EL CAMINO DE CAFÉ [III] León - A Coruña

EL CAMINO DE CAFÉ [III]

León - A Coruña

Two days after leaving León, I realized nothing could have prepared me more for my impending trek through the mountains than this entire trip itself. My legs were at their strongest, my bike was tuned up, and I knew I was nearing the finish line. That being said, getting kicked out of the Albergue (Pilgrim Hostel) at 8 am put me in quite frigid biking temperatures, and I couldn't see more than 100 m ahead for the first 2 hours, nor move my fingers. Soon enough, I was on higher ground, sun was shining, and I was making the 2000 m cumulative climb through the mountains of Galicia.

DONATIVO COFFEE [MONTÁN]

I had several sleeps to make in the mountains, and one of them caught me completely by surprise. Having not exactly followed the pilgrim routes that closely, I wasn’t familiar with the concept of a donativo, but when I arrived in this extremely small village after my toughest day of mountain biking yet, I knew it would be an experience I couldn’t pass up. I would have completely missed the farmhouse if it wasn’t for this very special couchsurfing connection.

I eventually rolled in through the gate of the property at the end of the village of Montán, trying to get my bearings. Simon, the owner of the farmhouse, and my couchsurfing contact earlier that day was actually away on a meditation retreat for a few days, but the others who stuck around welcomed me with open arms, and did their best to explain the program. We had Tom from England, Francisco from Portugal, Xose from Galicia, and even Chloe from Canada holding up the fort and attending to the passing Pilgrims. They assured me I was more than welcome to eat with them, get cleaned up, and spend the night in a warm bed as long as I helped serve coffees in the morning, something I found particularly interesting.

Along with bananas, wild chestnuts, oatmeal cookies, and other pilgrim fixings, the team took pleasure in serving up stove-top Moka coffee and frenchpress-foamed milk for lattes in the morning to weary travelers, all by donation. I was thrilled to see that even in the wilderness, coffee was bringing people together and spreading positivity. I left my newfound family a few pre-ground jars of my own coffee stash from La Fabrica for their personal brews, and was on my way – the sun already high in the sky and only a few days between me and the coast.

The home stretch! Another extremely cold, early-November morning set me on track for my last day of riding through Galicia, but 97 km later I was tasting the warm sea air as I cruised lower and lower from the mountains. Of course, Mother Nature bid me one final congratulations with a nice sprinkling of rain before reaching the coast, but I had been extremely lucky so far with dry travels, and I embraced the gesture, eventually finding myself in the city of A Coruña, on the Atlantic beach where we started this journey together two weeks ago.

DISPAR [A CORUÑA]

The day after my small moment of triumph on the beach, and resting well in the casa of another amazing couchsurfing host, I set out to find Dispar for my last coffee chat of my journey. Fortunately, Barista Jean was a little more connected on the social platforms and long-anticipated my arrival. Born of Colombian parents in New York City, and having lived half his life in Madrid, he eventually found himself in A Coruña, plunging in with his long-time passion for coffee, and opening a shop of his own in the city centre.

In Spanish, Dispar translates most directly to unequal or dissimilar, but in Jean’s definition, it means counterflow and relates to not getting too caught up in the trends of the coffee industry. At the time I popped by, the café had been open for just over 6 months, and it was only a month and a half before me when Luis from San Agustin paid him a very special visit, on his own research trip. With a quick chat and a few roast samples later, they soon began their own direct collaboration – for the time being, with beans of only Colombian origins.

Through our in-depth discussion, counterflow unfolded. “I want to offer only coffee. No cookies, no foods, no tea. This has to flow through your veins. I don’t want to sell coffee, I want to sell a culture.” Jean wants to focus on doing coffee really, really well, and felt that this approach, for him, was the way it needed to be. Next steps will likely include offering filter coffee as well, potentially something more automated but still very visually engaging.

I also found Jean’s approach to leche drinks very interesting in terms of their presentation. Keeping true to the concept of Dispar, and keeping the focus on coffee itself. Latte’s were served with the espresso completely pre-mixed in with the milk, giving the final pour a very minimal finish, as you might imagine. From my perspective, this extension of counterflow was really quite interesting, not that latte art was a bad thing for the coffee industry by any means, but that it can sometimes be used as a mask in marketing poor quality coffee.

A bit of a taboo in the specialty coffee community, sugar is something we’re all still trying to figure out, but he was pleasantly surprised how many people stop using as much when they drink his coffee. Also by providing sugar packets of only two and a half grams, people definitely started noticing the heightened flavor of his coffee, and that it was even better without.

Ultimately, Jean’s approach to “decaf” was something I found most intriguing and innovative about counterflow. He’s developed a method of pulling the shot and dividing it in a way that he believes takes out most of the caffeine. It’s not 100% scientifically proven, but in principle it should have a lot less. For people that request it, he’s given them a try at his new formula and hasn’t had any negative feedback yet.

I’m constantly blown away at how fast the specialty coffee community in Spain is growing; something new and exciting is happening literally every month. For the intents and purposes of this trip, I’ve been more than encouraged to witness firsthand all the collaborations that are popping up from Barcelona to A Coruña and to have met the passionate individuals behind it all. A huge thanks again to La Fabrica Coffee, Minipresso, and Mango Bikes for coming along side and successful another successful Nomad Barista coffee expedition.

Again, catch me on the 'gram.

FOOTNOTES

An extended version of The Field Report published in the April + May 2017 Twelfth Anniversary Issue of Barista Magazine.