{"id":2422,"date":"2022-01-18T12:15:59","date_gmt":"2022-01-18T11:15:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.esmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/?p=2422"},"modified":"2022-01-18T12:15:59","modified_gmt":"2022-01-18T11:15:59","slug":"a-cup-of-coffee-brimming-with-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.esmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/2022\/01\/18\/a-cup-of-coffee-brimming-with-history\/","title":{"rendered":"A cup of coffee brimming with history"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Caf\u00e9s La Mexicana (\u00a9 \u00c1lvaro L\u00f3pez del Cerro)<\/p><\/div>\n

It all began over a century ago in a small shop on Calle de Preciados. To this day, the aroma of fine coffee still fills this same street. Caf\u00e9s La Mexicana<\/strong> <\/a>forms part of life in Madrid, the city also home to its roasting plant. Here coffee beans are roasted every day of the year, ensuring quality and tradition in every cup.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u00a9 \u00c1lvaro L\u00f3pez del Cerro<\/p><\/div>\n

The smell of freshly made coffee is one of the small things in life that makes it worth getting out of bed every morning. And if you pass by the central Calle de Preciados you can bask in this very sensation whatever the time of day. It\u2019s on this street, a stone\u2019s throw away from Puerta del Sol and Plaza del Callao, where Madrid\u2019s oldest coffee shop<\/b> opened its doors in 1890. But that\u2019s not the only record it holds. In 1991, it entered the Guinness Book of Records <\/i>as the shop to have sold the most coffee in the past 25 years: 5,303,175\u00a0kg to be exact. To this day its record still stands. This is not something to turn your nose up at, especially since the shop in question is no bigger than twenty square metres. \u201cLa Mexicana\u201d says the sign that hangs above its door, after its very first owner, whose name no one remembers.<\/p>\n

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\u00a9 \u00c1lvaro L\u00f3pez del Cerro<\/p><\/div>\n

To learn more about La Mexicana \u2013 a Mexican woman of Spanish descent who came to Spain in search of her origins \u2013 we must travel back to the end of the 19th century. When La Mexicana arrived in Madrid, she fell in love with the capital and decided to make it her home. To do so, she purchased a small establishment, today\u2019s century-old shop on Preciados, with a dream to sell a product that would stand out due to its sheer quality, a truly unique product. \u201cWho roasts the best coffee in Madrid?\u201d was her question. \u201cWithout a doubt, Jos\u00e9 Rodr\u00edguez<\/b>,\u201d was the reply. A self-taught artisan, Jos\u00e9 was renowned throughout the entire city. To support his family as the oldest child and an orphan, he bought and sold dried white beans and other food products, until one day he came up with a method for roasting the coffee beans he had received as payment from one customer. He got straight to work on the patio outside his house and soon earned great prestige. His talent, passion and intuition were enough to convince the shop\u2019s owner. When La Mexicana died, her widower wished to sell the business, and so he offered it to the Rodr\u00edguez family who, generation after generation, have ensured La Mexicana continues to be a household name in the world of coffee.<\/p>\n

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\u00a9 \u00c1lvaro L\u00f3pez del Cerro<\/p><\/div>\n

Since then, many things have changed. In 1969, the shop on Calle de Preciados was joined by another on Conde de Pe\u00f1alver<\/b>. Residents of the area welcomed it with open arms as, for many of them, the intense aroma of coffee took them straight back to their childhoods. Next came the shops on Calle de Fuencarral <\/b>and Calle de Bravo Murillo<\/b>until there were total of seven in the capital, with six more in the Community of Madrid and several more in other cities including Le\u00f3n and Talavera de la Reina. There are also countless freestanding displays selling La Mexicana products in shops and boutiques throughout Spain and abroad. So, what is it exactly that we can buy? Authentic products. From single-origin coffee and coffee blends, to coffee beans and freshly ground coffee especially for your preferred brewing method.<\/p>\n

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\u00a9 \u00c1lvaro L\u00f3pez del Cerro<\/p><\/div>\n

All of the La Mexicana shops are supplied with freshly roasted coffee from the roasting plant<\/b>, which opened in 1975 at number 15, Calle de Alfonso G\u00f3mez, very close to Quinta de los Molinos Park. Green coffee beans packed in large sacks are shipped to the roasting plant from a range of locations around the world. It is there the roasting process takes place every day using traditional methods. In the mid-90s, the brand\u2019s first espresso blend was created. This mix of Arabica coffees can be enjoyed black or with milk. A true work of art. A few years later, the so-called Private Assortment \u2013 a line of sing-origin coffee\u2013 would become part of the store\u2019s catalogue. The first single-origin coffees to be included were from Costa Rica, Guatemala and Tanzania, followed by Ethiopia and Kenya. \u201cTo mark 120 years of selling coffee, we wanted to create something truly unique. With this in mind, our 1890 blend<\/b>was born. The result of many years of experience and expertise, this exquisitely balanced coffee \u2013 always delicious with any brewing method \u2013 was a great success. And today it is still one of our most popular coffees,\u201d the owners tell us.<\/p>\n

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\u00a9 \u00c1lvaro L\u00f3pez del Cerro<\/p><\/div>\n

To offer a truly immersive coffee experience, La Mexicana went one step further and opened the coffee shop Fan\u00e1tico <\/b><\/a>on the premises of its roasting plant in 2016. This is their philosophy: \u201cThe origins of our beans, the hands that cultivate them and the soil in which they grow make each cup of coffee unique. There is not just one type of coffee, but many. Our passion is finding them all, roasting them and sharing them with fanatics of authentic coffee.\u201d And that\u2019s exactly what this quaint caf\u00e9 is named after: Fan\u00e1tico, or Fanatic, is the name of this single-origin coffee brand created by La Mexicana. The brand\u2019s aim is to share their great passion for authentic speciality coffee. \u201cFan\u00e1tico shines a light on diversity, difference and the richness of local products,\u201d we\u2019re told. Here, expert baristas prepare fresh coffee to be enjoyed on its own, or alongside tasty breakfast items.<\/p>\n

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\u00a9 \u00c1lvaro L\u00f3pez del Cerro<\/p><\/div>\n

Just like the other shops, Fan\u00e1tico also stocks a range of La Mexicana coffees, which can also be bought online on the company\u2019s website and delivered straight to your door within 24 hours. So, which one\u2019s for you? For those looking for a cup of coffee with character, Brav\u00edo Caf\u00e9 Colombiano Gran Reserva<\/b><\/span>, <\/span>which is aged in rum barrels for three months, is the perfect option. Or why not try Nari\u00f1o Tambo<\/b>, grown in a small town in the Colombian Andes, 2,200 metres above sea level; only 250 sacks a year are produced. Other special blends include the Zambia Kesama Estate <\/b>with a light body and mild taste and Indonesia Java Wib Jampit<\/b>, boasting a pleasant, rounded taste with warm chocolate tones and an earthy texture similar to that of cacao. If you\u2019re still not sure, the best thing to do is ask any employee at La Mexicana, a brand that \u201chas lived by coffee and its traditions\u201d for 132 years and will continue to do so for many more to come.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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It all began over a century ago in a small shop on Calle de Preciados. To this day, the aroma of fine coffee still fills this same street. Caf\u00e9s La Mexicana forms part of life in Madrid, the city also home to its roasting plant. Here coffee beans are roasted every day of the year, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":2432,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[257],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.esmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2422"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.esmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.esmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.esmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.esmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2422"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blog.esmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2422\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2433,"href":"https:\/\/blog.esmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2422\/revisions\/2433"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.esmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2432"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.esmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2422"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.esmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2422"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.esmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}