Waypoint
Lattitude 19°13.639′ N
Longitude 104°42.511′ W
State: Jalisco
Country: Mexico
OK, so here’s something…
Our friends Brett and Marne on the sailing vessel Liahona told us about this place they heard about called “Cowpuccino”. It’s like capuccino except the milk comes straight out of a cow right there on the premises!
I grew up working on a dairy farm near my childhood home in Indiana. Hey, I’ve I had milk straight from a cow many times, so no big deal, we’re in!
They said, “We should go!”, so off we went. We had intel from cruising friends to find the place on the “outskirts” of Melaque, a town a few miles north of Barra de Navidad. We took the red bus from Barra to Melaque with a vague idea where to get off.
The bus meandered through Melaque and began to head back towards Barra. Looking a little concerned, the bus driver asked us where we were going. Brett, who speaks pretty good Spanish, explained the plan. The driver responded, “Oh Si Si, Señor! I know right where it is!”. Apparently Cowpuccino is a popular spot.
We exited the bus next to what can only be described as a barnyard.
In a corner of the barnyard there was a lean-to with a table and a line of people. Nearby, a number of milk cows stood around the yard like Mexican expresso machines. The scene also had the trappings of nearly all barnyards including feed bins, water troughs, cow pens, calves and a generous minefield of cow pies.
It seemed clear the first step was the line, so we queued up. A nice but somewhat disinterested Mexican lady was behind the table preparing the cups and taking pesos.
The cost is 20 pesos for each Cowpuccino or about one US dollar – seemed like a reasonable price.
The process goes as follows:
1. Add a teaspoon of Nescafe instant coffee and a teaspoon of powdered cocoa to a plastic cup.
2. Add a little water to turn it into a syrupy solution.
3. take the cup over to one of the cows where a guy will milk the cow directly into the cup or, if you’re adventurous, you can milk the cow yourself. Simple enough.
So we waited in line.
As we waited I noticed there were a lot of old guys standing around talking, laughing, having a good time, and drinking their cowpuccinos, . A lot of the guys were Canadian as evidenced by the various logos and slogans on their t-shirts. It looked like they come here often and they all know each other.
I thought, That’s nice, the Canadian pensioners meet for coffee in the morning, must be a regular thing.
When it was our turn, the lady prepared Nancy’s cup and handed it to her. Nancy likes her drinks diluted. She took the cup and then asked the lady, “Mas agua por favor?”, “May I have more water please?”. The lady was holding the water battle and said, “Mas?”, and Nancy said, “Si”. So the lady poured a little more water, and Nancy said, “Poquito mas por favor?”, “A little more please?”. The lady looked at her a little skeptically and said, “Mas?”, and Nancy again said, “Si”. So the lady shrugged and poured a little more.
So off we go to get the milk from the cow. As the milker filled each glass, the force of the milk streaming out of the cow’s udder caused the milk to foam up in the cup just like a Starbucks barista making a latte. Very cool! And the cup was also quite warm having just come from the warm cow.
When we all got our “Cowpuccinos”, we had a little toast and took our first sips at the same time — and — HOLY COW….puccino!!!
That wasn’t water the nice lady added to the cups! It was pure cane-sugar alcohol – Moonshine – Everclear. This wasn’t an innocent coffee shop, it was a bar! And all those Canadians? They weren’t having morning coffee, they were boozing…at 9am!
It turns out that while the gringos call the drink a “Cowpuccino”, the mexicans have a different name, Pajarete (pa-ha-ray-tay). Traditionally, El Parajete is a Mexican party in a barn when the cows are being milked. It’s been around a long time and a lot of Mexicans (and possibly Canadians too) think a Pajarete gives them some morning energy. For us it was a morning surprise.
Buzzed at 9
Hungover by 1
I don’t think Cowpuccino is a new thing for us, but it is unique and not found in many places.
Looks like a fun place to milk a cow!!!!!