Coffee roasting process in Madre Superiora, Benicàssim. Image provided by the roaster.Each Spaniard consumes, on average, more than 500 cups of coffee per year, according to 2022 data from the Spanish Coffee Association. And increasingly, driven by the expansion of specialty coffee, people are looking outside and inside the home for a high-quality drink. When buying it, Marisa Baqué, taster and owner of Bb's Café, recommends making sure that the coffee you receive is as recently roasted as possible, and if she does not put it on the package «it is information that can be requested» . In fact, Baqué is inclined to buy it to consume it over no more than a month, although remember that «if it is well packaged and stored in a place with not too high temperatures, the coffee can be very good during the first two months.» having been toasted. Then light notes of a somewhat rancid flavor will appear. After six months it will be quite stale.” Willy Gómez, from the Galician roaster Astro, agrees with this, and advises paying attention, in addition to the roasting date, to traceability “not only in the country of origin, but also in data such as the farm, altitude, producer, varietal, the process and the tasting notes.” Below are five examples of roasters trying to spread the culture of high-quality coffee in places other than Madrid and Barcelona.1.
Chief Nun
Carlos Boix and Manuel Hervás opened Madre Superiora at the end of 2022, after two years of training in the world of coffee and having discovered specialty coffee in Dallas, United States, where they previously lived. They embarked on an adventure in their “beloved” and “longed for” land, Benicàssim, next to Castellón de la Plana, their place of origin. “From our first steps we decided to bet on varieties with the least possible biological introversion, focus on lineages that are 100% Arabica and on high quality varieties such as tipica, bourbon and caturra. We select farms with very rich soils that benefit from microclimates that allow the development of profiles with peculiar characteristics in the cup: mild acidity, rounded body and special sweetness. The visibility of the producers has always been essential and that is why the packages bear the names of the coffee growers,” explains Hervás. Hervás points out that all roasters are different and they all follow different and equally valid paths. In his case, he points out, they make a roast based on the “versatility” of the product and without having “too much vegetal” notes or “a very marked acidity.” “There is no perfect specialty coffee, but we understand it as a balanced coffee in which all the characteristics that should be present in it can be perceived, a coffee that shines.” On the website, they currently offer eight different varieties from 12 euros for 250 grams of Liberatum of Ethiopian origin. As for the premises, they only have a cafeteria in the center of Benicàssim, but in Madre Superiora they are already preparing to launch their first franchise in Valencia. “All this without Justin, Ismael, Macarena, Marcos, Javi and Mirko is impossible. Human capital is the basis of any business,” says Hervás.Mother Superior. Carrer Sant Tomàs, 131, 12560 Benicàssim, Castellón. Telephone: 653 96 81 18.2.
Bb's Cafe
Coffee from roaster Bb's Café. Image provided by the business. For Marisa Baqué and her team, there are non-negotiable things when carrying out their work such as “quality, honesty, effort, sustainability (understood as social, ecological and economic), and experience». The latter, specifically, is one of the strong points of this roaster that, although it really began its journey in 2018, is led by someone like Baqué, who has been linked to the world of coffee all his life and is one of the greatest specialists in the sector. in Spain. She herself points out that the roaster's work method includes traveling to origin, continuous training and attending fairs, thus trying to be «up to date». The origins with which they work are many and currently in the store They have from Brazil, Peru, Costa Rica, Kenya, Ethiopia, Burundi… “Rwandans will arrive shortly, some more Peru, which I like how they are working, plus Colombias that are a little special (in quality and soul) because they come with great treatment.” directly and we have bought it through a collaborative auction where we pay more for these coffees and there is a guarantee that the coffee farmer receives more for what he grows,” explains Baqué. Following this philosophy of sustainability and social impact, they have available a Colombia Urrao Antioquia (15 euros) that comes from projects in which victims of armed conflict, ex-combatants, indigenous communities affected by violence and the substitution of illicit crops work. There are options starting at 8.10 euros and some decaffeinated Bb's Café. Eulena Kalea, 3B, 48220 Abadiño, Bizkaia. Telephone: 688 74 87 84.3.
Star
Juan Zabal and Willy Gómez started Astro in 2018 “with the desire to create a specialty coffee brand that is close to people, young and fun.” “We wanted to get away from the indoctrination that was felt in the specialty world,” says Gómez. Although they began roasting for their own consumption, they soon realized that they were “absorbed by the Astro universe” and two years later they opened their first coffee shop in the center of A Coruña, which was later joined by two others. Now they focus much of their efforts on online commerce, with a website where they also offer chocolates and infusions, as well as coffee roasted by themselves. “We have a roast for each coffee. We do not roast for espresso or filter at all. We look for the coffee at its optimal roasting point to be the one that tells us in which method it expresses itself best,” comments the owner. The Astro catalog is extensive: more than 15 varieties and types are available, from 8.90 euros, including blends, decaffeinated options and a very limited selection called flash coffee. Taking a look at the website, the predilection that Zabal and Gómez feel for washed process coffees, in which water is used to remove the mucilage, is clear. Astro Café. They have three locations in A Coruña. Telephone: 623 40 26 55.4.
Seixal
Workshops and cafes often go hand in hand and Seixal actually began its journey as a bakery. César Fernández and his wife, Giovanna Russo, decided that they wanted to offer good coffee to their clients at breakfast along with their freshly baked bread and that's how they started roasting coffee. “We already knew about specialty coffee from our time in England, where we lived after leaving Venezuela,” says Fernández. The pandemic served as a training period for them and they began roasting in 2022 at the premises they run in Alfaz del Pi (Alicante). The name Seixal is also the name of the place of origin of Fernández's parents, located in Madeira (Portugal). ) and as they themselves detail, they work only with single origins and “always trying to include microlots” in their offer. Among the diverse origins, there are mainly coffees from Central and South America, such as a Costa Rica caturra at 13.80 euros per 250 grams, and African (Kenya, Ethiopia and Rwanda). “We recommend that people who are starting out in this world of specialty coffee start trying less complex coffees, for example, our washed Costa Rica with notes of chocolate and stone fruit (peach, plum),” advises Fernández.Seixal. Carrer Ruperto Chapí, 4, Edificio Capitol Bajo 6, 03581 L'Alfàs del Pi, Alicante. Telephone: 640 63 53 41.5.
Kima
Kima began as a cafeteria, but its creators' love of coffee has ended up turning it into a reference roaster throughout the country. In 2022, they came in first place at the Spain Roasters Competition. “We do not usually roast for espresso or filter, but we consider the characteristic of green coffee, the origin and the benefit to roast in the way that best suits it,” explains one of the partners. Regarding the origins with which work, assures that they are always “expanding and experimenting.” “To start, we recommend Colombian and Ethiopian coffees, particularly the washed ones,” he adds, although they offer from plantations from South and Central America as well as East Africa and Asia. His website is a good example of this: you can find coffees from Honduras and Colombia to Ethiopia, Kenya or Rwanda, starting at 11.90 euros for a 250-gram package of coffee beans. “We give the customer the opportunity to choose each coffee according to the sensory profile they like and to enjoy it in a variety of methods.” Whoever wants to have it prepared in a cup can go to the cafeteria they have on Carreterías street, in the heart of Málaga.Kima. Carretería, 67. Malaga. Telephone: 660 05 93 94. You can follow EL PAÍS Gastro on Instagram and x.