Regular readers know I love coffee. My morning always starts with three mugs of black coffee and some days, more. Not surprisingly, coffee features prominently in my books.
In the Hunt for Jack Reacher Series, FBI Special Agents Kim Otto and Carlos Gaspar drink a lot of coffee, too. I mean a LOT. So much that Otto sometimes measures intake not by the cup, but by the pot.
In fact, one of Kim Otto’s core rules to do her job and stay alive is to always drink coffee when it’s available. Of course, tracking down the perfect cup of Joe becomes a bit more challenging when you’re traveling in a foreign country.
In TEN TWO JACK, Kim Otto finds herself deep into Mexico. Otto spends most of her time in the city of Guadalajara, which is not located in a coffee producing state. Luckily for her, the coffee culture in Mexico has been changing rapidly over the last decade.
Guadalajara now boasts a wide array of cafes that cater to tourists looking for the best coffee available. Coffee culture has grown in the region so much that it will be hosting the 2019 Expo Cafe and Gourmet Show, one of the most important events in the coffee industry in the Western market. Wow!
Although Kim Otto is accustomed to taking coffee wherever she can find it, even she would agree that finding a good cup of coffee is a top priority when you’re on any kind of mission.
So what is the coffee culture like in Mexico? Here are some quick facts.
- Despite a longstanding history as being one of the largest coffee-producing countries on the globe, Mexico has only recently begun to make a name for itself in specialty coffee. Mexico provides around 60% of the world’s organic coffee and is known for having some of the purest and most excellent specialty beans.
- From its early beginnings, drinking coffee in Mexico was an inherently social affair. The first Mexican coffee shops provided a space for political meetings and academic discussions.
Image courtesy of SolMexicoNews.com
- In Mexico, coffee isn’t generally viewed as being a morning staple, but rather is enjoyed at lunch or dinner time. As a result, most coffee shops don’t open until late morning. Yikes!
- Although there has been a recent boom in international brands like Starbucks, many locals prefer instant coffee. Double yikes!
- Most locals living in northern Mexico take their coffee with lots of milk and sugar because the best beans are located in the center and south of Mexico. Special Agent Carlos Gaspar also prefers his coffee this way, unlike Kim Otto who drinks her black.
Whenever Kim Otto and Carlos Gaspar are on a mission they turn to coffee constantly. You would caffeinate aggressively too, if you were searching for one of the most dangerous men alive.
What about you? Are you a regular coffee drinker? Where do you get your caffeine fix when you’re traveling abroad?
You can learn more intriguing facts about coffee here.
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