Don’t Skip the Budding Specialty-Café Culture in Quito, Ecuador

Don’t Skip the Budding Specialty-Café Culture in Quito, Ecuador

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Don’t Skip the Budding Specialty-Café Culture in Quito, Ecuador

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Don’t Skip the Budding Specialty-Café Culture in Quito, Ecuador

Don’t Skip the Budding Specialty-Café Culture in Quito, Ecuador

minimum dose size?

Jan 31, 2024 |

I use the Hario switch to brew my coffee and am trying to reduce my caffeine consumption. Hence I would like to brew smaller cups of coffee. I am currently using 10g of coffee with 160g of water. (1:16 Ratio) I am wondering if there is a minimum amount of coffee...

Don’t Skip the Budding Specialty-Café Culture in Quito, Ecuador

Introducing the specialty cafés of Quito, a city worth exploring on your coffee quest.

BY JORDAN BUCHANAN
SPECIAL TO BARISTA MAGAZINE

When traveling across South America, Ecuador can be forgotten between the high profiles of Colombia and Peru. Similarly, coffee from Ecuador may be overlooked due to its giant neighbors, including the stellar reputation of the coffee colossus to its north, Colombia. However, Ecuador is a neat package of specialty coffee, and the best place to explore and expand your knowledge on Ecuadorian coffee is in the capital city of Quito. Here, we take a look at some of Quito’s exciting coffee spots.

A latte from Il Barista, where many business professionals gather due to its location. Photo courtesy of Il Barista.

Il Barista

Employees of Ecuador’s chambers of commerce and other business professionals are the main frequenters of this café, owing to its location. The owners, Valeria and Pablo, opened Il Barista in 2017 with the goal of sharing their specialty-coffee passion with a wider community in the heart of a corporate area. They established a café that has acoustics for business meetings, and an aesthetic and customer service that combine for this professional feel. As a consumer, this serious service gives you an experience suited for the serious task of imbibing in the coffee culture of Ecuador.

Palatu Coffee

Palatu is more than a coffee space. The name itself derives from the word “palate,“ and that’s the driving concept of this café. Whether it be a Saturday tattoo artist, a Friday night DJ, a patisserie chef, or a V60, this café will excite your senses. Pablo is a young owner by specialty-coffee shop norms, and he brings enthusiasm and intelligence to this project. If you thought that diversifying coffee-shop activity would reduce the quality of the coffee, then come visit this café to be proven wrong! Palatu offers the best in Ecuadorian specialty, and they maintain close relationships with their farmers, despite their busy business model. The knowledge of specialty coffee here is just as comprehensive as the activity in the shop.

Fankør was founded in 2018, inspired by the specialty-coffee culture that owner Pablo encountered while in Denmark. Photo courtesy of Fankør.

Fankør Coffee

Yes, that is a Danish ø in this café name. Owner Pablo never liked commercial coffee much; he consumed it for productivity reasons. But when a friend gave him specialty coffee in 2017, Pablo embarked on a new obsession. He traveled around Ireland, Scotland, Sweden, and Denmark, accumulating knowledge on specialty coffee and the “light roast.” In 2018, Fankør was born, inspired by the specialty-coffee culture that Pablo encountered in Denmark. This café brings Scandinavian café culture to the middle of Quito, and offers rare and unique Ecuadorian coffees.

Café Traviesa

Felipe, the owner, is a social scientist by profession. And his curiosity and care for society and development inspires his coffee activity. Felipe works closely with rural community projects to acquire top Ecuadorian production that supports sustainable trade for coffee farmers. Felipe’s café, Traviesa, is fully equipped with the best in coffee technology to serve his coffees with respect for the coffee chain. Felipe is another pioneer of specialty coffee in the country, and his wealth of knowledge on coffee and society lead to this café being a must-try on any coffee-motivated visit to Ecuador.

Traviesa works with rural farmers to procure top-quality beans with a focus on sustainability. Photo courtesy of Traviesa.

Legacy Specialty Coffee

David, the owner, is all about learning. Since he opened his coffee school in 2013, he has contributed to the growth of knowledge and skill across the specialty café community in Ecuador. He still teaches from his dedicated learning space in the café. David experiments with alternative coffee drinks, such as coffee-cherry beers and beverages. But if you order a more traditional coffee drink, you can trust that the barista will prepare something great, owing to the expert training at Legacy.

Broz Coffee

Broz is a recent addition to Quito. They concentrate on roast profiles and close relationships with farmers and the consumer community. Owner Philip cut his teeth in specialty coffee in Melbourne, Australia, and he has transferred that experience and knowledge to Quito. A comfortable workspace, a safe social spot, and an exquisite coffee experience, Broz is a great boost to Quito’s specialty-café culture.

Stratto is a roastery in Quito that specializes in Ecuadoran specialty coffees. Photo courtesy of Stratto.

Stratto

Stratto is not a coffee shop, but it is worth mentioning here for anyone wanting to explore more of Ecuador’s specialty scene. Alejandro and Jonathan combined their coffee expertise in 2020 to create this coffee roastery, with special emphasis on acquiring and roasting phenomenal specialty coffees from Ecuador. They have a regular supply of coffee that you won’t find anywhere else, and they roast it to perfection.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jordan Buchanan (he/they) is completing their Ph.D. in Latin American history at UC San Diego. Their research focuses on the growth of specialty-café cultures in producer nations in Latin America. Jordan grew up in Scotland and currently lives between there and Mexico when not doing doctoral work in San Diego. After purchasing their first AeroPress, Jordan has been an avid specialty-coffee enthusiast, which has added a new perspective to their lust for travel and exploration. 

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The post Don’t Skip the Budding Specialty-Café Culture in Quito, Ecuador appeared first on Barista Magazine Online.

Don’t Skip the Budding Specialty-Café Culture in Quito, Ecuador

Perfect Little Beans

Chinmey Hill Coffee uses specialty-grade beans with zero primary defects (such as black beans or sour beans) and less than five secondary defects (such as broken beans). This is important because primary defects will greatly affect the taste of the coffee. Having zero defects allows the coffee to be the most optimal flavor.

Window for Optimal Flavor

Chimney Hill Coffee ships our coffee the same day it was roasted, so you will receive it before it enters the window of optimal flavor.  This means you’ll never miss the opportunity to enjoy the coffee’s peak flavor.

Coffee Ratings

Coffee undergoes many scoring processes by professionals who achieved their Q Grader certification. Coffee is first graded when it’s green. If there are defects the coffee is determined to be “not-specialty grade”. For those coffees that pass green grading, they are sample roasted and cupped. (Cupping is the official term for critically tasting and scoring coffees. The official cupping form is standard worldwide, and where the 100-point scoring system comes from.) A coffee’s dry fragrance, wet aroma, flavor, aftertaste, body, acidity, balance, and overall impression are taken into consideration while uniformity issues and defects, will lower the overall score.

Specialty Coffee

Specialty coffee, coined by Erna Knutsen in 1974, refers to a coffee that receives a quality grading score of 80 percent or higher. While “premium” or “gourmet” seem like they’re synonymous with “specialty,” they simply are marketing terms with no defined standards. Specialty coffees are grown in specific and ideal micro-climates, and have distinctive and unique flavor profiles, with little to no defects.

Third-Wave Coffee

We’re currently in the third wave of coffee. The first wave of American coffee put pre-ground, vacuum-sealed cans in kitchens across America. The second wave started with the late ‘60s introduction of Peet’s coffee (by Alfred Peet) through the proliferation of Starbucks. The third wave of coffee focuses on origin transparency, nuanced flavors, and artisan roasting. The term “third wave” is synonymous with specialty coffee.

Don’t Skip the Budding Specialty-Café Culture in Quito, Ecuador

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