Mexico rarely gets top billing when talk turns to the world’s great coffee-growing regions. A new cafe at Mercado González wants to change that.
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Casa Libre, a specialty cafe devoted to coffee grown in Mexico, will open Thursday, Sept. 24, inside the Costa Mesa mercado.
The new concept will roast single-origin beans onsite, allowing customers to compare coffees from growing regions like Chiapas and Veracruz.
“Casa Libre is built on a simple idea: mi casa es tu casa,” said Jeremy Creighton, Casa Libre cofounder, in a written release. “Mexico is literally our neighbor, and its coffee deserves a place in the spotlight.”
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Mexico boasts more than , with most tending plots smaller than three hectares (or 7.4 acres). At Casa Libre’s roastery and bean market, customers can learn about individual regions and producers, sample varying flavor profiles and watch beans being roasted before they’re packed.
Opening selections will include coffee from Doña Duglas Molina and her family at El Cielo farm in Villa Corzo, Chiapas, with notes of chocolate, red plum and honeydew melon. Other offerings will come from small farms near Motozintla, Chiapas, near the Guatemalan border, and Huatusco, Veracruz.
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“We’re excited for guests to discover that ‘Mexican coffee’ isn’t one single flavor or experience,” said cofounder Natalie Taormina. “These coffees are shaped by completely different landscapes, climates, families and traditions.”
In addition to espresso, batch brew and other coffee-shop staples, the menu will feature the El Jaguar Latte made with a corn, cacao and chile syrup, as well as the El Colibrí tinged with cafe de olla syrup.
Pastelería González will supply such pastries as canela rolls, jamón pockets, chocolate chip galleta, almond croissants and colibrí galletas, the bakery’s gingerbread hummingbird cookies.
Hours will be Sunday through Thursday from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. and Friday and Saturday from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m.
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Find it: Mercado González, 2300 Harbor Blvd., Costa Mesa, cafecasalibre.com