Our history
One day I tried a cup of coffee that changed the way I saw it completely. I was curious because I did not understand how that cup of coffee could have a flavor so different to all the other coffees I had taken in my life. I was not a coffee grower, and that experience changed it.
After that day, I woud compare every coffee I tried. After some time, I discovered that what I had tasted was Specialty Coffee. Specialty Coffe is where the whole process is looked at with a magnifying glass, from the farm to the cup. For many years I was linked to the wine industry since I worked in the Sales Department of a retail company. When suddenly my work life took an unexpected turn, I decided to investigate thoroughly the coffee that had left me so curious. I traveled a lot to take courses and to train myself in the cultivation, processing, extraction, preparation, purcharse and finally, toasting coffee. I can not count the number of different types of coffee that I have tasted since the beggining of my journey but I can say that I found many similarities between the wine culture and the specialty coffee, which marked me as a coffee consumer, and I had never given the respect and appreciation that a good coffee deserves.
I decided to start planning that one day I would open a place where I could demonstrate my skills and provide all my knowledge in my home country, where there has always been a lot of coffee culture, but in general it has always been a market with much to be desired in terms of quality.
Turns out that a few months earlier my son Mateo was diagnosed with Adenoid Hypertrophy when he was a year and a half old. This made us consult many doctors because we noticed how his condition worsened and became sick every month. It was sad seeing how the only way to keep such a small child from harm was with a monthly antibiotic round because of his complicated condition.
All the consultations that we did in the country and outside suggested us surgery to remove the adenoids and tonsils. Something that shoked us was that none of these operations offered a guarantee, since, at an early age, there was a possibility that the organ would grow again. We did not want to subject our son to an opperation of this nature, more so, if it could repeat itself. We decided to seek more options until we decided to consult a naturophatic and holistic doctor. Everything we had read about the adenoids told us that this is a lymphatic organ that produces defenses, precisely to prevent diseases.
The consultation with the holistic doctor was atypical since Mateo was was sleeping and only with his breathing the doctor said that his immune system was compromised and felt threatened, that the solution to all this was a diet that removed irritating foods like gluten, corn, refined sugar, all the dairy products, cheeses, etc.
It was not easy, but we complied with the diet, we gave him the supplements he told us, and Mateo, at three and half years old, had not become sick ever again. This showed us that a healthy food habit is perhaps the most important factor in taking care of our well-being. We decided to adopt the same diet for the whole family.
After several years Casa Barista & Co. was born, a place where you can appreciate a different, specialty coffee and where you can eat in a different way, a really healthy way.
About us
Casa Barista & Co, is not a regular coffee shop. As is evident throughout the world, there are endless options when it comes to coffee, specially industrialized corporations like Starbucks and Juan Valdez to name some Casa Barista is the opposite. This coffee would be what is called Specialty Coffee.
A first important clarification is that Specialty Coffee is not a "special" coffee, like, for example, a "caramel Latte" or a "Frappuccino" or any other beverage that contains coffee but has an unusual name.
One of our main passions is to bring coffee back to the basics and to use quality ingredients for each step. We firmly believe that, if the raw material is not good enough, the coffee is not what it can really be, no matter what cream, sweetener or syrup is added. Everything boils down to two things: The freshness and quality of water, and selection of coffee at it's origin.
Perhaps the subject that we are most passionate about is educating the consumer about why a cup of coffee is considered Specialty. For this we will offer different extraction methods such as the traditional expresso machine, and other equipment such as Chemex / V60 and Siphon coffee or vacuum. These processes are artisanal and allow to regulate the grinding, the temperature and the grammage of the coffee. In this way, each cup can be unique, even when the same bag of coffee beans was used to make it, since the different extraction methods manage to personalize it. Each methods offers different characteristics to appreciate the sweetness, acidity, cleanliness, softness and oils, all characteristics of coffee.
Another of our main philosophies for this concept is to be able to offer our clients a variety of alternative products with a focus on a healthy diet. Although cow's milk has been par excellence the most used ingredient in drink to complement coffee, today there are different milks that can be used to replace dairy products, such as almonds, hazelnuts and coconut.
Following this philosophy, our gastronomic diversity will offer different types of meals and desserts in different categories, zero: GMO ingredients, gluten, flour, eggs, dairy and essentially free of refined products, therefore, low in calories. We believe that a coffee that has been thoroughly selected and toasted , must be complemented by a variety of strictly healthy foods and desserts.