realfoodrebel
Brenda Cosentino
- Time of past OR future Camino
- 2016
For 2024 Pilgrims: €50,- donation = 1 year with no ads on the forum + 90% off any 2024 Guide. More here. (Discount code sent to you by Private Message after your donation) |
---|
If you are walking 800 km you are going to see every possible response to each of your questions. But to summarize: no, you are not guaranteed to have coffee available early in the morning and no, most albergues do not serve coffee early in the morning. On the bright side some albergues have a coffee machine and almost every village bar has a $5000 espresso machine - the Spanish are serious about their coffee - and many of them, especially along popular camino routes, are open as early as 7:00 or 7:30 rather than the normal 10:00 to 11:00 which seems more usual in other parts of Spain. I won't comment on the notion of making your own because I just don't know the answer to that one. For a guy who never drank coffee before walking a camino, I have now become seriously addicted to café con leché and am, in fact, suffering withdrawal at the moment.
I'm a coffee obsessive. I took my Aeropress coffee maker and my Porlex grinder to Europe with me earlier this year. I contributed to a previous thread and got some happy responses. I'll leave you to it:Hi there! I love my morning coffee! Two large cups before I do anything. Do most of the Alberques serve coffee early in the morning? Are places open that sell coffee early? Can I make my own coffee?
Thanks for any responses!
Starbucks does not exist on the Camino. Actually, Starbucks does not exist in Spain except in Madrid and Barcelona. Coffee is respected, and there is no room for posers.On the bright side
Not a Starbucks fan myself, but somebody must like the place. I've seen them all over Asia and in Europe.Starbucks does not exist on the Camino. Actually, Starbucks does not exist in Spain except in Madrid and Barcelona. Coffee is respected, and there is no room for posers.
Yeah, gotta have my morning cup of joe myself.Yes I now have a clearer idea of what to expect. When coffee is a daily part of a person's life it becomes kind of important. I am a serious coffee addict! Withdrawal migraines and all!
the Spanish are serious about their coffee
The two most common choices for coffee on the Camino is cafe con leche, of course, which is similar to the cafe au lait (without the chicory) we have here in New Orleans and Cafe Americano.
Yeah, I knew there were other types available at the cafes when I walked the Camino, it's just that I mainly saw either cafe con leche served, or the cafe Americano, which I think I heard being called cafe solo as well.I know Colombians that complain about how the coffee is treated in Spain so I guess it's all a matter of points of view.
Disclaimer: I'm not an expert on coffee and I don't drink coffee myself so it may be inaccuracies on the info provided below and/or it may be incomplete.
Café con leche
Café cortado
Café solo
The café solo (just coffee) can be Americano or Expresso or some other(s).
The Café cortado varies depending on where you are. It may be coffee with just a little bit of milk (e.g.: in Castile and León) or it can be what in the places where the cortado has just a little bit of milk would be a café con leche. If the later (e.g.: in Catalonia), a café con leche is a coffee with even more milk.
Café con leche
Café cortado
Café solo
Ok. After a few weeks, I think I might have been in Galicia, I ordered 'an Americano' for the 1st time. The cafe owner yelled at me : 'not in my cafe you don't! No such thing as an Americano here' (in Spanish). He was not happy
Yes he did.Did he have a café solo pero grande?
Yes he did
I always ordered a "café solo, doble, pero no Americano." That way I got two shots of espesso, without being watered down into an Americano.
That's what worked much of the time, but after getting enough questions (and the occasional Americano), I found that adding it up front saved us both some confusion.So it all went well after all. I guess you got a café doble instead of an americano though (see below).
If you ask just for a café doble, you should get the same result (or so I think).
I always ordered a "café solo, doble, pero no Americano." That way I got two shots of espesso, without being watered down into an Americano.
That's what worked much of the time, but after getting enough questions (and the occasional Americano), I found that adding it up front saved us both some confusion.
So it all went well after all. I guess you got a café doble instead of an americano though (see below).
If you ask just for a café doble, you should get the same result (or so I think).
Yes you can make your own cup of coffee in most Albergues. In supermarkets in Spain you can buy a pack of about 10 sachets of Nescafe. I met some pilgrims from France and Wales who had a heating element that they put in a pot or pan to make a hot drink.Hi there! I love my morning coffee! Two large cups before I do anything. Do most of the Alberques serve coffee early in the morning? Are places open that sell coffee early? Can I make my own coffee?
Thanks for any responses!
Hi there! I love my morning coffee! Two large cups before I do anything. Do most of the Alberques serve coffee early in the morning? Are places open that sell coffee early? Can I make my own coffee?
Thanks for any responses!
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?