Our Food Tours in Mexico City attract guests from all over the world who already adore Mexican food. They’ll arrive in Mexico City safe in the knowledge that Mexico is going to provide them with an array of taste sensations, from street food to fine dining. UNESCO recognizes Mexico’s cuisine as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
However, one aspect of Mexican food and drink that perhaps gets overlooked is the country’s extraordinary coffee scene. Coffee has been produced in Mexico since the 1700s, and the country is home to beans that stand out for their sweet, bold flavors – think chocolate bars, nuts, and fruit and spice notes.
Fortunately, the long tradition of coffee production in Mexico only seems to be going from strength to strength. The third-wave coffee movement, which places an emphasis on high-quality, single-sourced coffees, has taken off across the country.
In Mexico City, we’re blessed with a vibrant scene of micro-roasters, passionate baristas, and first-class cafes in which coffee aficionados can be assured of a friendly welcome and a fantastic brew.
Join us today as we draw attention to some of the city’s leading coffee roasters! And if you want to explore the wonderful world of Mexican coffee in the company of local experts, get in touch through our Private Tours in Mexico City page. We can create a personalized Mexico City coffee tasting just for you.
Third Wave Coffee and Mexico
First coined in 1999, the term third-wave coffee refers to specialty coffee – coffee normally prepared using single-source beans by people interested in exploring the richness of flavors that good coffee offers.
In Mexico, the movement stays true to a farm-to-cup principle: baristas and coffee enthusiasts know the very farm that their beans are coming from, and often they’re even aware of the farmer’s name.
Gone are the days when one might ask which country certain coffee beans came from, now we’re asking which locality they came from, and which farm.
Mexico’s greatest strength in all this is that the country is the world’s 8th largest producer of coffee beans.
Sure, many countries are fiercely dedicated to good coffee (which is great!), but few can say they’re drinking a truly local fruit. When you drink quality coffee in Mexico, you know it has been grown here by local people.
(As an aside, the same thing is true of Mexican chocolate. To take a deep dive into the wondrous world of Mexican chocolate, join us on our Friends and Chocolate Tour in Mexico City.)
Each time you invest in specialty coffee in Mexico, you’re helping to champion a coffee culture that has been brewing for 300 years.
Long may Mexican coffee continue to flourish!
Continue reading below to discover some of the best coffee roasters you’ll come across in CDMX.
Café Estelar
Though based out of Guadalajara, Café Estelar has an online shop and is sold at various spots across Mexico City, including Cafe Barajas, Chiquitito Café, Mauna Café, and Congreso Café.
Café Estelar works closely with farmers to source beans of the highest quality and brings their award-winning skills as baristas to the roasting process. With Café Estelar, you can be assured of big, complex flavors.
Pólvora Fabrica de Cafés Especiales
Pólvora Fabrica celebrates the farm-to-cup culture we mentioned above. Pólvora Fabrica source their beans from across Mexico, championing a variety of small producers in the process. Like many roasters on this list, coffee is a lifestyle for Pólvora Fabrica – they live and breathe the magical brew.
Pólvora Fabrica believes that the biggest challenge for the third-wave movement in Mexico is meeting the demand for professionalization. With this in mind, they’ve crafted a range of coffee courses for baristas and coffee shop owners. If you’re staying in Mexico for some time, consider taking their classes and becoming part of the specialty coffee scene.
Sonata tostadores
Based in Mexico City, Sonata tostadores are award-winning roasters. We recommend their Santiago Nuyoo, sourced from Oaxaca, for a wonderful flavor profile of subtle orange and jasmine notes.
Gradios Deli-Café
Erika at the Gradios Deli-Café brings a wealth of experience and passion to her coffee roasting process. Their beans are 100% sourced in Mexico. Located in Cuauhtémoc, their cafe is the perfect place to not only sample amazing coffee but also to indulge in homemade Mexican cakes and pastries.
Abril Solis / Café Fugaz
Head to the Café Fugaz to try coffee expertly roasted by Abril Solis, a leading light of the third-wave coffee scene with over 14 years of experience.
Jiribilla
The Cafe con Jiribila has understandably received a lot of plaudits in the media. They offer a variety of super coffees and work with a range of farmers from across Mexico. For a full-bodied, fruity coffee, try their Mezcla Mística. For something more delicate, try their Angélica Pérez, developed with Red Bourbon beans red Bourbon from the Sierra Mixteca in Oaxaca.
Ensambles
Ensambles are located in Veracruz though you’ll find their coffee across Mexico City. Most of their coffees come from biodiverse coffee plantations promoting conservation, water care, and protection of the environment and the people that make up these communities.
Visit the Ensambles online store to explore the variety of marvelous beans they offer.
This ends our list of fantastic coffee roasters across Mexico City. If you have any questions about the Mexican coffee scene or our Mexico City food tours, please get in touch.
