Cafe Con Crema

I've mentioned before the impossible quest for good coffee here. By now, my taste buds have adapted and the stuff I turned my nose at before is now part of my morning routine. It may help you to know for this post that we have a French Press and we do not have a coffee bean grinder.

The supermarcados' coffee isles are full of bags of ground coffee 'con azucar'. That's 'with sugar'. I believe they do it that way because it is less expensive than straight coffee, but I'm not sure. Maybe everyone likes the idea of someone adding their sugar for them. There are a few bags at the store 'sin azucar'. I've tried each of those brands. (I'm not eating sugar or HFCS for 3 months.) Each of these have been, well, bad. Think instant coffee that you mix with water--that's how bad.

Several blocks from our place lies a little coffee shop called The Coffee Store. I go there to work several times a week as they also have wifi. The owner knows me and which of his brews I like. I always get cafe con crema. He speaks reasonable English with a heavy British accent (many of the English teachers here are British, so if we find a local who speaks English it's often with that accent). He calls me 'lady' and always asks about Tyler and Ella. He is very excited about his coffee and will makes me a mug of a new blend to try. The shop sells their coffee beans, and will grind them for us. I've tried all the beans there (save for the flavored ones) and they are drinkable. A step up from instant coffee flavor; but only more like Folgers or Maxwell House. These beans are from Columbia, Ethiopia, and other coffee countries. But I hypothesize that the good beans go to the US and the rejects go elsewhere (here). No matter how I try to explain that I want the beans ground coarsely for our French Press, every time I get the finest coffee powder you can imagine. I get a workout trying to press it and there's a layer of deep black sludge in my mug at the end. It's now quite endearing.

When you order coffee at a cafe or restaurant here, it is always served with a tiny cookie and a small glass of bubbly water. Charming, really.

Despite all the complaining I do about it, I still drink coffee every morning. Even the coffee experience adds to our story and life here. Plus, it's one thing that makes me appreciate home--Colorado--that much more.