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there is nothing better than a cold refresh- Photo / Dave Heere
ing drink and people of Valencia know it
better than anyone: many people like to
pour their hot espresso on an ice cube and
add a dash of lemon. Another original way
is drinking a shot of espresso with a small
amount of condensed milk, which adds a
sweet touch to the bitter flavour. There
are also many different variations using
liquors and other beverages like “cre-
maet”, which contains a mix of coffee,
Although Valencia is filled with tourists, rum, sugar, cinnamon and lemon zest,
you probably won’t catch too many people bringing not only flavours but also a fun
walking around with Starbucks cups. As a boozy twist for your social drink.
matter of fact, if you want to have a coffee Nevertheless, the time goes on so
during your walk, you will probably have to does the coffee culture. People in Valencia
spend a few dozen minutes or so finding a started to appreciate specialty coffee more
place that will make you one. While it’s pos- and more: the younger generation is learn-
sible to find americano coffee in Valencia, it ing how to appreciate real specialty coffee
still won’t be the coffee an American is used in all it’s forms. You can clearly see it with
to. In most cases, you will receive an espres- the lessons of the recent pandemic: “One
so with some water added to it. And most small positive aspect of this lockdown was
importantly, it will be much smaller than that people had no choice but to make
the portion one would expect. Most popular coffee in their own homes. This forced our
types of coffee here include Cortado, Man- clients to educate themselves about dif-
chado, and Café Solo, all of which are served ferent brewing methods and helped them
in small cups. to experiment with coffee, maybe even for
If you’re looking for one of those giant the first time. Being not only a coffee shop
cups to take it with you for your walk, you’ll but also a roastery, we have had an im-
probably end up spending way too much mense increase in online sales. This
time finding a coffee shop that actually helped us to cope with this extraordinary
offers one. When people go to coffee plac- moment in history,” shares Mark Uhlig.
es, they usually end up spending some time
socializing and drinking coffee. Rarely will
you see a person taking their coffee on the
go. As a matter of fact, taking a 45-minute
break to go and drink coffee with your
buddies from work is nothing strange, it’s
actually pretty casual and acceptable in
Spain. According to Mark Uhlig, co-found-
SPAIN HOT SUMMER ESCAPE 5 “espressos” in bars or restaurants. Unfor-
er of D·Origen Coffee Roasters, Spaniards
love to drink coffee, but usually not in their
own homes. They tend to order their 4 or

tunately, due to their lack of understanding,
the local commercial roasters have been
producing low quality coffee for years,
which reflects poorly on the coffee served
in these local establishments. For decades,
coffee roasted with sugar, called “torrefac-
During hot Mediterranean summers,

18 to”, was viewed as a norm. 19