Serving People Serving Coffee Since 2005
Issue link: http://baristamagazine.epubxp.com/i/804825
exciting things happening in the local scene. To assist, Jorge gave me my fi rst lead. As the name might suggest, La Cicleria was another cycling café that also operated a bike co-op in the back for locals to use for working on their bikes. They even had a charla, or chat, space downstairs for events and special talks. I got to talking with one of the bike me- chanics about my trip and project, and he told me about a bike shop, Ciclofacteria, on the other side of town that he said I had to check out, as they were currently starting a collaboration with a new local roast- er called San Jorge. Hoping for another lead, I quickly found them on Instagram, and shot off a message about my project. Learning that I was only around for one night, Borja, the owner, wrote me back insist- ing that I head out to the countryside to pay the roastery a visit. Twenty minutes later, Borja pulled up in his car. I thanked the mechanic, and we were off. Borja explained how he collaborates with Ezequiel, who had been roasting for a short time now in his home (which I soon realized was more of a hacienda). We arrived at his gates just as the last light from the shrouded sun disappeared, and the roaster himself welcomed us in from the rain. At the moment, Ezequiel is the only specialty roaster in Zaragoza, and he has only been pursuing coffee for four years so far. As I got the grand tour of the roasting room, we tried several espressos from vari- ous origins, and Borja did a few last practice brews for the AeroPress competition he was entering the following day—ironically in Barcelo- na, where I live. Before making our way back into the city, I was given yet another lead to a roaster located in León, exactly en route, named San Agustín, and took a minute to shoot them an email as well. M I N I P R E S S O W I T H T H E R O A D S I D E B R E W In relying solely on Google Maps for navigation during my trip— which seemed to be very keen on taking me over only the most grav- elly roads–I happened to have my fi rst fl at of the journey just before entering Rioja. Fortunately, it was also the only fl at throughout the entire two weeks on the road, and after pumping my tire back up to full pressure, I decided to take the time to pump out a few espressos, Clockwise from top le : Jean Zuluaja hanging his clever Dispar Café sign back up a er Spanish lunch break. No la e art, just coff ee. This is counterfl ow. The world of coff ee just waiting to be explored, one espresso at a time. Organized Coff ee; a kick-start to any morning on the road. 32 barista magazine