Gypsy Jan
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4275
Registered: 1-27-2004
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Mood: Depends on which way the wind is blowing
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Los Dioses de la Cafeína: Das Cortez in Tijuana
By Dave Lieberman
From the OC Weekly and for pictures, go to: http://blogs.ocweekly.com/stickaforkinit/2012/08/das_cortez....
"After a night spent out late on Sixth Street or in the pulsating, mind-altering nightclub known as Clássico, the body needs two things: restorative
caffeine, and something chile-spiked and offal-y. The latter is easily found anywhere in downtown Tijuana, with menudo and birria practically bursting
out from every corner, but the former is surprisingly hard to find.
While there's something to be said for a steaming mug of spiced, sweet café de olla in a market fonda or standing at a cart selling tamales, most
coffee in Tijuana is truly awful; it's made from instant crystals or is so weak it might as well be water. Starbucks and its local predecessor,
D'Volada, do a lot of business, but let's face it, Starbucks is rascuache and D'Volada's more about smoothies than quality coffee.
It was with an audible chirp of my internal caffeine-positioning system, then, that I drove past Das Cortez, on Calle Brasil in the oh-so-hipster
neighborhood of La Cacho, south of downtown on the hill with the giant Mexican flag you can see from ten miles away.
Run by Jethro Sepúlveda and Javier López Encinas, Das Cortez is absolutely tiny, a coffee bar that's maybe six feet by three feet, with a small patio
next door with a few seats. People drive up, double-park flagrantly, and get their coffee to go, or to drink standing on the corner.
It's all espresso-based drinks, and it's all GOOD espresso-based drinks. The coffee they normally roast is called Dama Rossa, a blend of five
different beans, all 100 percent shade-grown Arabicas from Veracruz state in eastern Mexico. The milk is organic and steamed to order (unlike a
certain mermaid-type chain coffeeshop we could mention), and there are a couple of sandwiches and pastries available for order.
They do make frozen and cold drinks, including a hell of an affogato (espresso and ice cream!) but start with just an espresso, a shot with crema
nearly half a centimeter thick. They'll sweeten it for you if you want; just sip it, because it's the best espresso in the state. If you're more of a
cappuccino drinker, you can get one made that's the equivalent of any morning cappuccino in Italy.
Das Cortez just celebrated its first anniversary, and they're planning to add locations and open a roasting facility. I can't wait; while La Cacho's
really centrally located to almost anywhere in the city, I want easy access to that coffee anywhere in Tijuana I may roam; y ¡a la con Starbucks!"
Brasil 8920-B (corner of Durango, four blocks east of Fundadores), La Cacho, Tijuana, B.C., Mexico; 011-52-664-104-1954; dascortez.com. Open
Monday-Saturday 7 a.m.-9 p.m., Sunday 11 a.m.-7 p.m.
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow mindedness.”
—Mark Twain
\"La vida es dura, el corazon es puro, y cantamos hasta la madrugada.” (Life is hard, the heart is pure and we sing until dawn.)
—Kirsty MacColl, Mambo de la Luna
\"Alea iacta est.\"
—Julius Caesar
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Kalypso
Nomad
Posts: 147
Registered: 5-17-2011
Location: San Diego
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Mr. Lieberman didn't do his research very well  . There is a really good coffee
shop in Tijuana doing some very interesting things with coffee and producing a great cup along the way.
Caffe Sospeso sources small batch, single origin coffees, roasts in house and brews three ways...chemex, aeropress or cold drip. Each method
brings out something different in the beans and the knowledgable baristas can recommend a coffee to go with the brewing choice, or vice versa.
They also have a selection of interesting teas, a small selection of sweets and serve light (not lite) food.
Caffe Sospeso is located a block south of the Camino Real hotel on the street that runs in back of the Calimax, which IIRC is Joaquin Clausell? You
will need some Spanish, every time I've been, English has been in short supply.
Some servers/baristas understand a fair bit of English but don't speak it
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