Once again, for the third year in a row, Karin and I joined our friends for a holiday on the island of Mallorca. I am delighted to report that the quality of coffee there is improving quickly and that it is well possible to get an enjoyable espresso in a number of towns both in the north and south. We always avoid the party beach regions of the south west so I can't say much about that area, but we did visit much of the rest of the island and enjoyed a few good cups here and there. We are not talking Seattle, Portland or London here and you will get a confused stare in most places if you ask for a flat white, but we're talking here about well-prepared espresso from relatively fresh beans and properly frothed milk in cappuccinos.
There is a chain called Cappuccino, btw. They have improved immensely and I had a very good double at their café in front of the yacht club in Colònia St. Jordi near the southern tip of the island.
My favourite hangout was the Santany hotel in the far south-eastern part of the isalnd. They serve freshly roasted coffee from a small roaster called Salar in Palma. They seem to only have one blend, but it is very well balanced and very clean and was wonderfully fresh with a distinct flavour of almonds. The hotel courtyard is marvelously relaxed, decorated with hundreds of fresh oranges, and the (mostly German) staff are very friendly and courteous.
In Palma near the Plaza Major there is a truly excellent little café on C. Bosseria called the Aroma Cafe. The coffee is a probably the best on the island and the biscuits, pastries and sweets they serve are to die for.
As an aside, I celebrated my 70th birthday on the finca belonging to Germany's most well-known rock star, Peter Maffay. It just so happened that my birthday coincided with the day Peter and Tanja Maffay open their doors to fans and Karin and I drove up to Pollenca in the far north of the island and spent the day there. The Maffays run an organisation to support disadvantaged and traumatised children and keep it running with much of their own money. He is a very soft-spoken and eloquent man and both he and his wife seem very kind and uncomplicated. I enjoyed seeing them. Unfortunately, it rained cats and dogs the whole day there and we were soaked through when we got back to our little Smart to drive back to our apartment in the south, but it seemed worth it. I'm not especially a fan of Peter's music (I am very suspicious of any music later than that of J.S. Bach including the so-called music of that young upstart named Mozart), but that's secondary, in any case.
There are two cafés near the central market place in Artà in the eastern most part of the island. They both serve very good coffee and I'm sorry I can't remember either of their names, but they are the only two cafés there so it won't be hard to find them. They also serve excellent iced coffee drinks (The temperature was 28°C when we were there).
We also had some good coffees in Manacor, Portocristo and Cala d'Or.
All-in-all I would say that the quality of coffee on Mallorca has improved many times over these last three years. I'm already looking forward to next year's experiences.