When I first moved to Spain, I couldn't figure out what the coffee tasted so bad. So I did a little investigating. And that lead me to the mysterious world of torrefacto. Have you tried coffee in Spain? What did you think? Let me know in the comment below - I'm very curious!
Just moved to Naples Italy from Hawaii. I did love those Hawaiian beans; will I have to be on the lookout for Torrefacto here in Italy, maybe by a different name? (My wife is from Spain so she has been giving me the basic tour of food and drink)
What you describe is extremely similar to what is served in Vietnam - sugar roasted robusta - quite sure that’s a colonial hangover too! I expect robusta has always been much more available, it’s so much easier to grow.
The cofee in Spain is for people who need start live. A dead man with close eyes became a Spedy Gonzalez or Correcaminos with eyes like dishes, the diferent: "un cortado, por favor". We don´t need coca or nothing like this.
AZ One of my very favorite things about Spain! Walk into any little bar and put down a couple euros and you get a beautiful cup of really strong coffee, often with a little chocolate on the side, and served in a real cup, not paper. Sigh. I miss it.
@@stickychocolate8155 Disagree, I was in Australia, most of the coffee I got there was Star Bucks rip off recipe; with a slight bend towards more of milk shake than true coffee.
This is so funny to me. I really love Spanish coffee! I couldn’t figure out why it tasted so much stronger and (to me) tastier than what is typically offered in the US. To find out it’s 15-20% burnt sugar makes it all make sense, because I’ve always loved anything with that bittersweet burnt caramel flavor. So thanks for the explanation! 😂
I never had a "really" bad coffee in Spain, this is new to me this info. One of the things that I love about Spain, is just the coffee. And I don't like bitter coffee so I must have been lucky then trough out the years:) Mostly I drink cafe con leche bot also from time to time a normal cafe, and the combo of coffee and milk in Spain are wonderful.
I love coffe in Spain and most spanish people seem to like it too. Its only ever anglophone people I see complaining about the coffee in Spain but everyone has different tastes! The reason Cafe con leche tastes unique is because in Spain they usually use UHT milk rather than fresh milk and I actually prefer it with coffee.
The people in this thread saying the coffee in Spain is bad... I just don't get it. I love coffee and have had it in about 15 countries all over the world and Torrefacto is my favourite.
I live in Spain myself and I think this is the 1st time someone is complaining about their coffee. I absolutely love it and everytime I travel up north it kills me not to be bale to have a decent coffee in the morning.
@@Shmalick It's not the same coffee. People associate Spain with good tapas and wine but not with coffee. Italy is considered the best place for an espresso or cappuccino. Spanish people don't take proud in the way they make coffee and that's fine. But don't kid yourself and think you can find great coffee everywhere in Spain just like in Italy. If you don't find a difference is because you don't know anything about coffee or just do half coffee half milk from a carton.
@@Herr.Mitternacht You have never been in Spain. Italian coffee and spanish coffe are very similar. If the author of the video is complaining for the Spanish coffe, then If he were in Italy then he would be complaining much more, because Italian coffe is even a little bit stronger. He is used to drinking very very very smooth coffee and he only have felt the huge difference between both drinks.
Oh God, I miss Spanish coffee... I lived in Spain for 9 years from 1968 to 1977 and since my return to Canada I have never had a "good" cup of coffee... We never made coffee at home in Spain... it was our treat to go to a Spanish Bar for coffee when we went out to do our shopping. Oh Lord that little Bar across from the back of the Fish Market in Fuengirola had the best Tapas and the best coffee... Maybe it isn't even there anymore? If anyone ever goes there... Her potato salad was to die for!.... I don't know how to spell it but she called it "Ensalada Rusa"... If I remember it correctly, it had her home made mayonnaise with the potatoes, green peas and tuna... and not sure what else... but I still dream of it and I haven't been back to Spain since 1981.... I lived between Fuengirola and Mijas Pueblo, so we took a long bus ride to get to the fish & vegetable market either way. Yes, I dream of having a "Sombra".... In those days it was not served in a cup & saucer, it was served in a small clear glass.
It's funny, I'm Spanish and have been an expat for over 20 years now. I had to watch your video to understand why I miss Spanish coffee so much. What I miss is my torrefacto!! I didn't know it was such bad quality either... But I like it that way. It must be the emotional factor you mentioned. Great video thanks!
I am also a Spanish migrant living abroad, and, even though I knew about torrefacto and Spanish coffee's bad quality, I also miss the Spanish coffee with torrefacto!
It's not bad quality. The author of this video is profoundly arrogant, and I, who am also a Spanish person, was deeply offended by it. I don't know where you're living now but if you're living in any of the Commonwealth countries or the USA I'm sure you've noticed that the coffee is actually worse than in Spain. I live in Canada and I am about 120Km away from the nearest place I know of that serves a tolerable espresso. If I were in Spain I could walk 50 metres to the nearest bar, cafe, restaurant, or even chiringuito, and get a very very nice coffee. Here in Canada I am surrounded by Tim Hortons. Terrible terrible coffee. I was heartbroken to see Tim Hortons opening up in Spain the last time I visited. There's one in the Renfe station in Alicante!
@@user-of4bf8dl5r The coffee is not bad quality. You should always ignore arrogant expats like the author of this video. He comes to Spain from abroad then claims to be an expert on all things about Spain. He's pathetic.
Wow, congratulations! You really went deep in your research about Spanish coffee. I’m a Spaniard and, in my opinion, our coffee sucks! 😂😂😂 I lived in Brazil for a while and I was amazed of how good their coffee was, and you didn’t need to go anywhere special, any place around the corner would do the trick. Mind blowing good 🤯❤️❤️❤️
I'm Spanish and you are SO right. I literally can only have coffee in very few specialist coffee shops these days, which luckily are opening up more and more! I miss the Aussie coffee shops
I'm Spanish and I don't like Spanish coffee. I hate torrefacto, to me it has no flavour or aroma, it's just bitter and sour.This video was really interesting for me . I didn't know all those historical facts. I'm an expat and enjoy my non Spanish coffee. I miss many other wonderful things and products from Spain, but certainly not torrefacto. Curiously enough many Germans and Americans here in Berlin tell me they love Spanish coffee and ask me how I can live without it! :-)
Thanks for this excellent explanation. That's something we, Spaniards, discover when living abroad: why the hell coffee tastes so bad in Spain? You gave us the answer! Thank you!
In Portugal we don´t have the mezcla café and I notice when I bought café in a spanish supermarket that most of the coffee (100% coffee not la Mezcla) was from a portuguese company (Delta - Campo Maior)
Hi James, being born in Cuba, I couldn’t stomach the coffee in Spain. However, Cuban coffee ( very dark espresso) is always drank with sugar. Very rarely do you see anyone drink without some sugar. I don’t know if you have ever visited Miami and had some Cuban coffee- as my Dad would say “the elixir of the gods”. You could always drink a “cortadito” which means adding some hot milk into your coffee. Let me know if you want me to send you some Cuban style coffee from Miami.
I quit drinking American coffee about 20 years ago in favor of green tea. But recently I found a small restaurant in Chadd’s Ford,PA that makes Cafe con Leche. With a little sugar and a side of Cuban bread, it was delicious. It brought back memories of mi abuelo in Tampa. BTW, they make a very good Cuban Sandwich(Miami style).
Try a cortado, learn what to order, then perhaps you will see that a cortado is what you need, or if you like US coffee or otherwise “dirty water” order an Americano
Thanks for the info on Spanish coffee, I found coffee in Spain terribly bad, yet Portuguese coffee was perfect among the best in Europe, 2 countries so close together yet with really different coffee quality.
I totally agree with you. It'is incredible how in the Iberian Peninsula can be a country that's a great barista culture and another that uses "torrefacto" on a daily basis and also likes many people. Luckily there are more and more specialty coffee shops and roasters in Spain.
My husband and I say we moved to Spain for its coffee! Guess we’re in the minority of liking the everyday café variety - before we knew about torrefacto we certainly thought it tasted more “robust” than elsewhere in Europe. My husband takes sugar, and I like con leche, so maybe Spanish coffee stands up to those additions better ☕️❤️🇪🇸
Depends where you go in the country. In the half-north of the country you have Natural and never torrefacto. In the south they commonly use torrefacto. So it's a matter of where in the country you are going. The guy in the video was making a generalization, when in reality is a very regional thing.
Thank you, James. I live in Spain and coffee here is mostly wretched gut twisting battery acid. I avoid coffee like I avoid the fluorescent Paella on the Costa del Sol. As far as I am concerned it is a scam run by a coffee monopoly. I am baffled that so many folks are okay with it. Taste is not as relative as some would have it and some things are just disgusting - period. Torrefacto is disgusting. So what if a few philistines like the taste? Their taste buds have been melted away by the toxic brew.
As a Spanish person, I am offended by your comment. It is not gut twisting battery acid. That's what coffee is supposed to taste like, but you probably came to Spain from the USA or Canada or the UK so you're used to what is actually horrific low grade coffee, and you think that's what coffee is supposed to taste like. Also, as a person whose entire family comes from la costa del sol, how DARE you call our paella "fluorescent?" That's what it's supposed to look like when you use the correct amount of saffron and other ingredients that give it that color. The Costa del sol is IN Valencia. Valencia is where paella COMES from. You might as well say "The pizza in Naples is garbage". How ignorant are you bro? I find it tragic that people like you think it's ok to move to another country and then trash the local cuisine which was never intended for your tastebuds in the first place.
@@theotherspain Dear moron who makes assumptions: I have never lived in Spain. I live in Canada. I have travelled, also, to about 30 countries, all of which I have enjoyed coffee in. I've been to Spain about 20 times because my family is from there. Do you feel stupid yet? You should. What kind of idiot goes to another country and assumes to be an expert on a culture they weren't born into? You are a pompous, arrogant, pathetic excuse for a human being. You're not a spaniard, and you will never be one, yet you assume to be the world's leading expert on spain when you're just a pathetic expat who left his country of birth because he couldn't hack it there. You're probably chronically single too, aren't you? You a little lonely buddy? TRULY you are the most pathetic person I've found on the internet in the past 12 months. Who hurt you? Are you upset because you're only 140cm tall or something? Do you act this arrogant around your Spanish friends? Spaniards tend to have a very low tolerance threshold for arrogance so I'm assuming you don't. Keep living a lie buddy. Enjoy.
i trained under alfred peet, and im sure he knew of this, and he probably didnt care for it, but i do. i have a trained palate. i tend towards very dark, very bitter, i dislike any hint of sourness, as found in light or medium roasts. so of course i would find torrefacto interesting. i also like white and green tea, and can drink all without cream or sugar, so i trip on incredibly subtle flavors. as did alfred, whose eyes would roll up in his head tasting room temperature teas at a tasting.
Very good informative video as always. James Blick is a fantastic communicator and even Spaniards can learn two or three things through his eyes. It is true that some cafeterias in Spain serve quite a bad tasting coffee, but it may not all be down to torrefacto but to their ability to prepare coffee and maintain their machine. While torrefacto started as a way to provide cheap coffee to the masses, it is not anymore a matter of low quality/price. Supermarkets offer packs of "natural" coffee side to side with "mezcla" at different proportions, and people can buy the kind of coffee they prefer the most. They are often sold at exactly the same price. If it was so terrible, people would only choose "natural", so I guess it is some kind of a developed taste for that dark burnt flavour, the same way as Americans enjoy the overburnt meat from a barbecue while my mum would make a scandal and throw it away. Let's not forget that coffee as a drink (like chocolate, for example) is already a highly (naturally) processed product. We are not talking about eating an apple from the tree nor eating the bean from the bush! I live in the Philippines for most of the year and my only choices here if I am out are American coffee shops, as I am not so much into the brewed coffee that a few Filipinos drink. Sometimes (but not always), I would like to enjoy that particular unique burnt torrefacto flavour, even better in cortado (Italian macchiato is lovely but I do love variety).
I go to cafe's where the coffee is good. Down in Andalucia the workers usually have a cafe solo with a brandy before going to work so a bitter taste might give you the kick start you need.. You can also ask for a 'sobre' which is a sachet of instant ..
Yes, en España se consume mucho café de la hermana Puerto Rico y de muchas partes del mundo. Pero aún hay muchas cafeterías de baja calidad, que usan cafés malísimos.
The issue we had with the coffee in Spain wasnt with the espresso being bitter, but rather the drip coffee being sour. It was as if everyone brewed light roast, and we werent fans. But cafe con leche was always a good back up for us.
Dude. Simply don't buy the mezcla, but the natural one (It is the yellow box...) But I understand the sensationalistic click-baity subject is better for the views. Source: I live in Spain as well :D
Coffee is fine in Spain. If you buy the cheapest blend why complain? There is a big choice in the big supermarkets and some shops. You can buy 100% coffe beans, grind and brew it at home no problem with a coffe maker like the one in the video. My mother always did it that way.
This is why the spaniards invented Cafe con leche...and it is glorious (atleast in Andalucia)! :D Never have cafe solo (only black coffee). That is awful.
It's true James. I always add a sachet of sugar to to my tiny glass (cafe en vaso). I don't have sugar anywhere else. I'm very pleased to get to the end of my coffee and wash it down with a, far superior, fresh orange juice to rinse my mouth out. You did a great video explaining the history of Spanish coffee. Spain is such a fast cafe culture that it's going to take a long time for the coffee to change. We tend to eat with the coffee too so it disguises the poor quality. Stuart at Spain Speaks did a video of this also. Cheers. WT
Muy Cierto!! Vivo en los Estados Unidos y siempre traigo la maleta llena de Lavaza.
5 років тому+3
Starbucks es otra basura comercial, no usan torrefacto pero no es normal pagar 3€ por un café mediocre, cuando en una cafetería especialidad española te pides un latte por unos 1,50 y un espresso a 1,30
En todos los sitios no hacen un café decente, por eso las buenas cafeterías están a tope, la porquería de torrefacto es horrendo. Italia es otro nivel.
Spain Revealed - James Blick when I used to live there I alway bought the coffee from here www.lamexicana.es/packs-cafe/59-pack-degustacion.html www.lamexicana.es/nosotros?pag=sobre
You are absolutely right, James. I'm constantly preventing people from buying torrefacto because most of the people here in Spain don't know the difference. One of the reasons why there's so much confusion about what torrefacto means its because 'torrefacto' word it's a tricky one. The coffee roasting process in spanish is called "torrefacción" so many many people deduce that "cafe torrefacto" simply means "roasted coffee". In my opinion it shouldn't be allowed to call caramelized roasted coffee 'torrefacto' because that is what caused so much confusion... Not to mention all the Spanish speaking population from other countries. They simply translate it as "roasted coffee" because nowhere else this category is used.
Why do we? Indeed! I’m a Spaniard and I couldn’t agree more. I think the answer is that you don’t realise just how bad it is until you taste a good one travelling abroad 😆
Wow, now I know why the coffee sucks in bars here. I can hardly drink it most of the time. Luckily there are some great specialty coffee shops in Madrid now.
Excellent video, James and Yoli! Muchas gracias! I found Spanish coffee excellent, much much better than Starbucks. Always get either caffe con leche or cortado in bars and it is nearly always excellent! I never bought mezcla in supermarkets, as I use Nespresso capsules at home. Thank you for explaining this Torrefacto story- very interesting! Keep doing your nice videos! All the best!
Next time I am in Spain will try caffe solo remembering your video! :) thank you very much for your entertaining and positive videos! You are the best!
I'm Spanish and you are absolutely right. Torrefacto is terrible but it's like spicy food for South Americans, they cannot it eat without it, its the same for coffee with Spaniards. I myself don't like coffee anyway, torrefacto, watered down, or the best Italian, it's not for me. I also was expecting for you to get more flak from Spaniards, but apparently not. I mean when you are right you are right. Keep up the good work.
It's really interesting! In Brazil, the bad quality coffee is made with extra toasted beans, so people don't recognize if some branches/leaves were burnt together with it. The coffee, then, tastes very very strong, but not as a good coffee. As you said, the secret in this case is to buy the 100% Arabica ones! On the other hand, I really like strong coffee, strong flavor, but balanced with the acidity. Colombia produces great coffee, but their preference is not to toast it dark, making their coffee more acid. Moreover, they make it looks like a tea, because they add too much water. The truth is that coffee has a range of flavors and preferences, but you brought me a new information: I never realized it could be toasted with sugar!!! I read this "mezcla" in the supermarket, but I didn't get it so I didn't buy it! Thank you, guys!
You could always drink Italian coffee. There is some Lavazza Crema e Gusto on that supermarket shelf in the red and blue packet. It's great stuff and no torrefacto.
Not bad ? Sheeeeesh ! I have been happily drinking Lavazza for 12 years now. If being seen to drink something that isn't Spanish is likely to get you ostracised from your local tapas bar then there is a plan B. The Spanish coffee labels have a torrefacto free product called " Natural " which is an old Spanish word meaning " natural ". You might want to keep the viewers happy and avoid the one called " Bonka Natural ". Too many negative connotations. Just a thought.
I think it is pretty much the same here. You are used to coffee tasting a certain way. That is why some people drink really strong and oily arabica coffee in Sweden: Zoega's Skånerost - which is popular in the south. It usually tastes aweful and upsets your stomach but that is what coffee should taste like to many people. I have experimented with grinding my own coffee (the same blend above), and when I measure it properly (not 1 scoop per cup as recommended), I get the fresh floral smell and flavors otherwise gone missing from pre-grinded coffee. And grounds can be stored in the refridgerator for at least a day without loosing those smells and flavors. Not that I dislike strong coffee, but the way it is prepared and the experience is important.
Great video. I really don't like torrefacto, but I've had to adapt to it. Milk and sugar help a lot. In Uruguay, not a coffee drinking nation, it was all I could find in supermarkets. Gah! I think they call it glaseado, Now, can we have a video about why when you order a glass of orange juice, it always comes with sugar packets? :)
You're dead right! I hate "torrefacto" (sugar-roasted). Years ago, I used to pop in Delina's, an old chain that has sadly disappeared, for a coffee and sandwich, and I was impressed by their coffee. It had no burnt rubber-like after taste, so I asked what kind of coffee they served and they told me it was pure Colombian natural roast (100% arabica). I buy that sort of coffee ever since. It was a total revelation for me, real coffee that tastes like real coffee! Now, what about a new video on quaint and cosy coffee-houses in Madrid? Unfortunately, quite a number of old, traditional coffee houses have disappeared, sometimes replaced by chains that paradoxically imitate the décor and feeling of old establishments. I think it would be great to see a few of the nicest places rated by your discerning criteria!
Good idea Jesus - but I wouldn't know which ones to include. It seems that only the hipster places serve good coffee. I'd love to know of some old school cafes that have updated their coffee to be non-torrefacto
@@jesuscora Looked it up. Faborit appeared on the scene in 2005, and now there are 17 in Madrid (plus 6 in Barcelona and 1 in Logroño). You're right that several of the Madrid establishments popped up recently. I've never tried Costa Coffee.
We have a good coffee in my home country (Slovenia) and my parents, my sister and I are drinking it, my two brothers don't 😀 but wherever I went the coffee was worse, only in Italy was same or better for my taste 😊
@@luismarques9280 I've visited Portugal several times and the coffee is good there, too... but I've spent nearly two years in Spain (Malaga, Madrid and Barcelona) so I know Spanish coffee better.
Shelly Andrade ...... He doesn't know what he is talking about , he thinks that the only coffee in Spain is the torrefacto kind , You love the coffee in Spain because you had drink good coffee , he still don't know where to find it , not even at the stores . I am from Spain my wife from USA everytime we have been going to Spain with friends from this country , they had love the coffee there . He likes Arabica coffee , a light coffee like cola cao . Do you like arabica coffee ?? I don't . So you see that goes for taste .
If You like Strong coffee You like torrefacto. My father doesnt like coffee Like the ones you can find abroad, he likes Strong and dark coffee. For him, coffee isnt good if its lighter. Its all about what you are used to. I like coffee with a lot of milk and i have got used to have It without sugar. Natural coffee seems like It hasnot enough coffee when you mix It with milk. And the smell of torrefacto is more intense.
@@rojimyayang5857 .....Not really , not all strong coffee are good , and torrefacto for my taste is bitter , not strong , now like I said that is go by taste and what we like , there are a lot of people who like torrefacto , like chicory , like arabica , or like sanka , or nescafe , coffee have so many different flavor like so many people who drinked . It is something particular for each one .
@@angellavado4846, he knows perfectly well. He is voicing a common complaint not only among visitors from other countries, but also Spanish people. The coffee served in most neighbourhood bars is torrefacto and really bitter. It reminds one of the smell of tar or burnt tire. I didn't know that was the effect of the burnt sugar coating the beans. As I said in a previous message, I used to go to Delina's and I really loved their coffee because it tasted like coffee and it was not bitter at all. I asked a waiter what kind of coffee they served and she told me it was natural roast, not torrefacto, so I decided to switch to natural ever since. But if someone likes or even loves torrefacto, well, they are free to have it. They only have to go to the nearest bar and order one. No problem.
Fantastic video. You've fully explained something I've wondered about for yeeeears of regualry visiting Spain! Genuinely baffles me that anyone can like torrefacto coffee!
I'm spansh coffe lover and I've like to tell you: please STOP drink "torrefactado" coffe. No, please, please, please... To be honest, portuguese coffe is much better than spanish one.
I agree with David. I used to leave srelly close to Portugal, when I was a child and my mom used to travel to Portugal just to get coffee. She always said it was much better than the Spanish one. "el barco" it was called.
Hi James. Costa Rican in here - from the land of *real* coffee, heh. I also work for one of the leading coffee export brands in the country and we’re about to visit Spain in a few months. Looks like we’ll have to haul some coffee with us! The minute you started talking of “torrefacto” I started to cringe badly. That’s a surefire sign for what’s basically shit coffee - I recognize I’m hopelessly spoiled on our prime 100% Arabica beans (btw, by law only Arabica coffee can be planted in Costa Rica). Usually someone who still preferes torrefacto over pure coffee is a person that is so used to the flavor of torrefacto that he or she won’t try other coffee kind, or someone who doesn’t care much about coffee varieties. Coffee is coffee is coffee for some I guess. But once you do... well, there’s no turning back. Thanks for these info tidbits.
This is one of your best educational videos, mixing perfectly tourism, history, culture, food and entertainment! Btw loved your Sevilla videos, are you going back to record some more in the future?
This was a real surprise! I've had coffee in Spain and was not impressed either. I had no clue that sugar roasting coffee beans happens in Europe too!! I'm from Singapore and our local coffee (kopi) is prepared this way. Lower grade beans are roasted with a 20-70% mixture of sugar, corn and margarine, for economy. So our local coffee powder could be only about 30% actual coffee beans. The process turns the beans very dark and sticky, with an almost burnt crust and makes the brewed coffee almost syrupy and tar-like in body, but also mutes the true flavour and aroma of the beans. I hate it, but a lot of Singaporeans, especially the older ones, love it 😝
I love Spain coffee! Before Nespresso came to the USA, I used to bring bags and bags of Spanish coffee back home. Also, I do mix it w warm milk and sugar
Europeans like their coffee dark roast. people from United States and Canada prefer lighter roast coffee.. so the roast changes the flavour profile big time. there are other factors that will affect taste
Lived in Spain 5 years after coming from Venezuela(great coffee) and just now learned about this Torrefacto crap. No wonder I had to go through tons of coffees to find something decent. This would have saved me a lot of time and money. Thanks!
05:05 Hi James, torrefacto mostly is robusta roasted with sugar. And I personally love it :). I love Spanish coffee and I love Spanish bars at all. And I think that you do not know much about coffee at all. Criticism of good, traditional things is not good way of propaganda. Keep going and stay positive.
In the seventeenth century when ships brought coffee from America to Spain and Portugal, it used to arrive in poor conditions due to humidity, temperature changes and transport time. At that time they realized that by adding sugar to coffee in the roasting process, it resisted changes in temperature and humidity much better and since then, the tradition in Spain of drinking torrefacto coffee was based
Another great vid, mate! I have an idea for a video which I'd love to see you guys make: the cold, harsh reality of the amount of street crime here in Madrid these days (not to mention how bad it's got in Barcelona). I've been in Madrid since 2011 like yourself, and the change these past 8 years has been crazy (I got mugged myself in Sol last month). I know it's not a fun topic to cover, and I'm well aware of people not wanting to touch upon it for fear of being politically incorrect, but given the current levels of street crime in Madrid, I think as a warning to tourists and wet-behind-the-ears guiris thinking of coming here, a video on how to make sure you don't get pickpocketed/scammed etc., would be absolutely priceless information.
Hi James, just stumbled on your channel, been bingeing on your vids. Excellent stuff :) I lived in Spain for about 14 years and often wondered why about, mebbe, 10% of Bar/Restaurant coffee wasn't as good as the rest. Now I know! And, I used to think that Spanish coffee was the best in the world, until I went to Rome! Yes, 3 times the price, but man, it is seriously awesome coffee!
Thank you for this very informative vid. I’m a coffee snob and always travel with my French press and coffee. I was looking forward to tasting the coffee of Spain on our next trip, thanks for the knowledge!
Torrefacto is an acquired taste, like every other bitter taste (beer per example). The spanish regions where it´s still popular are the most affected for the lack of food supply after the Civil War. Also some regions used chicory for decades as a coffee substitutive when coffee was unavalilable,.Chicory is used now only in summer for "granizados" (ask for "granizado de malta" in any horchatería in Alicante, it´s delicious...)
Great video! I missed Spanish coffee while living in England, and now that I am here I can notice the difference. However, I do like mezcla! I find it good for cortados, café con leche and just general small sized coffees. The problem I saw in the UK was that, even if you could find nice coffee, only the chains (not Starbucks, ugh!) and the special little shops would do a nice coffee for my tastes, everywhere else it would just too watery, and that's just not nice! This is my opinion though, I still think Italy are the masters of coffee!
El café torrefacto no es el café típico de España, es el que se hacía en la posguerra civil para que cundiese más, sabe a rayos, pero hay gente mayor que está acostumbrada a ese sabor y se sigue haciendo si lo pides, pero no es el café habitual, al menos donde yo vivo, Galicia.
En realidad el Torrefacto empezó a producirse en España en 1901 a través del dueño de Cafés La Estrella quien trajo ese procedimiento de México y lo patentó aquí. E hizo mucha publicidad. Pero si es cierto que fue por la posguerra que el Torrefacto se implantó como el café "estandar" en todo el país por ser más barato y aguantar más tiempo.
Great video . I'm a coffee lover and there is some decent coffee in Spain for sure . My favourite is Italian or Portuguese coffee . Good job guys. Hugs from London
The best solution is to never get solo. ;) Add milk and ton of sugar, and everything is nice. LOL I used to but some super cheap ground coffee in Dia, but I can't remember what it was, but it was the only thing, I could drink without milk. And for some reason I never thought of finding more about the topic of Spanish coffee, so big thanks for this video. :) On the other note, I noticed (on a paper with Cartman LOL) Cold Brew y el Papelón con Limón, have you tried that, sounds both terrible and curiously interesting. :D
Thanks for the explanation. I actually like the coffee in bars in Spain, but I was confused when the only thing we could find in stores was "mezcla" 50/50. It also tastes very different when you make it at home vs. in a bar. Now I know what torrefacto means!
This has nothing to do with coffee but I'm currently doing a semester abroad in Bilbao from the US, and I wanted to say that your fun and informative videos have been a great resource for me to better understand and act in this country! Eskerrik asko!!
Hallo James. Coffee is an acquired taste and each country has its own eccentricities. Robusta is fine as it gives a more balanced, round final taste (less flavour, more caffeine). Torrefaction is done in several countries. What makes (average) Spanish coffee so unpalatable is the abuse of cheap unripened Asian stocks. Once they were miseducated for years with torrefacted blends, Spaniards were an easy target for green, bland coffee from Vietnam. As a Spaniard who happened to live in Portugal for 6 years and has travelled a lot in Europe I would dare to say (average) Portuguese blends are my favourite punching-but-rich option and (average) Swedish coffee the most particular mild-but-not-watery option.
In Spain, even in the smallest town there are half a dozen bars and restaurants and the locals know which bar has good wine, which bar makes good coffee and which bar serves good beer... and since we go out almost every days to drink a wine, a beer or a coffee, we do not complicate our lives, nor do we seek excellence, we simply enjoy what we are doing, when we want to celebrate something special, we know exactly what wine we like and where to order it, All this taking into account the budget, up to 12 euros per bottle, a normal wine, from 12 to 25 a good wine and over 25 an excellent wine, that of the vintages, the flavors of earth, spices and other things, we leave them to the Anglo-Saxon experts who seem to enjoy it more than drinking and chatting over a bottle of wine
I am pretty sure that it was the mezcla that I drank my first 3 months in Spain that gave me a kidney stone which led to 2 surgeries. Or maybe it was drinking my body weight in Mahou. I already switched to Estrella Galicia because of this channel. Now I shall drink Lavazza.
When I first moved to Spain, I couldn't figure out what the coffee tasted so bad. So I did a little investigating. And that lead me to the mysterious world of torrefacto. Have you tried coffee in Spain? What did you think? Let me know in the comment below - I'm very curious!
Just moved to Naples Italy from Hawaii. I did love those Hawaiian beans; will I have to be on the lookout for Torrefacto here in Italy, maybe by a different name? (My wife is from Spain so she has been giving me the basic tour of food and drink)
it took a while for me to find good coffee in spain. i did find out i like a cafe con hielo though
What you describe is extremely similar to what is served in Vietnam - sugar roasted robusta - quite sure that’s a colonial hangover too! I expect robusta has always been much more available, it’s so much easier to grow.
It just like espresso in Italy or Cuban in Miami.
@@Expert1911 You drink Starbuck? Spain coffee is good Starbuck is bad.
The cofee in Spain is for people who need start live. A dead man with close eyes became a Spedy Gonzalez or Correcaminos with eyes like dishes, the diferent: "un cortado, por favor".
We don´t need coca or nothing like this.
LOL remember that we sleep one hour less, in average, than other europeans
I love that I can get a cafe con leche in a raggity bar pay 1.50 of even and its better than Starbucks imo
The good thing about Starbucks is that it's triple the size of a regular bar's milk coffee. Some of us like our coffee extra big :)
@@PluslineNeko I can never taste the coffee in a Starbucks cappuccino or latte. And it's much more expensive.
Actually u can have coffee in many places for 1 euro
Bill-Guille Yes you need to ask for an extra shot in Starbucks .
AZ One of my very favorite things about Spain! Walk into any little bar and put down a couple euros and you get a beautiful cup of really strong coffee, often with a little chocolate on the side, and served in a real cup, not paper. Sigh. I miss it.
try starbucks in America, it taste like water
Try Starbucks in Spain, that is literally water xD
Starbucks is better than most chain coffee places in US. But coffee in general is not great here. Australia really knows how to do coffee.
I am not a Star Bucks fan and I really don't understand why so many drink it.
@@stickychocolate8155 Disagree, I was in Australia, most of the coffee I got there was Star Bucks rip off recipe; with a slight bend towards more of milk shake than true coffee.
@@Emy53 I live in California. I am not a fan of it as well. The reason it is popular is due to pure marketing.
This is so funny to me. I really love Spanish coffee! I couldn’t figure out why it tasted so much stronger and (to me) tastier than what is typically offered in the US. To find out it’s 15-20% burnt sugar makes it all make sense, because I’ve always loved anything with that bittersweet burnt caramel flavor. So thanks for the explanation! 😂
see, some of us find this appealing!!
It's only in Southern Spain
I never had a "really" bad coffee in Spain, this is new to me this info. One of the things that I love about Spain, is just the coffee. And I don't like bitter coffee so I must have been lucky then trough out the years:) Mostly I drink cafe con leche bot also from time to time a normal cafe, and the combo of coffee and milk in Spain are wonderful.
Yeah, if you're drinking with milk then most of the time you won't notice the flavour
@@spainrevealed Wrong in that, James! It's noticeable even as a latte machiato (leche manchada). Ewww! Yuk! I get the shivers! 😂
And you are right, what this guy is saying does not make any sense.
I love coffe in Spain and most spanish people seem to like it too. Its only ever anglophone people I see complaining about the coffee in Spain but everyone has different tastes! The reason Cafe con leche tastes unique is because in Spain they usually use UHT milk rather than fresh milk and I actually prefer it with coffee.
The people in this thread saying the coffee in Spain is bad... I just don't get it. I love coffee and have had it in about 15 countries all over the world and Torrefacto is my favourite.
I live in Spain myself and I think this is the 1st time someone is complaining about their coffee. I absolutely love it and everytime I travel up north it kills me not to be bale to have a decent coffee in the morning.
So true
People from Spain can't see it cause they don't live in a place where coffee is amazing like Italy
@@Herr.Mitternacht dude, it’s the same coffee hahaha we’re neighbours and many Italians live here
@@Shmalick It's not the same coffee. People associate Spain with good tapas and wine but not with coffee. Italy is considered the best place for an espresso or cappuccino. Spanish people don't take proud in the way they make coffee and that's fine. But don't kid yourself and think you can find great coffee everywhere in Spain just like in Italy. If you don't find a difference is because you don't know anything about coffee or just do half coffee half milk from a carton.
@@Herr.Mitternacht You have never been in Spain. Italian coffee and spanish coffe are very similar. If the author of the video is complaining for the Spanish coffe, then If he were in Italy then he would be complaining much more, because Italian coffe is even a little bit stronger. He is used to drinking very very very smooth coffee and he only have felt the huge difference between both drinks.
Wait... an english man complaining about spanish coffee?? really?
Haha yes! (Though I’m not English, I’m a Kiwi)
Haha yes! (Though I’m not English, I’m a Kiwi)
Haha yes! (Though I’m not English, I’m a Kiwi)
@@spainrevealed I love kiwis, they taste so niiiiice
@@aitorruiz9364 jjaajajajjaa
Oh God, I miss Spanish coffee... I lived in Spain for 9 years from 1968 to 1977 and since my return to Canada I have never had a "good" cup of coffee... We never made coffee at home in Spain... it was our treat to go to a Spanish Bar for coffee when we went out to do our shopping. Oh Lord that little Bar across from the back of the Fish Market in Fuengirola had the best Tapas and the best coffee... Maybe it isn't even there anymore? If anyone ever goes there... Her potato salad was to die for!.... I don't know how to spell it but she called it "Ensalada Rusa"... If I remember it correctly, it had her home made mayonnaise with the potatoes, green peas and tuna... and not sure what else... but I still dream of it and I haven't been back to Spain since 1981.... I lived between Fuengirola and Mijas Pueblo, so we took a long bus ride to get to the fish & vegetable market either way. Yes, I dream of having a "Sombra".... In those days it was not served in a cup & saucer, it was served in a small clear glass.
It's funny, I'm Spanish and have been an expat for over 20 years now. I had to watch your video to understand why I miss Spanish coffee so much. What I miss is my torrefacto!! I didn't know it was such bad quality either... But I like it that way. It must be the emotional factor you mentioned. Great video thanks!
I am also a Spanish migrant living abroad, and, even though I knew about torrefacto and Spanish coffee's bad quality, I also miss the Spanish coffee with torrefacto!
Totally good point! Good/bad is a matter of taste :)
desgusting
It's not bad quality. The author of this video is profoundly arrogant, and I, who am also a Spanish person, was deeply offended by it. I don't know where you're living now but if you're living in any of the Commonwealth countries or the USA I'm sure you've noticed that the coffee is actually worse than in Spain. I live in Canada and I am about 120Km away from the nearest place I know of that serves a tolerable espresso. If I were in Spain I could walk 50 metres to the nearest bar, cafe, restaurant, or even chiringuito, and get a very very nice coffee. Here in Canada I am surrounded by Tim Hortons. Terrible terrible coffee. I was heartbroken to see Tim Hortons opening up in Spain the last time I visited. There's one in the Renfe station in Alicante!
@@user-of4bf8dl5r The coffee is not bad quality. You should always ignore arrogant expats like the author of this video. He comes to Spain from abroad then claims to be an expert on all things about Spain. He's pathetic.
Wow, congratulations! You really went deep in your research about Spanish coffee. I’m a Spaniard and, in my opinion, our coffee sucks! 😂😂😂 I lived in Brazil for a while and I was amazed of how good their coffee was, and you didn’t need to go anywhere special, any place around the corner would do the trick. Mind blowing good 🤯❤️❤️❤️
Interesting story. I'm Spanish and I didn't know anything about this. BTW, I like Spanish coffee, LOL
I'm Spanish and you are SO right. I literally can only have coffee in very few specialist coffee shops these days, which luckily are opening up more and more! I miss the Aussie coffee shops
Should move to the north where coffee is not torrefacto.
I'm Spanish and I don't like Spanish coffee. I hate torrefacto, to me it has no flavour or aroma, it's just bitter and sour.This video was really interesting for me . I didn't know all those historical facts. I'm an expat and enjoy my non Spanish coffee. I miss many other wonderful things and products from Spain, but certainly not torrefacto. Curiously enough many Germans and Americans here in Berlin tell me they love Spanish coffee and ask me how I can live without it! :-)
Once again, James and Yoli expanding the list of cool places that I need to visit in Madrid (and I've been living here my whole life)
I'm glad!!!
Nipple-hardening mix?! LOL. The sense of humor in these videos is great...love it!
This was the funniest video Blick has posted. I watched it 2x because it was hilarious.
I laughed out loud when he said that
carmelized sugar will do that to ya
It's a testament that you can get use to anything - even bad coffee. Unless of course you're Italian. They would never put up with a bad cup.
Thanks for this excellent explanation. That's something we, Spaniards, discover when living abroad: why the hell coffee tastes so bad in Spain? You gave us the answer! Thank you!
albwixmp I used to buy my coffee beans in La mexicana . Colombian it’s always been my favourite.
No habrás estado en asía. No puedo con el café aguado...
Exactly!
In Portugal we don´t have the mezcla café and I notice when I bought café in a spanish supermarket that most of the coffee (100% coffee not la Mezcla) was from a portuguese company (Delta - Campo Maior)
Delta do fantastic coffee. I see that in many places in southern Spain too
Delta? qué coño es eso. Creo que es barato.
Hi James, being born in Cuba, I couldn’t stomach the coffee in Spain. However, Cuban coffee ( very dark espresso) is always drank with sugar. Very rarely do you see anyone drink without some sugar. I don’t know if you have ever visited Miami and had some Cuban coffee- as my Dad would say “the elixir of the gods”. You could always drink a “cortadito” which means adding some hot milk into your coffee. Let me know if you want me to send you some Cuban style coffee from Miami.
Espresso always with a sugar for me
No sugar in any other coffee though
I lived 14 years in Miami, and my stomach couldn't tolerate the Cuban coffee, too sweet and strong. I stick to my Spanish coffee
I quit drinking American coffee about 20 years ago in favor of green tea. But recently I found a small restaurant in Chadd’s Ford,PA that makes Cafe con Leche. With a little sugar and a side of Cuban bread, it was delicious. It brought back memories of mi abuelo in Tampa. BTW, they make a very good Cuban Sandwich(Miami style).
Try a cortado, learn what to order, then perhaps you will see that a cortado is what you need, or if you like US coffee or otherwise “dirty water” order an Americano
Thanks for the info on Spanish coffee, I found coffee in Spain terribly bad, yet Portuguese coffee was perfect among the best in Europe, 2 countries so close together yet with really different coffee quality.
But two very different colonial histories - hence the difference in the coffee
I totally agree with you.
It'is incredible how in the Iberian Peninsula can be a country that's a great barista culture and another that uses "torrefacto" on a daily basis and also likes many people. Luckily there are more and more specialty coffee shops and roasters in Spain.
@@v.j.routed5310 I guess Portuguese coffee is better, but I don't know if it means better 'barista culture'...
My husband and I say we moved to Spain for its coffee! Guess we’re in the minority of liking the everyday café variety - before we knew about torrefacto we certainly thought it tasted more “robust” than elsewhere in Europe. My husband takes sugar, and I like con leche, so maybe Spanish coffee stands up to those additions better ☕️❤️🇪🇸
Depends where you go in the country. In the half-north of the country you have Natural and never torrefacto. In the south they commonly use torrefacto. So it's a matter of where in the country you are going. The guy in the video was making a generalization, when in reality is a very regional thing.
Thank you, James. I live in Spain and coffee here is mostly wretched gut twisting battery acid. I avoid coffee like I avoid the fluorescent Paella on the Costa del Sol. As far as I am concerned it is a scam run by a coffee monopoly. I am baffled that so many folks are okay with it. Taste is not as relative as some would have it and some things are just disgusting - period. Torrefacto is disgusting. So what if a few philistines like the taste? Their taste buds have been melted away by the toxic brew.
As a Spanish person, I am offended by your comment. It is not gut twisting battery acid. That's what coffee is supposed to taste like, but you probably came to Spain from the USA or Canada or the UK so you're used to what is actually horrific low grade coffee, and you think that's what coffee is supposed to taste like. Also, as a person whose entire family comes from la costa del sol, how DARE you call our paella "fluorescent?" That's what it's supposed to look like when you use the correct amount of saffron and other ingredients that give it that color. The Costa del sol is IN Valencia. Valencia is where paella COMES from. You might as well say "The pizza in Naples is garbage". How ignorant are you bro? I find it tragic that people like you think it's ok to move to another country and then trash the local cuisine which was never intended for your tastebuds in the first place.
@@theotherspain Dear moron who makes assumptions: I have never lived in Spain. I live in Canada. I have travelled, also, to about 30 countries, all of which I have enjoyed coffee in. I've been to Spain about 20 times because my family is from there. Do you feel stupid yet? You should. What kind of idiot goes to another country and assumes to be an expert on a culture they weren't born into? You are a pompous, arrogant, pathetic excuse for a human being. You're not a spaniard, and you will never be one, yet you assume to be the world's leading expert on spain when you're just a pathetic expat who left his country of birth because he couldn't hack it there. You're probably chronically single too, aren't you? You a little lonely buddy? TRULY you are the most pathetic person I've found on the internet in the past 12 months. Who hurt you? Are you upset because you're only 140cm tall or something? Do you act this arrogant around your Spanish friends? Spaniards tend to have a very low tolerance threshold for arrogance so I'm assuming you don't. Keep living a lie buddy. Enjoy.
i trained under alfred peet, and im sure he knew of this, and he probably didnt care for it, but i do. i have a trained palate. i tend towards very dark, very bitter, i dislike any hint of sourness, as found in light or medium roasts. so of course i would find torrefacto interesting. i also like white and green tea, and can drink all without cream or sugar, so i trip on incredibly subtle flavors. as did alfred, whose eyes would roll up in his head tasting room temperature teas at a tasting.
Very good informative video as always. James Blick is a fantastic communicator and even Spaniards can learn two or three things through his eyes. It is true that some cafeterias in Spain serve quite a bad tasting coffee, but it may not all be down to torrefacto but to their ability to prepare coffee and maintain their machine. While torrefacto started as a way to provide cheap coffee to the masses, it is not anymore a matter of low quality/price. Supermarkets offer packs of "natural" coffee side to side with "mezcla" at different proportions, and people can buy the kind of coffee they prefer the most. They are often sold at exactly the same price. If it was so terrible, people would only choose "natural", so I guess it is some kind of a developed taste for that dark burnt flavour, the same way as Americans enjoy the overburnt meat from a barbecue while my mum would make a scandal and throw it away. Let's not forget that coffee as a drink (like chocolate, for example) is already a highly (naturally) processed product. We are not talking about eating an apple from the tree nor eating the bean from the bush! I live in the Philippines for most of the year and my only choices here if I am out are American coffee shops, as I am not so much into the brewed coffee that a few Filipinos drink. Sometimes (but not always), I would like to enjoy that particular unique burnt torrefacto flavour, even better in cortado (Italian macchiato is lovely but I do love variety).
Thanks for those thoughts Marcos!
I go to cafe's where the coffee is good. Down in Andalucia the workers usually have a cafe solo with a brandy before going to work so a bitter taste might give you the kick start you need.. You can also ask for a 'sobre' which is a sachet of instant ..
After all these years you have answered a question I always asked myself. Thanks.
Puerto Rico produces one of the best quality coffees in the world...100% pure coffee....
People still put sugar in it.
Yes, en España se consume mucho café de la hermana Puerto Rico y de muchas partes del mundo. Pero aún hay muchas cafeterías de baja calidad, que usan cafés malísimos.
The issue we had with the coffee in Spain wasnt with the espresso being bitter, but rather the drip coffee being sour. It was as if everyone brewed light roast, and we werent fans. But cafe con leche was always a good back up for us.
To which I respond- who goes to western Europe and orders drip coffee? You know?
Totally true! That's why I love Portugal...
I've been in Spain twice and the coffee there always taste amazing !! Even in the small train station coffee shop ;-)
Dude. Simply don't buy the mezcla, but the natural one (It is the yellow box...)
But I understand the sensationalistic click-baity subject is better for the views.
Source: I live in Spain as well :D
Simple y bien explicado :)
Coffee is fine in Spain. If you buy the cheapest blend why complain? There is a big choice in the big supermarkets and some shops. You can buy 100% coffe beans, grind and brew it at home no problem with a coffe maker like the one in the video. My mother always did it that way.
The issue is a lot of the coffee available in the supermarkets is either torrefacto, or if it's natural, it's robusta, which doesn't taste very nice
"torrefacto tasting time." This is the first time I wasn't jealous about what you guys were tasting.
I have to say, one of the best coffees I have ever had was in Spain at a roadside service station on the A8 somewhere near Ribadesella. Muy rico!!
That's because you never tried Portuguese coffee ;)
@@luismarques9280 no one cares about your coffee man
@@tyronesmith3020 yes you do kkkkk
This is why the spaniards invented Cafe con leche...and it is glorious (atleast in Andalucia)! :D Never have cafe solo (only black coffee). That is awful.
It's true James. I always add a sachet of sugar to to my tiny glass (cafe en vaso). I don't have sugar anywhere else. I'm very pleased to get to the end of my coffee and wash it down with a, far superior, fresh orange juice to rinse my mouth out. You did a great video explaining the history of Spanish coffee. Spain is such a fast cafe culture that it's going to take a long time for the coffee to change. We tend to eat with the coffee too so it disguises the poor quality. Stuart at Spain Speaks did a video of this also. Cheers. WT
The best coffee in europe is made in Portugal
No tenemos ni idea de café. Viví en Italia y allí si que lo cuidan.Pero jamás piso un starbucks tsmpoco.
Muy Cierto!! Vivo en los Estados Unidos y siempre traigo la maleta llena de Lavaza.
Starbucks es otra basura comercial, no usan torrefacto pero no es normal pagar 3€ por un café mediocre, cuando en una cafetería especialidad española te pides un latte por unos 1,50 y un espresso a 1,30
En todos los sitios no hacen un café decente, por eso las buenas cafeterías están a tope, la porquería de torrefacto es horrendo. Italia es otro nivel.
In cafes the coffee is super strong but when you visit people in their houses they serve you lovely coffee . Colombian is very popular there .
But many people do buy mezcla, which isn't good
Spain Revealed - James Blick when I used to live there I alway bought the coffee from here www.lamexicana.es/packs-cafe/59-pack-degustacion.html
www.lamexicana.es/nosotros?pag=sobre
You are absolutely right, James. I'm constantly preventing people from buying torrefacto because most of the people here in Spain don't know the difference.
One of the reasons why there's so much confusion about what torrefacto means its because 'torrefacto' word it's a tricky one. The coffee roasting process in spanish is called "torrefacción" so many many people deduce that "cafe torrefacto" simply means "roasted coffee".
In my opinion it shouldn't be allowed to call caramelized roasted coffee 'torrefacto' because that is what caused so much confusion... Not to mention all the Spanish speaking population from other countries. They simply translate it as "roasted coffee" because nowhere else this category is used.
Very interesting channel, btw... Manda cojones that a foreigner teaches me about Spanish traditions xD. Good job !
haha - thank you!
That explains everything. I love Spain, but I always wondered why the coffee is so horrible. Why do the Spaniards put up with this?
I live in North Spain and coffee is fine. Must be a Madrid thing
Why do we? Indeed! I’m a Spaniard and I couldn’t agree more. I think the answer is that you don’t realise just how bad it is until you taste a good one travelling abroad 😆
Do you prefer to drink water with brown dye and to imagine that it is coffee?
Wow, now I know why the coffee sucks in bars here. I can hardly drink it most of the time. Luckily there are some great specialty coffee shops in Madrid now.
Excellent video, James and Yoli! Muchas gracias! I found Spanish coffee excellent, much much better than Starbucks. Always get either caffe con leche or cortado in bars and it is nearly always excellent! I never bought mezcla in supermarkets, as I use Nespresso capsules at home. Thank you for explaining this Torrefacto story- very interesting! Keep doing your nice videos! All the best!
Thanks Vlad! Yeah, if you're having with milk, you won't notice as much.
Next time I am in Spain will try caffe solo remembering your video! :) thank you very much for your entertaining and positive videos! You are the best!
Go to Parcería Cafe for some great coffee if you're ever in Seville.
Thanks for the tip!
Coffee in Spain is the best, 1 liter of dirty black water on sale in the UK at gold's price isn't coffee.
Ahahah, the coffee in the world are the italian and portuguese
Love your definition of how torrefacto tastes. Funny video! 🤣
Thank you!
I'm Spanish and you are absolutely right. Torrefacto is terrible but it's like spicy food for South Americans, they cannot it eat without it, its the same for coffee with Spaniards.
I myself don't like coffee anyway, torrefacto, watered down, or the best Italian, it's not for me.
I also was expecting for you to get more flak from Spaniards, but apparently not. I mean when you are right you are right.
Keep up the good work.
It's really interesting! In Brazil, the bad quality coffee is made with extra toasted beans, so people don't recognize if some branches/leaves were burnt together with it. The coffee, then, tastes very very strong, but not as a good coffee. As you said, the secret in this case is to buy the 100% Arabica ones!
On the other hand, I really like strong coffee, strong flavor, but balanced with the acidity. Colombia produces great coffee, but their preference is not to toast it dark, making their coffee more acid. Moreover, they make it looks like a tea, because they add too much water.
The truth is that coffee has a range of flavors and preferences, but you brought me a new information: I never realized it could be toasted with sugar!!! I read this "mezcla" in the supermarket, but I didn't get it so I didn't buy it!
Thank you, guys!
Si tienes un viaje planeado a Miami, tendrás que probar un Cafecito Cubano. No te lo pierdas!
Ok!
Yo soy cubano y cuando voy a Cuba les llevo Tirma, que es de aquí de canarias, a ellos le gusta.
You could always drink Italian coffee. There is some Lavazza Crema e Gusto on that supermarket shelf in the red and blue packet. It's great stuff and no torrefacto.
Yep, it's not bad
Not bad ? Sheeeeesh ! I have been happily drinking Lavazza for 12 years now. If being seen to drink something that isn't Spanish is likely to get you ostracised from your local tapas bar then there is a plan B. The Spanish coffee labels have a torrefacto free product called " Natural " which is an old Spanish word meaning " natural ". You might want to keep the viewers happy and avoid the one called " Bonka Natural ". Too many negative connotations. Just a thought.
Compro Lavazza in la lata oscura.
I love the way you talk, its super easy to understand you.
Great video!
I think it is pretty much the same here. You are used to coffee tasting a certain way. That is why some people drink really strong and oily arabica coffee in Sweden: Zoega's Skånerost - which is popular in the south. It usually tastes aweful and upsets your stomach but that is what coffee should taste like to many people.
I have experimented with grinding my own coffee (the same blend above), and when I measure it properly (not 1 scoop per cup as recommended), I get the fresh floral smell and flavors otherwise gone missing from pre-grinded coffee. And grounds can be stored in the refridgerator for at least a day without loosing those smells and flavors.
Not that I dislike strong coffee, but the way it is prepared and the experience is important.
Great video. I really don't like torrefacto, but I've had to adapt to it. Milk and sugar help a lot. In Uruguay, not a coffee drinking nation, it was all I could find in supermarkets. Gah! I think they call it glaseado, Now, can we have a video about why when you order a glass of orange juice, it always comes with sugar packets? :)
Good call on the sugar packets! lol
You're dead right! I hate "torrefacto" (sugar-roasted). Years ago, I used to pop in Delina's, an old chain that has sadly disappeared, for a coffee and sandwich, and I was impressed by their coffee. It had no burnt rubber-like after taste, so I asked what kind of coffee they served and they told me it was pure Colombian natural roast (100% arabica). I buy that sort of coffee ever since. It was a total revelation for me, real coffee that tastes like real coffee!
Now, what about a new video on quaint and cosy coffee-houses in Madrid? Unfortunately, quite a number of old, traditional coffee houses have disappeared, sometimes replaced by chains that paradoxically imitate the décor and feeling of old establishments. I think it would be great to see a few of the nicest places rated by your discerning criteria!
Good idea Jesus - but I wouldn't know which ones to include. It seems that only the hipster places serve good coffee. I'd love to know of some old school cafes that have updated their coffee to be non-torrefacto
@@spainrevealed By the way, a couple of local chains have very good (torrefacto-free) cafes con leche: Faborit and Mama Framboise.
@@midcenturymuse Faborit is fairly new, right? I've seen a few recently open branches.
By the way, Costa Coffee seems to have disappeared in Madrid.
@@jesuscora Looked it up. Faborit appeared on the scene in 2005, and now there are 17 in Madrid (plus 6 in Barcelona and 1 in Logroño). You're right that several of the Madrid establishments popped up recently. I've never tried Costa Coffee.
Thanks for the info. I should've googled that. I'll pop in a Faborit next time. Never been in one yet. They look expensive, though.
Toma is one of my favorite places, glad to see it as one of your examples of a good local coffee shop!
Ok...I never liked coffee...I've lived my whole life in Spain...that may explain it
Maybe!!!
We have a good coffee in my home country (Slovenia) and my parents, my sister and I are drinking it, my two brothers don't 😀 but wherever I went the coffee was worse, only in Italy was same or better for my taste 😊
same here
I love Spanish coffee.
Dominic Pannell I’m not the only one I guess :)
No you don't but you'll not know it until you drink Portuguese coffee
@@luismarques9280 I've visited Portugal several times and the coffee is good there, too... but I've spent nearly two years in Spain (Malaga, Madrid and Barcelona) so I know Spanish coffee better.
Just got back from Spain and I love, love, love their coffee. Wish we could get that here in Michigan
You can get it at Italian coffee roasters!
Shelly Andrade ...... He doesn't know what he is talking about , he thinks that the only coffee in Spain is the torrefacto kind , You love the coffee in Spain because you had drink good coffee , he still don't know where to find it , not even at the stores . I am from Spain my wife from USA everytime we have been going to Spain with friends from this country , they had love the coffee there . He likes Arabica coffee , a light coffee like cola cao . Do you like arabica coffee ?? I don't . So you see that goes for taste .
If You like Strong coffee You like torrefacto. My father doesnt like coffee Like the ones you can find abroad, he likes Strong and dark coffee. For him, coffee isnt good if its lighter. Its all about what you are used to. I like coffee with a lot of milk and i have got used to have It without sugar. Natural coffee seems like It hasnot enough coffee when you mix It with milk. And the smell of torrefacto is more intense.
@@rojimyayang5857 .....Not really , not all strong coffee are good , and torrefacto for my taste is bitter , not strong , now like I said that is go by taste and what we like , there are a lot of people who like torrefacto , like chicory , like arabica , or like sanka , or nescafe , coffee have so many different flavor like so many people who drinked . It is something particular for each one .
@@angellavado4846, he knows perfectly well. He is voicing a common complaint not only among visitors from other countries, but also Spanish people. The coffee served in most neighbourhood bars is torrefacto and really bitter. It reminds one of the smell of tar or burnt tire. I didn't know that was the effect of the burnt sugar coating the beans. As I said in a previous message, I used to go to Delina's and I really loved their coffee because it tasted like coffee and it was not bitter at all. I asked a waiter what kind of coffee they served and she told me it was natural roast, not torrefacto, so I decided to switch to natural ever since.
But if someone likes or even loves torrefacto, well, they are free to have it. They only have to go to the nearest bar and order one. No problem.
Fantastic video. You've fully explained something I've wondered about for yeeeears of regualry visiting Spain! Genuinely baffles me that anyone can like torrefacto coffee!
I’m pleased!!!
Great video. Well documented staff. Keep it up.
I'm spansh coffe lover and I've like to tell you: please STOP drink "torrefactado" coffe. No, please, please, please...
To be honest, portuguese coffe is much better than spanish one.
That's a sad story. Spanish person living in spain loving coffee... 😆😂
@@saralampret9694 coming soon, the story that moved Spielberg
Spanish and portuguees coffee is just the same 😂😂
@@Danielincreible not at all!!
I agree with David. I used to leave srelly close to Portugal, when I was a child and my mom used to travel to Portugal just to get coffee. She always said it was much better than the Spanish one. "el barco" it was called.
Hi James. Costa Rican in here - from the land of *real* coffee, heh. I also work for one of the leading coffee export brands in the country and we’re about to visit Spain in a few months. Looks like we’ll have to haul some coffee with us! The minute you started talking of “torrefacto” I started to cringe badly. That’s a surefire sign for what’s basically shit coffee - I recognize I’m hopelessly spoiled on our prime 100% Arabica beans (btw, by law only Arabica coffee can be planted in Costa Rica). Usually someone who still preferes torrefacto over pure coffee is a person that is so used to the flavor of torrefacto that he or she won’t try other coffee kind, or someone who doesn’t care much about coffee varieties. Coffee is coffee is coffee for some I guess. But once you do... well, there’s no turning back. Thanks for these info tidbits.
This is one of your best educational videos, mixing perfectly tourism, history, culture, food and entertainment! Btw loved your Sevilla videos, are you going back to record some more in the future?
This was a real surprise! I've had coffee in Spain and was not impressed either. I had no clue that sugar roasting coffee beans happens in Europe too!! I'm from Singapore and our local coffee (kopi) is prepared this way. Lower grade beans are roasted with a 20-70% mixture of sugar, corn and margarine, for economy. So our local coffee powder could be only about 30% actual coffee beans. The process turns the beans very dark and sticky, with an almost burnt crust and makes the brewed coffee almost syrupy and tar-like in body, but also mutes the true flavour and aroma of the beans. I hate it, but a lot of Singaporeans, especially the older ones, love it 😝
Interesting...!!!
In any case, before the EU single marcket they was smuggling from Portugal to Spain.
I love Spain coffee! Before Nespresso came to the USA, I used to bring bags and bags of Spanish coffee back home. Also, I do mix it w warm milk and sugar
Well, I'm spaniard and I thought the opposite when I travelled to USA: Why is the coffee so light here (in USA)??
Me to ...I'm shocked with this topic tbh
Same as the US beers...all watery
Well American coffee is famous for being ultra light. Hence the term "americano", which is coffee with water.
Because they normally use different types of machines and coffee
Europeans like their coffee dark roast. people from United States and Canada prefer lighter roast coffee.. so the roast changes the flavour profile big time. there are other factors that will affect taste
Lived in Spain 5 years after coming from Venezuela(great coffee) and just now learned about this Torrefacto crap. No wonder I had to go through tons of coffees to find something decent. This would have saved me a lot of time and money. Thanks!
05:05 Hi James, torrefacto mostly is robusta roasted with sugar. And I personally love it :). I love Spanish coffee and I love Spanish bars at all. And I think that you do not know much about coffee at all. Criticism of good, traditional things is not good way of propaganda. Keep going and stay positive.
I'm Spaniard, I love coffee and I have never heard the word "torrefacto".
pos macho abre los oidos
Now you have :) It's an interesting topic
You must be really young then. 😲
Not me either ever,,,
@@jesuscora 27 years old. But, my mother has never heard it too, and she's 63. Perhaps it is/it was more common in Madrid, I don't know it.
In the seventeenth century when ships brought coffee from America to Spain and Portugal, it used to arrive in poor conditions due to humidity, temperature changes and transport time. At that time they realized that by adding sugar to coffee in the roasting process, it resisted changes in temperature and humidity much better and since then, the tradition in Spain of drinking torrefacto coffee was based
Agreed. Spain coffee is so different from what we had in Colombia 🇨🇴 and USA 🇺🇸
Another great vid, mate! I have an idea for a video which I'd love to see you guys make: the cold, harsh reality of the amount of street crime here in Madrid these days (not to mention how bad it's got in Barcelona). I've been in Madrid since 2011 like yourself, and the change these past 8 years has been crazy (I got mugged myself in Sol last month). I know it's not a fun topic to cover, and I'm well aware of people not wanting to touch upon it for fear of being politically incorrect, but given the current levels of street crime in Madrid, I think as a warning to tourists and wet-behind-the-ears guiris thinking of coming here, a video on how to make sure you don't get pickpocketed/scammed etc., would be absolutely priceless information.
Hi James, just stumbled on your channel, been bingeing on your vids. Excellent stuff :)
I lived in Spain for about 14 years and often wondered why about, mebbe, 10% of Bar/Restaurant coffee wasn't as good as the rest. Now I know!
And, I used to think that Spanish coffee was the best in the world, until I went to Rome! Yes, 3 times the price, but man, it is seriously awesome coffee!
Thank you for this very informative vid. I’m a coffee snob and always travel with my French press and coffee. I was looking forward to tasting the coffee of Spain on our next trip, thanks for the knowledge!
Good coffee is on the north of Spain, and better with milk and without sugar ;)
Torrefacto is an acquired taste, like every other bitter taste (beer per example). The spanish regions where it´s still popular are the most affected for the lack of food supply after the Civil War. Also some regions used chicory for decades as a coffee substitutive when coffee was unavalilable,.Chicory is used now only in summer for "granizados" (ask for "granizado de malta" in any horchatería in Alicante, it´s delicious...)
That's very interesting! It makes sense the connection. Thanks for sharing.
I really enjoy your videos! You and Yoli are awesome!! Keep it up!!!
Muy bien explicado! Gracias por la aportación, buen experimento y buen ritmo. Se os felicita!
Gracias!
What a great informative video. I'm very much a coffee lover so will certainly be looking out for the right blend. Thank you for sharing
Great video! I missed Spanish coffee while living in England, and now that I am here I can notice the difference. However, I do like mezcla! I find it good for cortados, café con leche and just general small sized coffees. The problem I saw in the UK was that, even if you could find nice coffee, only the chains (not Starbucks, ugh!) and the special little shops would do a nice coffee for my tastes, everywhere else it would just too watery, and that's just not nice! This is my opinion though, I still think Italy are the masters of coffee!
I'm spanish and I had no idea about any of this. I just assumed it was so bitter because it was concentrated in a shot. Informative, cheers!
El café torrefacto no es el café típico de España, es el que se hacía en la posguerra civil para que cundiese más, sabe a rayos, pero hay gente mayor que está acostumbrada a ese sabor y se sigue haciendo si lo pides, pero no es el café habitual, al menos donde yo vivo, Galicia.
En realidad el Torrefacto empezó a producirse en España en 1901 a través del dueño de Cafés La Estrella quien trajo ese procedimiento de México y lo patentó aquí. E hizo mucha publicidad.
Pero si es cierto que fue por la posguerra que el Torrefacto se implantó como el café "estandar" en todo el país por ser más barato y aguantar más tiempo.
@@v.j.routed5310 Gracias por la info!
I love coffee in Spain. It’s the only place I’ll drink it!
In spanish bars they use natural coffee. Torrefacto is used sometimes for pot homemade coffee .
Clearly we go to different bars :)
Great video . I'm a coffee lover and there is some decent coffee in Spain for sure . My favourite is Italian or Portuguese coffee . Good job guys. Hugs from London
Ah, this explains a lot! Can't wait to go back to Spain to try some torrefacto, knowing it's torrefacto 😅
haha let us know how you get on!
It’s true - espresso in Spain is bitter; espresso in Portugal is uniformly excellent.
Mmmm, I love a good "galão"! (a big white coffee in a glass).
Gracias! por este video, seremos más cuidadosos al comprar café. Cheers!
I only know two countries in Europe where you can order a coffee, wherever it is, and you have 99% chance that gonna be good: Italy and Portugal.
He's not from Europe
Let me guess... You are from Portugal. I'm sorry Portugal is not in my list and I did not hear in anybody's one across all Europe
The best solution is to never get solo. ;) Add milk and ton of sugar, and everything is nice. LOL I used to but some super cheap ground coffee in Dia, but I can't remember what it was, but it was the only thing, I could drink without milk. And for some reason I never thought of finding more about the topic of Spanish coffee, so big thanks for this video. :) On the other note, I noticed (on a paper with Cartman LOL) Cold Brew y el Papelón con Limón, have you tried that, sounds both terrible and curiously interesting. :D
Happy to help! And no I’ve never heard of that!
I always drink my coffee solo. Always. No exceptions.
Thanks for the explanation. I actually like the coffee in bars in Spain, but I was confused when the only thing we could find in stores was "mezcla" 50/50. It also tastes very different when you make it at home vs. in a bar. Now I know what torrefacto means!
We moved to Madrid 20 days ago I and I think this may be the most important video you have ever posted. PS I am married to a Colombnian.
This has nothing to do with coffee but I'm currently doing a semester abroad in Bilbao from the US, and I wanted to say that your fun and informative videos have been a great resource for me to better understand and act in this country! Eskerrik asko!!
Omg finally a kiwi youtuber passionate about Spain I just discovered your channel today
Hehe welcome!!
Hallo James. Coffee is an acquired taste and each country has its own eccentricities. Robusta is fine as it gives a more balanced, round final taste (less flavour, more caffeine). Torrefaction is done in several countries. What makes (average) Spanish coffee so unpalatable is the abuse of cheap unripened Asian stocks. Once they were miseducated for years with torrefacted blends, Spaniards were an easy target for green, bland coffee from Vietnam. As a Spaniard who happened to live in Portugal for 6 years and has travelled a lot in Europe I would dare to say (average) Portuguese blends are my favourite punching-but-rich option and (average) Swedish coffee the most particular mild-but-not-watery option.
In Spain, even in the smallest town there are half a dozen bars and restaurants and the locals know which bar has good wine, which bar makes good coffee and which bar serves good beer... and since we go out almost every days to drink a wine, a beer or a coffee, we do not complicate our lives, nor do we seek excellence, we simply enjoy what we are doing, when we want to celebrate something special, we know exactly what wine we like and where to order it, All this taking into account the budget, up to 12 euros per bottle, a normal wine, from 12 to 25 a good wine and over 25 an excellent wine, that of the vintages, the flavors of earth, spices and other things, we leave them to the Anglo-Saxon experts who seem to enjoy it more than drinking and chatting over a bottle of wine
Finally I understand why coffee here in Spain is so bitter and strong. Cool video
Thanks for your comment! Glad you liked it!
I am pretty sure that it was the mezcla that I drank my first 3 months in Spain that gave me a kidney stone which led to 2 surgeries. Or maybe it was drinking my body weight in Mahou. I already switched to Estrella Galicia because of this channel. Now I shall drink Lavazza.
Wow - I hope you're ok now Robert! Lavazza is ok. But I would head to a nearby Cafes Pozo or Cafe La Mexicana or a good coffee shop.
@@spainrevealed Doing great! Thanks for the tip. Can't wait for the book (no pressure though).