Coffee culture

Dave and I love coffee. Well, Dave loves coffee.  I was pressured into liking it.  I never used to drink it at all, but when Dave got sick for 2 months and I was 7 months pregnant, I needed it.  I know, seems like a strange time to start drinking coffee, but trust me, it allowed me to get through each day.  60 days of no sleep, pregnancy and almost single-motherhood required it.  Now, a bad habit for a few months, turned into a bad habit altogether.  I like it.  I can't help it.  I don't like bad coffee.  And, I should clarify, I don't like drip coffee so much, but I like espresso and milk...perfect milk with micro-foam on the top (art or not). I like a nutty, smooth espresso, not bitter, burnt or over-pulled.  Yes, I have become a bit snobby about it.  Turns out, San Francisco is a great place for this kind of coffee - Ritual (my favorite), Blue Bottle, FourBarrel,  Sightglass, and more.  There is no shortage of good (GREAT!) coffee.

Now, to Buenos Aires. Buenos Aires has a HUGE coffee culture.  People LOVE coffee.  They love it so much, they will drink horrible coffee.  Everywhere. It is all horrible. But, the cafes are excellent, inviting, and have great food.  But, it is a bit strange when the centerpiece of the cafe sucks.  Especially being in South America and all.  There are two exceptions we have found (and I am told these are pretty much the only exceptions) - Full City Coffee and Coffee Town.  We can attest - these places have amazing, thoughtful, specialty-trained barristas (straight from Colombia) and amazing house roasted coffee.  They could compete with San Francisco any day.  We are SO happy we found them. The rest of Buenos Aires needs to take notice.