As a person who made a latte a part of her morning ritual before she entered high school and who has spent most of her free time since then socializing and writing in coffee shops, chosen apartments based on their proximity to a good java joint, and converted her tea drinking boyfriend into a coffee fiend, the little brown beans that we all know and love are almost a part of my self identity. Who am I without coffee? I don’t really want to know and I can assure you that my boyfriend definitely does not want to find out.
Of course you can find great, real coffee in the Mariscal, but I don’t live in the Mariscal - I live half an hour away by trolley and that is much too long a commute without coffee first - hence the dilemma. After sampling the java in a two block radius all around my house in Centro Historico and always being served Nescafe, I finally decided that I needed to make it at home to make it how I want it. Since then I have tried numerous coffee brands and had almost settled on the organic Mindo Cloud Forest when the sweet, rich aroma of roasting beans lured me into this little tienda near Plaza Grande where my coffee dreams were realized.
They have dark, medium, and light roast, but like a true junkie I went straight for the strong stuff and bought a bag for $5.50.
This morning I sampled it for the first time and it is good! Strong, bold, rich with an earthy flavor and enough caffeine to wake me up after a single cup, but not so much that I’m shaking after two. I can say, hands down, this is the best coffee I have had in Ecuador. Café Aguila de Oro is located directly behind the President’s house on Benalcazar between Chile and Espejo.
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