Café Colomer is a micro-roaster and café opposite the Universitat Politècnica, in Algirós. Lola Colomer opened it in March 2021 and roasts the coffee herself, one kilo at a time, on a Toper roaster from Turkey that stands in the café. She roasts once or twice a week, after closing, and works the machine by hand rather than through software, which she finds gives a steadier roast curve from one batch to the next.

The roast is light to medium and never torrefacto, with no sugar or additives. The lots usually score between 84 and 88 SCA points, and the current coffees come from Honduras, Brazil, Colombia and Ethiopia, with a Colombian decaf. Stock is kept small so the coffee stays fresh, and beans are sold whole or ground to order in quarter, half and one-kilo bags. Café Colomer also supplies cafés, shops and restaurants and takes part in local consumer groups every fortnight.

The café is a crêperie too. Breakfast, lunch and afternoon plates run from toasts and croissants filled with ham and cheese to savoury crêpes with avocado, salmon, serrano ham, manchego or goat’s cheese, and sweet crêpes; there are teas and infusions and traditional horchata. Café Colomer holds roasting workshops where each participant roasts coffee to take home, children and teenagers included, and Club Colomer, its coffee subscription, meets for roasting sessions, crêpes and watercolour painting open to the neighbourhood.

Coffee on the shelf

Photograph: Café Colomer