- Time of past OR future Camino
- some and then more. see my signature.
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I have done the Camino frances five times in two years. I am sorry to say this but the Coffee in Spain, on the French way, is a hughe disapointment. The coffee is terribly weak. I needed two-three cups in the morning to get the amount of coffein I would get in ONE normal American coffee at home. I have seen again and again how cafe owners re-use the coffee in the machine to make bad, weak coffee for pilgrimes. When the locals come to buy their coffee they use New coffee. I met this american lady drinking a double espresso last fall, and she said it perfectly; "this double espresso tastes like an ordinary American coffee to me, maybe this is why we need to stop for coffee all day long". I do not mean to be very negative, but this is one of the negative Things for me on the Camino. Pilgrimes as a rule (With some exceptions) never come back to buy more coffee, most pilgrimes are in "heaven" on the Camino and do not complain. I fear this leads to the People making a living on the Camino can do whatever they like. As a rule I now watch them while they make my coffee, I watch them emtpy the old coffe out of the espresso machine and fill up With New. And when they tell you to sit Down and wait while they make the coffee, I never do... I also tell them when my coffee is really bad or weak. They are not used to pilgrimes complaining.
Cafe con leche is simply coffee with milk. The quality depends on the person making it, sometimes it's too milky for me.As an American I require coffee to fuel my day. I've seen videos of tiny cups of coffee from pilgrims, that would border on deprivation for me. I realize there are no Starbucks or Duncans on the camino. Does Spain have the equivalent of a Cafe au lai?
Thanks
Cafe con Baileys. An espresso with a shot of Baileys Irish Cream.
Rocket fuel at 08:00 in the morning.
Sadly what you drink in the US is not coffeeAs an American I require coffee to fuel my day. I've seen videos of tiny cups of coffee from pilgrims, that would border on deprivation for me. I realize there are no Starbucks or Duncans on the camino. Does Spain have the equivalent of a Cafe au lai?
Thanks
I think drinking alcohol that early in the morning would send me back to bed! Lol.Cafe con Baileys. An espresso with a shot of Baileys Irish Cream.
Rocket fuel at 08:00 in the morning.
I know! Couldn't believe what I was reading!Gosh we walked in parallel universes.
I am sorry. I think my post must have been unclear? I did absolutely not mean to compare Spanish coffee to American coffee. I have never tasted American coffee, never even been to America, but in Scandinavia we drink something Close to American coffee and in need of a Word for this filter coffee we use up here I called it American. My point was to say that even an espresso is more weak then a normal cup of filter coffee. As English is not my first Language I used "American coffee" as a Word for filter coffee. I have had wonderful coffee in Spain, truly wonderful. But along the Camino frances there are to many cafes which give you diluted coffee my opion. To often I have had re-used coffeebeans to press out another cup. This was my point. When you ask for a double espresso, they give you the double amount of water but make it from the same amount of coffee as a single espresso. I think I have a right to say this. I have met countless of pilgrimes saying the same.@Pheilhans on this forum, to unfavourably compare Spanish coffee to American coffee is fighting words. I have never had a bad coffee in Spain, and never had a good coffee in the US! I think this debate is like boots v shoes v sandals - different strokes for different folks.
I know the raw material they use is the best! And when they make it good, they make it very good! My post was to say that to often they use to little amount of the raw material to make it good, or they re-use coffee they have already made a cup from. I do not mean that the coffee is bad in the Whole of Spain. I am saying that the coffee often is bad in the many touristy-pilgrime cafees along the Camino.I disagree. The coffee is great! Most bar coffee is a blend of beans. A dark, oily French roast is rare. An espresso shot is only about an ounce. It is strong and caffeine-filled. There are three or four major distributors. They are reliably good, but the occasional bar with coffee from a small processor results in some truly great coffee. I roasted my own beans for a decade, so I have some experience in the process and chemistry.
I have had thousands of cups of coffee in Spain, and I never have seen that. Where did you observe it? I have several espresso machines, and it is impossible to use old grounds. In Spain they grind the coffee in front of you, so I think the grinders would be jammed with old coffee grounds, making that impossible.they re-use coffee they have already made a cup from
Ask for an American coffee. You will get a cappucino and hot water. Its as close as you will come. Café con leché is made with hot milk and a cappucino. It also gets the foamy bits of the milk.As an American I require coffee to fuel my day. I've seen videos of tiny cups of coffee from pilgrims, that would border on deprivation for me. I realize there are no Starbucks or Duncans on the camino. Does Spain have the equivalent of a Cafe au lai?
Thanks
I am sorry. I think my post must have been unclear? I did absolutely not mean to compare Spanish coffee to American coffee. I have never tasted American coffee, never even been to America, but in Scandinavia we drink something Close to American coffee and in need of a Word for this filter coffee we use up here I called it American.
@Pheilhans on this forum, to unfavourably compare Spanish coffee to American coffee is fighting words. I have never had a bad coffee in Spain, and never had a good coffee in the US! I think this debate is like boots v shoes v sandals - different strokes for different folks.
Black coffee is "cafe solo". White coffee is "cafe con leche". Coffee with just a spot of milk is "cafe cortado"
coffee with a big splash of brandy is "cafe carajillo". Try and learn how to pronounce them properly before you set off.
Yep, and yep! ☺Cafe con leche - the drug of choice for this Pilgrim in Spain, it's a Cappuccino in Portugal.
Or café com leite.it's a Cappuccino in Portugal.
Espresso is supposed to be small. Apparently in the us you have stewed weak tasteless dishwater and call it coffee...cafe solo any day!Cups are smaller than those we have in the U. S. The Espresso is very small.
Are starbucks the peasants who serve their "coffee" in waxed paper cups?Starbucks? Never spend a centimo at their store, and I walk in front of one on my daily workout. Do not like their politics, do not like their coffee.
I thought cafe solo is like mud...at least in Turkey I know it is!Espresso is supposed to be small. Apparently in the us you have stewed weak tasteless dishwater and call it coffee...cafe solo any day!
No!! Greek/Turkish coffee is quite different. Cafe solo is basically an espresso. Personally i find cafe con leche a bit cloying a sicklyI thought cafe solo is like mud...at least in Turkey I know it is!
I always say "I'll take a little coffee with my cream"! ☺
Coffee in Spain is the best - never had a bad cup in the past 6 years - cafe con leche - I started drooling at the mere thought - hahahaXXX
Moderator spelling Correction
No, only sugar would make it cloying to me! (Had to look that word up, it's new to me!)No!! Greek/Turkish coffee is quite different. Cafe solo is basically an espresso. Personally i find cafe con leche a bit cloying a sickly
Sugar AND milk in coffee?!...what next?!No, only sugar would make it cloying to me! (Had to look that word up, it's new to me!)
No, it has to be cream, not milk, and only a smidgen of sugar...not cloying to me, but then I don't like coffee!Sugar AND milk in coffee?!...what next?!
As an American I require coffee to fuel my day. I've seen videos of tiny cups of coffee from pilgrims, that would border on deprivation for me. I realize there are no Starbucks or Duncans on the camino. Does Spain have the equivalent of a Cafe au lai?
Thanks
Milk in coffee?!shame on you! Leave the milk out and then coffee in Spain is the best!
The malingerer.
That's always puzzled me....actual cream not milk?...on tv I've heard them say tea with cream....so it's the thick stuff not milk? ...but when they add it it looks li k e mil k!No, it has to be cream, not milk, and only a smidgen of sugar...not cloying to me, but then I don't like coffee!
In America we don't put milk or cream in tea.Milk in coffee?!
That's always puzzled me....actual cream not milk?...on tv I've heard them say tea with cream....so it's the thick stuff not milk? ...but when they add it it looks li k e mil k!
Coffee beans crushed in ice cream!Sugar AND milk in coffee?!...what next?!
I've just faintedIn America we don't put milk or cream in tea.When I say cream in coffee, it's actually called "half and half", not as thick...but in a pinch I've been known to use vanilla ice cream!
Funny guy!I've just fainted
It's not easy leaving Medford or Revere and not getting a morning cup of Dunkin' Donuts. Sometimes 7-11 will do, but Starbucks is never far away. Even New Jersey is too far. Canada? Forget it. Spain? I'm done for.
Coffee and Starbucks surely an oxymoron.
Thank you! This will helpful for my husband next month on our Camino. I've never had coffee in my life but I love a good cocoa!Just as an FYI, there are full-functioning Starbucks in both Terminals 1 & 4 at Madrid Barajas Airport. After a month or more in Spain, I always look forward to my first skinny Vanilla latte at Starbucks after security.
That said, Spain has the best coffee. As others have said, you can get excellent coffee in the most remote and tiny cafe or bar. Here is your coffee primer:
Cafe con Leche (coffee with milk)Cafe Solo - (black coffee)Cafe ... con azucar (coffee ... with sugar)Cafe Largo (a long or large coffee - order "solo" or con leche... e.g. 'cafe largo con leche')Cafe Americano - (one shot Spanish coffee cut with hot water - same as Starbucks Americano)
There are other phrases used to describe these basic coffee drinks. I only offer the very basics here... Consider it "survival coffee."
Hope this helps.
Cafe Americano, is closer to what Starbucks tries to push because it uses cold milk, cafe con leche is done with warm milk and foam.
Cafe Americano, is closer to what Starbucks tries to push because it uses cold milk, cafe con leche is done with warm milk and foam.
Yup, very true.Lets just say it is not what youre used to.
Yup, very true.
It's way better.
The coffee you get in Spain is espresso. You cannot get brewed coffee. What they call "Cafe Americano" is espresso with hot water added. Lets just say it is not what youre used to.
We don't disagree on much, Jill...But in this case, I am so convinced I'm *right* that I feel like everyone else is lying, while I'm saying the emperor has no clothes. Im waiting for somebody else to chime in, be honest, and bravely agree with me!
We don't disagree on much, Jill...
But the first time I had espresso after years of filter coffee?
And then cafe con leche is even better.
But taste, you know....there is no accounting for it. Heck, some people even like durian. And they're right. But so am I. So, same...about coffee, we are both right.
OK. Today I'll be catholic in my tastes.Oh, stop being all *Buddhist.*
We don't disagree on much, Jill...
But the first time I had espresso after years of filter coffee?
And then cafe con leche is even better.
But taste, you know....there is no accounting for it. Heck, some people even like durian. And they're right. But so am I. So, same...about coffee, we are both right.
Its the burping up rancid meat flavor later i have mixed feelings about
Oh no! No Cafe con leche tag anymore!!! What's a cafe-con-leche loving pilgrim to do!!I think that would have to be: Cafe con Leche
https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/tags/cafe-con-leche/
Again forgotten: much is said for the Café Cortado - a double espresso with a mall layer of warmed milk, not frothed and boiled, Cortado meaning cut off, a little milk takes the strong spike of the coffee - you will still get the kick and do without the vast amounts of milk...Just as an FYI, there are full-functioning Starbucks in both Terminals 1 & 4 at Madrid Barajas Airport. After a month or more in Spain, I always look forward to my first skinny Vanilla latte at Starbucks after security.
That said, Spain has the best coffee. As others have said, you can get excellent coffee in the most remote and tiny cafe or bar. Here is your coffee primer:
Cafe con Leche (coffee with milk)Cafe Solo - (black coffee)Cafe ... con azucar (coffee ... with sugar)Cafe Largo (a long or large coffee - order "solo" or con leche... e.g. 'cafe largo con leche')Cafe Americano - (one shot Spanish coffee cut with hot water - same as Starbucks Americano)
There are other phrases used to describe these basic coffee drinks. I only offer the very basics here... Consider it "survival coffee."
Hope this helps.
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