Expresso Love: Your Online Guide to Coffee

From the smallest town to the largest city, when it comes to coffee, Spain has a lot in common with Italy (or perhaps it’s the other way around). Traditional café life can still be found in Spain, where a café is rarely simply somewhere to grab a cup of coffee and a pastry. Coffee is so much a way of life that singling out a specific coffee house is difficult at best. The sidewalk café is permanent part of the Spanish culture.

A regular coffee in Spain is an expresso which is served black (café solo) while a coffee made with all milk is a café con leche, usually enjoyed for breakfast. Coffee with a dash of milk is a café cortado. If you want a large black coffee ask for a doble or a grande. Coffee with a splash of milk is a manchada.

So much coffee so little time. Where to begin? How about in your favorite city. Barcelona boasts several coffee haunts and they aren’t all geared for tourists.

Cafè de l’Opera (74 La Rambla, tel:34 93 317 7585).

Cafe Zurich (Plaça Catalunya, 1, tel: 93 317 91 53) - The Cafe Zurich was one of the most famous coffee houses in Barcelona. Long since refurbished from its original splendor, it’s got great blends and a terrific on which to enjoy your coffee.

Cafe Royale (C/Nou de Zambrano, 3, tel: 93 317 61 24), Perhaps more of a bar and less of a coffee culture mainstay; the Royale is nicely decorated with a nice selection of brews. Good music too, and known to be one of Almodovar’s favorite places to sip an espresso in Barcelona

What’s that? You’re looking to do more than read a paper and slam an espresso? Check out these great locales to buy a bag of beans:

El Magnifico (tel 93 319 60 81; Carrer de l’Argenteria 64). These guys have been roasting all sorts of coffee for most of this century.

Casa Gispert (tel 93 319 75 35; Carrer dels Sombrerers 23), where they’ve been toasting almonds and selling all manner of dried fruit since 1851.

CafeCrem (Poligono Industrial el Pla, calle Can Gurru No. 1, tel: In Spain: 972 168 0200, www.cafecrem.com) Barcelona’s famous coffee plantation. Green beans to the max. Visit, drink, roast, purchase. They ship all over the world.

In Spain, you’ll find a million stories of coffee and the folks who drink it. But the best way to discover the coffee culture is one city (and cup) at a time.