Delicious Coffee -- Buy from Jorge and Fransisco

If you love coffee, then you will love the coffee beans sold by Jorge and Fransisco. The coffee is delicious, and you can get different types of beans depending on if you like dark roast or a lighter bean. They will grind it to your specifications.

Jorge is 16 years old, and is my godson. We "adopted" eachother 3 years ago. I am sure many of you have seen him. He is the kid with a wheelbarrow with a grinder mounted on it, and bags of Vera Cruz coffee beans. He sits on the plaza in Ajijic, or, most commonly, spends many hours each day and night on the street (Colon) across from the The Tango. Jorge is a very dear, sweet, and respectful young boy. He has been selling coffee since he was 11 or 12 years old. He needs to sell more coffee! If he sells no coffee, he does not eat.



His boss can be seen on the caraterra, next to Javier Mina - kittycorner from Clinica Ajijic- and across the corner from The Gossip cafe. His name is Fransisco. He is around 32 years old. He sells bags of coffee beans from the back of the truck.

They go to Vera Cruz to get the beans fresh from the farmers. These guys work hard and eat only when they sell enough coffee that day. Fransisco has a wife and 3 kids. I have known Jorge for nearly 3 years. I will vouch for Jorge being a good person. The coffee is not expensive, and your purchase directly helps these two guys. Buying from Superlake or the coffeeshop benefits some rich guys.

Sooo, if you want to help the local economy and some hard working Mexicans....buy your coffee from Jorge or Fransisco. They are honest, hard-working guys.

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Would this be Francisco?

YES!!!! Neil, that is Fransisco in your photo!

Do you know him, and when was this photo taken?

Oh boy, you made my day!!

He is always ready with a smile, and is a very kind and hard-working man. On a personal note, to let people know something about Fransisco and Jorge:

Fransisco's dad passed away last January, after a stay in the hospital very sick. This was happening at the same time my mother was in the hospital critically ill. My mom passed away in February, shortly after Fransisco's dad. Even though Fransisco makes very little money and has a family to support, even though business was down last year, and even though his own father was dying and then passed, he spent money on a phone card to call me and send text messages of support to me and my family when my mother was sick and after her passing. This meant SO much to me. Jorge did the same. When my mom was in crisis, I got text messages from both of these guys every day for several days, and a call on the weekends. They have strong family values, and respect for others. They impressed me so much, and were so very kind and supportive, from many miles away. They sent prayers in text messages to give me strength. These two guys really are super nice individuals.

This is good to know. We passed on the Costco coffee last time as it really has become very pricey. We are going to give this fellow a try. Can he grind the beans fine enough? We used to grind our own beans just before we made the coffee but we got lazy in our old age.

Mainecoons wrote:This is good to know. We passed on the Costco coffee last time as it really has become very pricey. We are going to give this fellow a try. Can he grind the beans fine enough? We used to grind our own beans just before we made the coffee but we got lazy in our old age.

Mainecoons: He can grind the beans to your specifications. If you want it very fine, then tell him:
" Por favor, moler el café muy fino". He can show the coffee to you so you can tell him if it is fine enough. If you want it ground more, say, "Poco mas", until he has it the way you want it.

If you want beans that are a certain strength, tell him, "fuerte = strong, medio = medium, débil = weak"....
Correct me someone if my spanish is not correct. I am not 100% fluent. Light roast, I am not sure how to say it...other than "weak" or "debil"

This is coffee freshly ground and direct from Vera Cruz!!! Do you know how much I pay for this exact coffee in the U.S.? YIKES. THis would be up in the gourmet category of coffees in the U.S.

That must have been our mistake, my husband bought regular, next time we'll ask for strong. If we had done this the price would be considerably less than Costco. It is really good coffee, and what a great couple of guys. One of our friends, a super coffee fanatic also buys from them.

I would say I am a coffee lover. I never buy coffee in the canisters at stores anymore.

I keep the ground coffee in the fridge or freezer. Seems to keep it fresher. Maybe you could have him grind it finer, or add more coffee to the filter when you make your pot so it will be stronger.

I have a photo of little Jorge, the young boy who sits outside of Tango all the time, but I do not know how to put it on here.

When I buy their coffee I feel I am directly helping two hard working guys, and I am getting really good coffee.

E-mail it to me and I could post it for you if you want.

This is exactly the type of business that desperately needs to be supported during these tough times.

57 Chev:
Foto taken 8/28/2011 and another from across the street:
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I thought I had a foto of Jorge and his stash outside of Tango but apparently I neglected to take that shot.

By the way, I used to oversee a coffee shop operation on the Oregon Coast and we had a number of educational seminars given by our coffee suppliers. All of them said: "NEVER put coffee in either whole bean or ground form in the freezer or refrigerator! The coffee will take on moisture and smells. According to what we were taught, coffee either whole bean or ground should be stored in an airtight container at a natural medium temperature. We use a vacuum storage container similar to the one below to store whole beans:
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You are right Neil, I have read that too....it was my only option, I thought, because keeping it in the cupboard, it always got old tasting so fast. I didn't know about the sort of container you show here. Will look into that. I have a metal canister with rubber gasket around the perimeter of the lid, and then a metal lock that pushes the canister tightly closed, so it works ok for me to put it in the fridge, but I have read this is a no-no. Where do you get the type of canister you depict above??

And Canuck Bob, I will get my husband to put Jorge's photo in the computer when he gets home, and will email it to you so you can add it here. That way, people will have a face to attach to the name. Thanks!!

Neil, thanks again for putting photos here. That is so very nice of you.

We purchased ours at the local Sharper Image store before they went bankrupt. Amazon has a number of options:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_6_12?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=vacuum+coffee+storage&sprefix=vacuum+coffe

Muchas gracias Neil...will buy one. I drink coffee all day, every day, and love it fresh.

For those who enjoy a great cup of fresh coffee, we highly recommend the Capresso Team which grinds the beans immediately before brewing. This unit has an integral conical burr grinder (considered to be superior to a blade grinder) and one can vary the grind and strength:
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Since ours is about four years old, we are about due for the newer version: http://www.amazon.com/Capresso-CoffeeTeam-Digital-Coffeemaker-Conical/dp/B002QG0RRC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1324337681&sr=8-2

MMMM...I think I need to order myself a Christmas present...

If you are considering the coffee maker, I do need to warn you. Capresso coffee makers are not known for making super hot coffee. We had a prior version of the Team and then the one shown and neither produces super hot coffee. From what I have read, the newer model addresses this issue. When Kathy and I first got together, I insisted on the Capresso since I felt it produced the best depth of flavor. I was immediately called a coffee snob until she tried the coffee and saw what I was talking about. We buy the Costco Guatamalien, Sumatran or Brazilian coffees in 3lb bags on kind of a rotating basis and the flavor pull is incredible.

Ferret: "dark roast has less caffeine"

Somewhat disputable factoid: http://coffeefaq.com/site/node/15
Then you have coffee companies like Starbucks who actually add caffeine to keep the Yuppies hooked!

Our observation on coffee beans in Mexico is that they seem to have a drier roast and less visible oils on the surface of the bean.

Ferret, I am glad to hear Fransisco has a following!! He and Jorge are truly nice people. If business is good for Jorge and Fransisco, they stay in Ajijic. They told me that they prefer to be in Ajijic. The times they have left have been on account of there being low sales, so they went in search of customers. If they stay busy, they'll stay put.

About the types of beans, last year they had different types, so I made an assumption they still carry the lighter/medium and darker roasts. Ask either of them. I know they understand my broken, child-like Spanish, so I do not think communication will be too much of a problem.

If I could make a dream come true and have a shop in the lakeside area --- totally unrealistic from what I have gathered--- I would love to do marketing, packaging, and sales of their coffee.

Sunfan:
Sorry for the late reply, I was out all day. If you speak to Jorge, tell him his madrina from Minnesota sent you. There is a photo of Jorge that was added later to the first posting here in this thread.

For shipping to Lakeside, don't some people use Mailboxes Etc? Start a thread under this forum - Shopping in Mexico. You will get responses on what to do. In fact, I will do a thread for you now.
Regards.