Café De Olla: The Mexican Breakfast Drink That Requires A Clay Pot

If you ever make your way south of the border to Mexico, you may come across large clay pots with a ladle that make an appearance at your hotel breakfast. These clay pots contain coffee known as café de olla, which translates to "pot coffee."

Café de olla isn't your average cup of joe; it contains a few key ingredients that give it a unique flavor. For one thing, it's made using a special type of sugar called piloncillo (also known as panela, rapadura, or chanaca in other parts of Latin America). This sugar has a deeper, richer flavor with a molasses taste that infuses dark caramel notes into the coffee.

Beyond the sweetener, this coffee also gets a unique flavor thanks to warming spices. Cinnamon and cloves are the two most common additions, adding a woodsy, sweet flavor to the drink. You may also come across brews that use anise to add a dash of licorice flavor the coffee, or throw in citrus peel to bring out the floral aromas. All those ingredients give the coffee a rich flavor with hints of spice that make it the perfect drink for winter mornings or when you want to feel extra cozy.

It's not just the sugar and spices that make café de olla unique. The clay pot used to make the brew also plays a big role in the flavor of your coffee. Clay is a porous material, and when you make your coffee in a clay pot, those pores absorb the beverage and help infuse it with rich, earthy flavor.

At the same time, clay retains heat particularly well and doesn't cool down as quickly. That means you can brew your coffee in the "olla" and allow it to sit in the pot for a while without it going cold. Leaving it to sit also enhances the flavor of the spices and the earthy flavor of the pot, letting everything meld together and infuse the coffee with a unique taste.

Of course, while making this brew in a clay pot might be the traditional method, it's not always possible to upgrade your coffee this way. Today, most people don't have a clay pot among their cookware. The good news is you can still make café de olla using a metal pot or even your French press. Just note that you won't get the same earthy flavor as you would if you made it in a traditional "olla de barra."

Café de olla is largely thought to have been invented over 100 years ago in the days of the Mexican Revolution. Back then, the drink was prepared over campfires and served to soldiers by women supporting the movement. The drink is thought to have been particularly popular with one of the revolution's leaders, Emiliano Zapata.

Eventually, this type of coffee became more than just a popular revolutionary beverage and more of a household staple. It can vary quite a bit by region, as many recipes are passed down within families. This tradition means you can find the drink in some Mexican restaurants in the U.S., as immigrant families bring along their method for making it and share it with customers.

If you want to try café de olla yourself, you can see if your local Mexican joint has a pot of this brewing for you to enjoy. Or, you can start your own tradition and make it at home. You might even add your own twist, such as by making a spiked coffee by adding tequila or another spirit or playing around with the spices. Whether you stick to tradition or try something new, this cozy brew is sure to warm you up and kickstart your day.