Spaniards tend to make everything uniquely their own. For instance, coffee. El café. They drink a lot of coffee in Spain. Around 24 million cups are consumed throughout the country every year. That breaks down to something like 599 cups per person. Somewhere in Madrid someone’s lingering over a café con leche or a carajillo in one of a multitude of coffee houses and restaurants at this very moment. And of course, it’s not always JUST coffee. The Spanish work a little coffee bean magic with a surprising benefit.
Allow me to introduce you to café torrefacto. The torrefacto process is a simple one. Coffee beans and sugar are mixed and then roasted which gives the beans a caramel-like glaze. After being combined with regular roasted coffee beans in various ratios, the mixture’s ground and readied for brewing. The upshot is that the addition of sugar to the beans increases the already substantial antioxidant properties of coffee.
I order my torrefacto from my friends at La Tienda in Williamsburg, VA. My favorite is made by Catunambú based in Andalucía. It’s a mezcla, a blend of 10 different beans from around the world, 50% natural roast and 50 % torrefacto. For the best and most authentic flavor, brew this in an espresso machine. Espresso brewing also ups the antioxidants even more.
And the taste? I really enjoy this stuff! It has a medium roast body with hints of caramel. The sugar cuts the bitterness quite a bit without adding too much sweetness. It’s smooth and has a rich mouth feel. I add about a tablespoon of milk to make a café cortado and serve it with María tea biscuits, vanilla flavored wheat cookies that are perfect for dunking.