CAFÉ PART ONE
Many of us inside the writing community require writing fuel. For some of us, that means gummy bears or a scone. For others, it’s the big debate: tea or coffee.
I love both, but in order to function as a human-adjacent creature, I require coffee. Every morning, I roll out of bed, hobble down to the kitchen, and grind some fresh beans. I tend to prefer medium roasts or dark roasts that taste like chocolate.
One morning a few weeks ago, as Mr. Coffee burbled my elixir into existence, I thought back to a fact Tití told me: my abuela loved coffee. She drank mugs and mugs of it. She loved coffee to a fault. I guess toward the end of her life, her doctor advised her to switch to decaf, but Abuela wouldn’t have it.
This mutual love for coffee sparked an idea. I spent some time researching some of the best coffee brands in Puerto Rico, Abuela’s childhood home. I started looking into the age of these companies specifically. After searching, I found a few coffee brands that were founded between the 1920s and 1950s when she would have been on the island. Next, I checked to make sure these coffees could be shipped to the Pacific Northwest so I could actually try them. Ultimately, I settled on three to try: Café Rico, Café Crema, and Rioja.
Note: my opinion isn’t the only opinion. It also isn’t necessarily the right one. I’m not a professional coffee reviewer, so I don’t have the cool hipster lingo to describe the notes of each brand’s grounds. These are coffees I had shipped to me from far away, and that impacts how the coffee will taste.
Take this review with a grain of salt, and if you have other brands you think I should try, share them with me in the comments!
Now, cue the review!
Café Rico
A bag of Café Rico coffee wedged between some awesome books on a bookshelf. Some great authors on this shelf include Joan Didion, Roxane Gay, Tommy Orange, Anne Sexton, and Markus Zusak.
The first coffee I tried was Café Rico. This coffee company got its start in 1924, the oldest of the three coffees I sampled. Unlike my usual coffee, this one was already ground. When I opened the bag and stuck my nose inside, I knew this was going to be a dark, strong coffee. I was excited to try it!
This coffee is STRONG. It’s incredibly dark, and definitely bitter. Now, this bag didn’t arrive at my doorstep fresh, as I am quite a ways from Puerto Rico, but I was still amazed at just how bitter the coffee was. In some ways, it almost tasted dusty or ashy. I’m the kind of person that enjoys the marshmallows for my s’mores burned to a crisp. Charcoal and fire flavors don’t bother me, but I still didn’t love the coffee.
Over all, this one is probably my least favorite. Usually, I do café con leche. Nothing sweet. But with this one? I definitely add sugar.
On the plus side, this coffee made for an excellent laxative.
Café Crema
A bag of Café Crema nestled between some cool books on a bookshelf. Some excellent authors featured include: John Green, Noelle Salazar, and Luis Alberto Urrea.
The next coffee I tried was Café Crema, the second oldest brand of the three. Founded in 1925, Café Crema is known for being a fresh, dark roast. This bag also contained grounds, not whole beans. When I smelled the grounds, it didn’t hit me as hard as the Café Rico, but there was only one way to find out how similar the two were.
Let me just say, if you aren’t a dark roast fan, then you probably won’t like Café Crema. However, out of the three, this one was by far the smoothest. It wasn’t bitter or sour, and it was slightly milder than the other two. To me, it had kind of a woody taste, like maybe cedar or something (again, not a coffee pro, so I don’t know how to describe it any better than that). It was a solid dark roast.
This is a coffee I can drink without any sweetener. It’s still stronger than my go-to beans, but I’d consider buying it again.
Rioja Espresso
A brick of Rioja espresso hanging out between some cool books on a bookshelf. Some excellent authors featured include: John Green, Noelle Salazar, and Nathan Barham.
The last coffee brand I tried was Rioja, the baby of the three brands. Established in the 1940’s, Rioja is the only coffee I purchased that was labelled espresso. Mi abuela loved her coffee strong, so I thought that maybe trying one that was labeled as strong would work. I really believed that this brand was the one she probably drank.
This coffee is the weirdest coffee I’d ever seen. It came in a bag, vacuum-sealed in the shape of a brick. The ground were fine and compact. When I saw this little guy, I was sure I’d made a big mistake. That this coffee would be the worst yet. Then I opened the bag. WOW! How the company managed to pack an entire coffee shop into a tiny bag is beyond me. These grounds transport me to memories of writing in coffee shops pre-pandemic, and it made me smile.
For my first sip, I braced myself, but I didn’t need to. Yes, the coffee was dark. It was even bitter. But the bitterness of the Rioja was much smoother than the Café Rico. The Rioja’s bitterness reminded me of a square of dark chocolate that was 80% or more dark chocolate. It was strong, and it wasn’t as smooth as the Café Crema, but it was a solid dark roast with the best aromatics of the three.
If you’re into medium roast, you still probably won’t like Rioja, but if you’re into dark beans, then you’ve found a good one! My partner enjoys his coffee black, but even he couldn’t help but add a splash of milk to his Rioja.
Overview
A cup of coffee on a plate with a tiny spoon. This collection of dish and coffee items rest on a wooden table.
Out of the three coffee brands I tried, my least favorite was Café Rico. It had an aftertaste that reminded me of dust or ash, and without sweetener, I couldn’t really drink it. Café Crema is a smoother dark roast. People who generally prefer medium roasts may have the best luck with Café Crema. My favorite brand was the Rioja espresso. It was insanely dark, and the packaging style was alien to me. That being said, the smell of the grounds can make a cramped apartment feel like a vibrant coffee house, and the dark chocolate flavors really take this dark roast over the top.
After brewing these coffees, I felt pretty accomplished. I’d done my research, and I’d taken my notes. A few days after brewing the last of the coffee, I called up my Tití to tell her about my adventure.
It turns out, Abuela didn’t drink any of these coffees, at least not regularly. Tití remembered the coffee brand Abuela loved, and in a future post, I’ll review that coffee too.
Which of these coffees are your favorite? Is your favorite coffee brand not listed here? Share all of your Puerto Rican coffee knowledge with me in the comments, and if you want to keep up with my research antics, subscribe to my blog.
