At the end of a meal comes coffee. The drink puts an end to the rhythm set by the spoon, knife and fork and opens the way to the restful moment of the after-dinner meal. However, this custom rooted in so many gastronomic cultures has some drawbacks: on the one hand, the coffee in restaurants leaves much to be desired and, on the other, we lengthen the already long hours of the hospitality industry. Should we stop drinking coffee in restaurants?
“I ask whose coffee it is before drinking it and, if it doesn't convince me, I don't drink it. I don't want to ruin the food experience,” says roaster and barista Carmen Callizo, from Slow Mov (Barcelona). “To improve the quality of the coffee we drink, automatic filter machines are a safe option that changes the consumer experience. Having a filter coffee at the end of the meal is something new and fits within the framework of a restaurant that wants to surprise. Offering a good espresso is more difficult, but not impossible with a little training and desire.” For Callizo, the price of coffee is not a problem since it is more expensive than other raw materials used in restaurants. “You take the cost and multiply it by the multiplier that is used for other raw materials and the price comes out. We have to stop thinking that a coffee is a coffee; “Coffee is an opportunity to leave a good taste in customers’ mouths and explain many other things.”
For Marco Trujillo, head waiter at the Bardal restaurant (Málaga), coffee should not be eliminated from restaurants. “The better the restaurant, the better coffee service it should have,” he says. He recognizes, however, that “the coffee that abounds in Spain is mediocre to the point of bad.” Bardal offers Supracafé and filter espresso coffee, either in the Chemex or V60 method, from different roasters such as the Barcelona-based Nomad or the Dutch Friedhat. Trujillo explains that his espresso costs 5 euros, the small filter costs 10 euros and the large filter costs 15 euros. “We adjust the prices depending on the coffees we have.”
Carles Pérez de Rozas, chef and owner of the Berbena restaurant (Barcelona), believes that we should not stop taking it. “The problem, for me, is that we don't value coffee. 'They made a mistake and didn't invite us to the cafes' is a typical complaint in restaurant reviews. Why should they invite you to coffees? Many think that coffee is something collateral when it is another product that needs care, like bread, cheese or wine. Going for good coffee means buying quality beans, investing in machinery that allows you to have good water and good execution (around 10 thousand euros) and in the training necessary to make them. All these structural costs are not passed on to the coffee because, if they were, my specialty coffee would go from €2.50 to €6, and they would tell me I was crazy.” The solution that the hotelier has found is to clearly delimit his two shifts, in which all diners arrive and leave at the same time. “The after-dinner meals here are shorter, but I think there are ideal spaces for it where those costs can be passed on, such as specialty cafes.”
From Puchero, coffee and cocoa roasters in Valladolid, its co-founder, Paloma Puentes, says the following: “I don't drink coffee in restaurants, but I wait until I'm done to go to a specialty coffee shop to drink it.” She argues that to improve the quality of coffee in restaurants, one should “dedicate the time it deserves to this product just as one does with the rest, and learn how to do it. Coffee is the last part of a meal and that point of quality makes the difference. Of course, if the coffee is of higher quality, it has to be reflected in the price.”
From the Vandelvira restaurant (Baeza), chef Juan Carlos García maintains that coffee continues to be essential in the restaurant experience. “You should only stop taking it in those places where the quality is not as expected or desired.” García believes that it is the customers who set the coffee trend in restaurants: “we have more and more information about coffee and people are fleeing from roasters. We will improve with training, both in the restaurants and for the customer themselves.” At Vandelvira they use coffee from Vander, a micro-roaster that advised and trained them “to understand the world of coffee with the same eyes that we take care of other things,” says García. In their case, they have Chemex, a filter for which they currently use a Colombian coffee of the Caturra/Castillo varieties, with a natural process of double fermentation and medium roasting, at a cost of €4.5; and espresso, the method with which they are making a Congolese coffee from North Kivu, of the Bourbon variety, washed medium roast, for €3. "The price of coffee is relative: it depends on quality, origin, space, dishes and time, and must adjust to all the conditions, especially quality."
From Ambivium, barista Edwin Aguilera explains that restaurants are an ideal place to highlight coffee. “It is the final part of the experience, the last taste in the mouth, and it cannot be spoiled by low-quality coffee or terrible service. “Coffee and after-dinner meals should be given the same attention as the rest of the elements.” Ambivium's coffee offering is extensive, both in origins and methods. “We are lucky to have the latest harvests from each place. Yesterday, for example, we had a Geisha from Panama for our V60, with extended fermentations and light toasting, with many flowers, some peppers, citrus fruit, hints of grapefruit," details the barista, who carries out the entire production process. coffee preparation, from grinding to serving, in full view of customers, who will not pay because it is included in Ambivium's Cellarium experience.
