The specialty coffee route aims to be a tourist reference

Caramelized, fruity and floral flavors with the influence of dark chocolate and nuances of citric acidity are the characteristics of specialty coffee grown in the Metropolitan District.

The specialty coffee route aims to be a tourist reference

This activity makes Quito the only capital in the world that produces coffee that boosts its tourism offer. According to Guillermo Ortiz, a coffee specialist, the District’s production is at its best, after a five-year process led by the Quito Economic Promotion Agency (ConQuito).

Since 2019, this institution promotes a tourist route through nine coffee shops in the capital to experience the different flavors around the capital’s coffee. The establishments selected on this route were: Guayasamin in the Middle of the World, Fresh and Roast, Douhg La Floresta, Café Vélez, Isveglio, En – Dulce, Coffee Shop Black Pearl, Naughty and Galetti.

On this route, two coffee shops are located in the Historic Center, three in La Floresta, two in the González Suárez sector, one in Cumbayá and the rest is in the Middle of the World City.

In addition, a web platform was enabled to learn more about this offer of flavors in the capital. “The versatility of Quito coffee must be taken advantage of,” explains barista David Velasteguí, who at Café Vélez offers more than 10 methods to obtain different aromas of the same product.

Their techniques are based on pressure levels, temperatures, maceration of the grain and diversity of filtrates, to awaken the most intense flavors.

“The advantage is that these fields are close to the city and the management is more business with the use of technologies. For five years, the tasting has been more demanding and the producers improved their processes and the evolution shows in the quality of the coffee ”, adds Ortiz.

A study led by Julio Echeverría years ago revealed the potential of Quito coffee as a tourist magnet.

“Experiential tourism is in vogue in the world. The yumbo culture and its culuncos do not sell themselves. Birdwatching serves a small segment of the market. Coffee, on the other hand, being the second most consumed beverage in the world after water, is a product that can articulate the entire Northwestern offer ”, summarizes Ortiz.

For Galo Morales, producer, the constant experimentation between the heights of the land, type of land to sow and techniques to care for plants are part of the success of Quito coffee production.

The coffee production of the Cruz Loma estate – owned by Morales – located in San José de Minas, recently reached a rating of 90/100 in the tasting held in Quito on October 26. His coffee presented floral flavors, influence of red fruits, jasmine and yogurt tones.

He currently exports his coffee to Australia and the USA. In the last Quito tasting were the Honduran Arnold Paz Mejía and the Japanese Tsunehisa Tomioka. For the former, the profiles of Quito coffee are very similar to those of Sumatra in Indonesia; while the second is very interested in marketing the product in Magnolia Coffee Roasters, in Asia.

https://www.elcomercio.com/tendencia/ruta-cafe-sabor-turismo-quito.html