Café Bre

During the third week of our study-abroad program in Oaxaca, Mexico, we happened to see Café Bre while finding our way back to school from Cafe Nuevo Mundo. Both of these coffee shops were close to Santo Domingo and a good 20 minutes from campus (speed walking). 

Café Bre is one of the few cafés in Oaxaca with an option for prensa francesa (French press).  Bre only let the hot water sit with the ground coffee for a minute before plunging, so it was a little weak, but very flavorful.  Bre was a very reserved barista.

Extracto

Ubicación (location): Atoyac de Alvarez

Estado (state): Guerrero

Productor: Pavel Nuñez 

Sabor: Notas a frutos rojos y cacao 

Maria and I split a prensa francesa grande.  I enjoyed the subtle strawberry flavor.

I absolutely loved the courtyard at Café Bre.

Cafe Quintal

Ubicación (location): Nayarit

Productor: Café Sustenable Méx

Sabor: Notas a nuez (nutty).

The perfume of this coffee reminded me of pecans, and I also thought it had a slight tartness, reminiscent of cranberries. This was less acidic than Extracto.

Kate

My goal during our coffee adventures was to practice speaking Spanish and increase my vocabulary. The action for pouring hot water into the French press would be vertir (to pour with care), NOT hechar (to pour rapidly).

Kate was bilingual and had been living in Oaxaca for 8 years after marrying a Oaxacan artist, Guillermo Pacheco.  She was definitely a coffee enthusiast and just lit up talking (in Spanish) about coffee and Oaxaca.

I visited Café Bre for the last time on our three day weekend and ordered Miramar, which was one of the stronger coffees with less acidity and deeper notes of cacao with a slight fruity finish.

I enjoyed the transparent glasses at Café Bre, especially when the sun was out to shine through the coffee.

Kate's husband, Guillermo Pacheco (aka "Memo")

I visited Guillermo's studio on my last day in Oaxaca.  He makes his own paint and applies layers of multiple colors, then scrapes and etches into the paint. He prefers abstraction and much of his work is inspired by landscapes from his childhood.  His paintings are sold in Monterey, Miami, NY, and California.

Rating out of 5 stars

Coffee: 4 (would have liked it a little stronger)

Cup: 5

Service: 5 (Kate was very obliging to talk about the coffee)

Ambience: 5+