Coffee Talk

It seems that putting milk in your coffee is an issue that Colombians see in black and white. Whenever I go to a pasteleria to get a pastel (sweet pastry thing) and a cup of coffee, the only choices I have are cafe tinto (black coffee with zero milk) or cafe con leche (a mixture of about 1 part coffee to 3 parts milk; it turns a murky whitish color.) There doesn't seem to be any room in their minds for shades of brown.

Today I found a great pasteleria on a quiet street across from a banyon tree. The display of pasteles underneath their glass counter looked extensive. As I ordered a pastel de guayaba and a cup of coffee, I tried explaining that I'd like some kind of reasonable quantity of milk in the coffee, like 95% coffee and 5% milk. At that moment the smile on the face of the woman behind the counter twisted into an expression that indicated that she had just swallowed a centipede. I had to leave.

There actually are other things about the coffee in Colombia that torment me more than the disparity in quantities of milk they put in it. Even though some of the best coffee in the world is produced in Colombia, almost everyone who drinks coffee here, drinks instant coffee. I'm not sure why this is, but I think it's to save money. Even though processed foodstuffs are disproportionately expensive here, a month's supply of powdered, flavorless coffee mix is slightly cheaper than a month's supply of freshly roasted, locally harvested, delicious, real coffee. I think there's something about the culture here that makes people value the savings of a few measly pesos above the immense pleasure of drinking real coffee.