flavored cappuccinos might mean that there is no coffee machine at all!
Some places put a lot of stress on how their drinks are served, some do not. Sometimes you will get your cappuccino decorated or sprinkled with cinnamon and chocolate, sometimes, will have a simple form.
Coffee with Kahlúa
Are you looking for something more sophisticated? Something with alcohol? You must try Mexican coffee with a coffee-liquor – Kahlúa. Four layers of that drink make it look like a masterpiece. The dark Kahlúa liquor at the bottom, a thin layer of milk, coffee and a topped with a milk foam sprinkled with chocolate – so delicious!
Cold coffees in Mexico
Mexico’s cafeterias are prepared for all kind of amateurs. Starting from these that love espresso café and finishing on these preferring cold coffee beverages. Cold café latte, Frappuccino and flavored coffees are widely available.
Try and compare them with these you already know. Remember, due to the coffee that is used to prepare these beverages, the taste is slightly different from place to place. Whether in Acapulco or in Chiapas state, all of them were generously topped with whipped cream and chocolate candies. These coffee drinks were relatively dense and sweet. Nevertheless, the coffee aroma was still strong. They had a creamy texture and even after a longer period of time, the coffee drink was looking the same way.
Starbucks and a ‘Mexican Starbucks’ – Ruta Café
Tired with all these coffees? You can always skip it and select Starbucks! Most big cities will have at least one restaurant. There you will get your favorite coffee the way you like it. You can always make a change and select another kind of beans, these typical for the region. Starbucks is also prepared for Mexican tourists and offers morning sets - Café del Día con donut. The breakfast deal lasts till noon and consists of a medium filtered coffee (black or white) and a donut or a roll.
A good alternative is also Ruta café located in some bus terminals. Ruta offers take away coffees of all kind and the quality of them is really impressing. So, give it a try!
Finally, I couldn’t not mention something unique and never met before – Nescafe restaurants! With a relatively cheap coffee and nice space compete with bigger cafeterias and restaurants.
From Mexico to Vietnam for a coffee? Read more about Vietnamese Coffee and how to make Vietnamese Coffee.
