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Good Coffee at Long Last

Rico’s Cafe is just a couple of block’s from my cousin’s hotel and is run by an American. My cousin is even more of a coffee snob than I am and raved about the coffee and all the beans she was bringing home, so I was eager try it out! Coffee was one place I was not too snobby or cheap to deal with in Gringoland because Mexicans just don’t have a coffee culture.

She had a 16 oz drip coffee with a shot of espresso and I went for just the drip coffee. They make it in a manner similar to a French press, so you get a mouthful of grinds at the end if you’re not careful, something I’m used since I’ve been doing French press coffee for so long.

The coffee wasn’t fantastic, but it was still the best coffee I’ve had since finishing up my Canadian coffee way back in October! It had so much potential, but there was a bit of a soapy taste to it, for lack of a better description, probably something to do with how they wash their cups. Not enough to be off putting or to stop me from enjoying it, but it wasn’t the perfect cup of coffee I’d been expecting this morning.  Still, it was a huge step above anything I’ve had in months and I savoured every mouthful!

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I then put in an order for beans, with my cousin recommending Veracruz dark roast. I got half a pound for about 68 pesos and had them grind them for me. The smell of the beans through the bag was divine. I couldn’t stop smelling it all the way home!

I’m enjoying a cup of it now and trying not to weep with joy. 🙂 Oh, real coffee at very long last. I hope that what I get at the more convenient Olas Altas café I was recommended will be just as good, but at least now I know that, worst case, I can get coffee for 28 pesos round trip! 🙂

Oh, and two giant coffees (one with a shot of espresso) and a bag of beans was just 142 pesos! I used to pay almost 20CAD for an equivalent amount of beans in Gatineau!

11 thoughts on “Good Coffee at Long Last”

    • Because I am not addicted to the caffeine, I do not put up with a bad cup of joe, preferring no coffee to crap. I’ve been doing okay at home with the Starbucks stuff I got from the States, but it was at the limit of my tolerance!

  2. Hi Rae. Have been following your blog since you got to Mexico. Is that the coffee shop that is about a block away from the El Cid? We also went there when we stayed there in February last year. We have stayed at the Riu a few times (just this last December) and really enjoy Looney Beans. They are the best!! Understand that there is also a Looney Beans in Olas Atlas. Taking the bus is awesome but not so much when it takes you really far off the beaten path, LOL. Enjoy your time there. So jealous. Wish we could do it also. Happy New Year and keep up the blogs.

    • Susan, that sounds about right. Rico’s cafe. I keep hearing about the Looney Bean on Olas Altas, but haven’t come across it yet. I’ll actually go look for it when I start to run out of Rico’s coffee.

      Taking the bus is an adventure! And it’s so cheap here that it’s no big loss if you get lost. Just get off, cross the street, and get on the same bus going back the way you came! 🙂

  4. Hmm, they had Chiapas coffee, too. Will have to investigate the differences. The Veracruz was perfect for me, similar to a Sumatra, which is my default when it’s on a menu. My roasting house in Gatineau did a whole interview and taste thing with me to find the perfect coffee for me and Sumatra was it!

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