Cafe La Quinta Mary: San Sabastian del Oeste

I've visited coffee plantations on previous travels to Costa Rica and Jamaica but never previously in Mexico.  Mexican coffee, particularly from the Chiapas region, has always held a special place in my heart.  When coffee was just a hobby for me, I had an internet friend from Alaska who would go to Chiapas each year and bring back coffee beans from area farmers, which he would then roast in his Alaskan pizza oven setup.  He mailed me five pounds of these raw beans. It was some of the best coffee that I've ever tried.

When I roasted professionally, I kept Mexican coffee beans in stock for two reasons.  One, I loved the flavor profile.  Two, it was the least expensive high-quality arabica coffee that I could find--often less than $2/lb for green in 152 lb bags.   I sold two different roasts:  a lightly roasted-bean that was marketed as Mexican Altura and an dark-oily bean that was marketed as French Roast (known internally as BBB for badly burn beans).  

The coffee plantation that we visited in the San Sabastian area was quite basic.  Here, an employee is grinding the coffee beans with a belt-driven grinder.

The owner is selling roasted coffee to us gringo tourists. His family has been growing coffee here for five generations.

As soon as the line died down, I asked him if he could sell me a kilo of green (raw) coffee beans.  He nodded and then disappeared for a long time in the back.  The price was half the price of roasted--a reasonable deal.  

When I went to roast the coffee back home, the preparation was not as clean as what I'm used to.  There were small amounts of debris mixed in with the green beans.  However, the lightly roasted coffee was delicious. 

First Stop: Tour to San Sebastian del Oeste

 From December 2021

Towards the end of our Puerto Vallarta trip, I reluctantly gave Julia permission to book an excursion into the mountains.  In my mind, I was thinking of past sightseeing bus tours, where you get out, take a few photos in a crowd of tourists, and move back into the bus for the next stop.  

This excursion turned out much better than that, and I'm glad that I let Julia talk me into it.  Things started out well when Julia called the excursion company and asked if there were any spots left for the tour on the next day to San Sebastian del Oeste.  The guy said that there were exactly two unfilled spots left on the tour.  If we could get to the pickup spot at a nearby hotel early the next morning, he would let us come along for $50/each (reduced from $85/each).  

We had no idea what to expect from the tour, except that it was supposed to include a coffee plantation, a tequila tasting, and a self-guided tour at the mountain village of San Sebastian del Oeste.  We had an early morning espresso near the pickup spot and soon saw three other couples waiting to be picked up.  Our tour operators were late.  This is Mexico and to be expected.

 

Eventually, a tour bus arrived, and the driver urged us all on.  However, just before leaving, he discovered that we weren't the people he was supposed to pick up.  We all got back off.  I'm not sure where the driver  would have taken us if he hadn't discovered the mistake.

Ten minutes later, a smaller bus/large van arrived on the opposite side of the street with a driver and a guide.  This was our ride.  We stopped at several other hotels along the beach on the way out of town and picked up  a few other couples.  

Then, the driver took us several hours up into the mountains.   The guide talked to us informally along the way, pointing out areas of interest, including new developments in the jungle that might appeal to northerners looking for lower priced, new homes.  The developments were lovely but would be a very different experience than Puerto Vallarta.

Our first stop was at a roadside bakery. 

 

Here we learned how to make tortillas the traditional way.

 

It isn't as easy as you might think.  The trick is to get the raw form to the grill in one whole flat piece.  It's a hand-on process, including flipping the tortilla with your fingers on the hot griddle.  No liability waivers needed in this part of the world.

the tricky part

After our lesson, we had pastries and coffee made by the professionals.  

 Our next stop would be a coffee plantation.

 

A Country Walk

It rained all night here in Wisconsin. There's something soothing about waking up in the middle of the night and hearing the sound of rain through the open window screen.  We started off the year with a slight water deficit, due to a dry winter, but we've more than made up for it with a wet spring.  More rain is predicted this week, and we'll soon have mushrooms growing in the yard.

I took a walk out into the country today between storms moving through.  Usually, that doesn't work out so well, and I get soaked.  But today, I was able to finish my six mile stroll, while taking a few photos of the plants popping up through rich topsoil.

Ditch Flowers and Field Corn

Tobacco for Chew

Soybeans

The original plan was to camp today near Alma, Wisconsin, along the backwaters of the Mississippi River.  However, that plan was aborted with rain and cooler temperatures predicted for all of this week.  The Scamp is just a little tight for two adults and a dog to spend an entire happy week. Wisconsin has a $5 cancellation fee for state park campgrounds, so it was an easy call to make.  We will try again another time.  We plan to take Justin to a minor league game next weekend.  Hopefully, it doesn't rain.

Puerto Vallarta: Beer

From December 2021

My expectations are always low for local beer when I travel in Latin America.  Many of the beers are produced by mega-breweries and tend to be light lagers.

Negra Modelo is an exception to the predominant style, representing a dark lager with hints of caramel and nuts.

I found two brewpubs in the Zona Romantica neighborhood, but I only tried the beer at one.  Los Muertos Brewing is the better-known of the two, serves food, and was often packed with people. Instead, I went to Monzon Brewing Company, which was less glitzy and more neighborhood pub atmosphere.

All of the beers that I tried were above average.  The customers were mainly Americans and Canadians, including some long-term expats.  The beer and atmosphere were good enough that i returned a couple of more times.

Porter from Monzon

 

Puerto Vallarta: Public Art on or near the Malecon

 From December 2021

During our walks on the Malecon, I took photos of some of the many sculptures.

 

 

 

Looking back at those photos now, I recall the peace we both felt on the Malecon, especially at sunset.  Being in Puerto Vallarta didn't make the pandemic go away.  Masking inside was strictly observed for all--even in the common areas of our condo complex. But outside, walking among the sculptures along the sea, especially at sunset, it was possible for us to forget for just a little while. 

Crooked Tree

One of my favorite recently-discovered-to-me musical artists is Molly Tuttle.  She has a song called "Crooked Tree" that can turn a bad day into a better day.  

The same is true for a crooked tree that hangs on at the top of Gibraltar Rock Natural Area.  I drive to Gibraltar several times per week to hike and spend a few moments paying homage to a crooked tree that thrives on the edge of a cliff.