Practically every Mexican/Latin restaurant serves coffee, but most probably just order whatever brand their distributor recommends. Fernando Diaz, whose grandfather owns a coffee farm in Oaxaca, thinks the coffee decision should be made more thoughtfully.
“Mexican cuisine is complex and varied from region to region, just as coffee is,” says Diaz. “A Mexican restaurant that's working to have an authentic culinary experience should round out their beverage ingredients, such as coffee, to showcase the most authentic experience from plate to cup.”
Diaz’s company, Proyecto Diaz Coffee, is headquartered near Oakland, California and has been importing coffee grown on the family farm in Oaxaca, as well as coffee from several other farms in Mexico and other Latin American countries, for the past six years. The company sources its coffee only from small-scale producers or co-ops, with the aim of helping those small producers remain sustainable.
Diaz reports that a number of well-known Mexican restaurants – such as Mirame in Los Angeles, Comal in Berkeley, and Californios in San Francisco – serve Proyecto Diaz coffee. Learn more at www.proyectodiazcoffee.com.
Another organization seeking more sales among U.S. restaurants is Roasters Warehousing Trading Co. (RWTC). This firm, headquartered in Chiapas, works with 30 Mexican coffee farmers and exports their beans to distribution hubs in the United States, Canada, France and China. Customers can order as little as 100 pounds at a time.
Want to see your coffee grower first hand? RWTC says U.S. customers are welcome to visit any of the Mexican farms. Learn more at www.rwtc.mx.
So the next time you’re thinking about your beverage menu, don’t make coffee an afterthought. Mexican coffee might just be the perfect brew to complete a great meal.