One of the ways in which I'm a basic bitch is my inability to resist a cute cafe. Eric still had to work two of the days I was in Antigua, which basically just meant built in cafe time for me.
12 Onzas was one of his regular spots.
Maybe the only thing I miss about being in school is the ability to take my work to a coffee shop. Back home, we made a habit of meeting at Caribou when everyone was home for break. In Madison, I bounced around between a few cafes when I was writing my thesis. Since starting work, I haven't had a good excuse to hole up in a coffee shop - not that it would even be easy here in the Bay where almost no cafe has wifi on purpose. The open air, hacienda style buildings around Antigua made for delightfully serene cafes. My favorite thing about any experience I've had with Latin America is how green everything is.
I enjoyed two afternoon carajillos with the candied camote we picked up at the market.
We ducked into Alegria Cafe just before it started drizzling. This one wasn't open air, but the space reminded me of places back home. There was wine and chili oil in their little corner shop. The barista was cute, the sesame latte was smooth and delicious, and I got an green goddess (aguacate, jugo de naranja, jengibre, moringa, miel, chia) smoothie to revitalized me before exploring some convent ruins.
I needed a nap after lunch, so we were headed home, but then Eric led us into Saul Bistro for a quick look, and I was like let's stay here.
There was a wall of books, mismatching furniture, and origami grasshoppers that hung from the ceiling.
I loved it all.
I loved this silly portrait on the way to the bathroom and the curtain of vines hanging off the roof.
I went with a pot of mint, cardamom (and other things) tea and sprawled out on the couch.
If I could capture my inner feelings in that moment in one image, it's this:
We popped into The River Coffee House so Eric could answer an unexpected call on the way back to the apartment, and this ended up being the only place I ordered a pour over from. It was half to kill time while I loitered inside and half to try just a pure unadulterated cup of coffee (which I hadn't had from an Antigua coffee shop yet). While waiting, I watched a beautiful brown pup finish chewing through his leash while his human chatted with the barista before any of us knew what was happening.
The coffee was goood.
I was told Guatemala has the best coffee, so naturally I was set on a coffee farm tour.
We booked a morning trek with De la Gente to Manuel's farm in San Miguel Escobar the morning after descending from a volcano. I don't think either of us could handle any capacity of walking, but we did our best going up through the farms with plots of beans, maiz, sweet potato, and of course, coffee - with the volcanoes as our backdrop.
We tried fresh red coffee cherries, and we took turns roasting green coffee beans on a comal and then grinding them on a molcajete. The resulting unevenly roasted, questionably burnt coffee beans passed no standards, but we drank the output of our work anyways.
You know that scene from The Aristocats where the mouse dips his giant cracker into his portion of milk to nibble on? That's how I felt with these cracker-cookies things from La Reposteria that were actually amazing dipped in the coffee.
Manuel sends his coffee to two places in the states - CA and NV. Coffeebar is in Truckee, close to me...er three hours, I told him. So he insisted we take a picture for the next time I visit Coffeebar:
We didn't fit in as many bars as cafes, but I did enjoy ending the trip at Ulew, a speakeasy bar attached to Antigua Brewing Co with a red phone booth entrance. There is no menu at Ulew - you tell the bartender your preferred liquor and flavor/aroma profile, floral fruity spicy refreshing strong or smooth etc, and they make a cocktail that's served on one of their fun little 3D coaster things.
I loved mine: mezcal + floral + refreshing + smooth. Eric went with mezcal + refreshing + spicy and damn did they bring the capsaicin. After searching for chili sauces far and wide on this trip, we finally met our match in a cocktail.
I had a jamaica almost everywhere I went. Cuevita had a yummy vanilla-y note. Como Como had a fine standard one despite the blah food. Casa de Sopas had the tangiest one. Antigua Brewing Co also had a good standard one that I could drink by the gallon:
Got a cardamom hot chocolate bar from a weekend market that ended up being perfect for a rainy evening (and spiked with whiskey).
The Priority Pass lounge in Guatemala City is tucked behind their rum store. Eric had told me Zacapa is the rum of Guatemala, so with an hour and a half to kill before my 11a flight, I got a glass on the rocks with breakfast. I'm usually not a rum person but this one gave me whiskey vibes - highly suggest adding it to your coffee :)
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