Happy Dia de los Muertos!
Happy Day of the Dead! Ok, I’m not just being morbid, there really is something called Day of the Dead.
On November 1st & 2nd of every year in Mexico, other Latin countries as well as the U.S., families & friends gather together to pay their respects to passed loved ones. They dedicate brightly decorated alters full of marigold flowers, sugar skulls, candles, & photos of those that have passed. The idea is that during these two days, the dead come back to the living world & therefore we celebrate them & welcome them home. I think it’s a great way to remember those that we have lost in a celebratory fashion instead of being all sad & weepy about it. Families will often celebrate into the wee hours of the night, praying, telling stories about their loved ones & eating delicious treats & coffee to help keep them awake well into the wee hours of the night.
A type of coffee that is typically consumed on this day is called:
Café de Olla.
Café de olla literally means “Pot Coffee” getting its name from the clay pot (or olla de barro) that it’s traditionally made in.
It wasn’t until two years ago that I heard about & tasted this concoction of spices & coffee for myself. I fell in love with it despite not liking coffee at all. It tasted like someone poured a warm blanket, cinnamon & love into a cup. So of course I set out to learn more about this delicious drink & how I could recreate the love at home. This post is all about what I learned & how you can share the goodness that this simple little drink holds with your own loved ones, both past & present.
Enjoy!
A Little Background:
Café de olla is a traditional Mexican style of coffee made in clay pots & flavored with raw cane sugar (called piloncillo in Mexico or panela in other Latin American countries) & spices such as cinnamon & cloves. The coffee beans typically used for this recipe are Viennese-type dark roasted beans. When brewed, the coffee is medium-bodied & has a bit of a kick to it. This kind of coffee gives the café de olla a rich base for the spices to accent upon.
Café de olla can be made in saucepans, french presses & other pots but it is most definitely at it’s best when made in a clay pot called an “olla de barro“. These clay pots (like the one pictured above) are tan in color & tend to have a distinct smell to them that I can only describe as “earthy”. The very thing that gives the pot that earthy smell is also what imparts a unique flavor into the coffee, giving it a “homemade” taste. These pots can also be used to cook a variety of foods that require slow cooking over low heat like stews (guisados) & beans.
