Surprise find in Mallorca

[cleverdic]

My experience of good coffees in Spain generally is not good and so my expectations are not high when I visit. I was therefore very surprised recently on holiday to come across a place that pulled a most excellent shot.
Grand Cafe Cappuccino in Mallorca. Their website is full of flash and short on content. http://www.cafe-cappuccino.net/uno.htm

It is a small chain of upmarket cafes in Mallroca with locations in Puerto Portals, Palma Nova and Puerto Andraitx amonsgst others.

I usually ask for "cafe con leche" in Spain and usually get a boiling hot brew of varying quality but this is the first place I could try espressos, americanos and cortados and enjoy savouring the quality of the bean coming through. A most enjoyable experience

[bruceb]

OK, that was nearly 3 years ago. Anyone had a decent cup anywhere on Mallorca? Karin and I have been invited to spend a week in Cala Murada on the south-east coast, but will probably do a bit of exploring. I'll try to get to one of the places mentioned above, but if anyone has any other suggestions I'd be grateful. I'm taking the trusty AeroPress with in any case.

[Neil_Smith]

We have just come back from Alcudia, and cafe con leche was about the nearest we could get too! I asked for a a latte at a couple of places and no one new what it was, so it was small cups all week - lovely weather though so can't moan too much!

Neil.

[bruceb]

I've been back for over a week, but had a cataract operation in the meantime and have not been able to do much on the computer until now.

In general the espresso was very poor on Mallorca. In spite of good machines (mostly La Spaziale) and relatively fresh beans (mostly mainland roasted) the quality of the shots was miserable.

The first surprise I had was a small café on the square in Polenca. Freshly roasted beans, proper cooling flushes, clean machines, careful distribution and tamping all led to very good shots, dolled up with latte art on the cappuccinos and other milk drinks. "If you don't like our selection tell us how you want us to make your drink" was the Spanish motto. Just plain excellent. Service was good and super friendly.

The second surprise wasn't as delightful, but all the more unexpected: The airport in Palma had a service bar with a barista who knew his business, a 3-group La Spaziale, 2 good grinders, a lever-type tamper and beans from Illy. Seeing the Illy sign turned me off, but I was desperate and to my surprise the coffee was good. I spoke to the barista and he showed me the can of Illy beans (one of those big, gas-filled 5kg cans) with a roast date just 10 days prior. He gets them from Triest weekly and they didn't taste like Illy at all. The coffee wasn't great, but it was as good as could be made from those beans and was really drinkable. I watched the barista (no longer young) gracefully do some latte art and the pride with which he did it was obvious.

I got along the rest of the time with the Aeropress and some preground Spanish rubbish. I didn't drink much coffee the whole time, but the good wines and excellent food, the sun and the sound of the ocean more than made up for the loss. The island is really lovely, the people are for the most part very friendly and cordial and the scenery stunning. We had a good time.

[CakeBoy]

Good grief you really have been in the wars Bruce, I hope the op went well and you are recovering without too much discomfort.