Grey Day Lima- La Ruta del Cafe, Lima, Peru (B)

Many people scratch their heads in wonder at how Francisco Pizarro chose Lima as the location for the administrative nerve centre of the Spanish Empire in South America. With grey skies and a desert-like landscape, this is a city that lost out in the ‘location, location, location’ stakes. However, what it lacks in physical and scenic beauty is made up for by a world-class food culture. Also, as the capital of one of the largest exporters of organic coffee on the planet, there are plenty of places to enjoy spectacular coffee should you find yourself in the city on one of its many grey days. 

Tostadería Bisetti may suffer from the fact that it enjoys a stellar reputation as the birthplace of quality coffee in Peru. Recommended by the owner of the excellent D’Wasi Coffee Shop in Cusco, my expectations were sky-high prior to arriving and, given that it preceded many of its high-end rivals and acted as a training ground for some of their owners, it was an obligatory starting point on a coffee tour of Lima. Located on a corner opposite the main park in Barranco, it immediately announces itself as a coffee Mecca with a roasting area to the left of the main entrance, as well as walls decorated with coffee grinders and photos of different brewing methods such as Aeropress, pour over and Italian stove top. However, what it possesses in style is not necessarily matched in substance. The staff was unable to tell me much about the provenance of the coffee and the Aeropress that I ordered took forever to arrive and it was served in a cup (with no sign of the Aeropress). When I inquired about the cakes I was told to look at the counter, which I did, only to turn around to see another server taking away my coffee. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).