{"id":30691,"date":"2016-02-18T17:43:42","date_gmt":"2016-02-18T23:43:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=30691"},"modified":"2016-02-18T17:43:42","modified_gmt":"2016-02-18T23:43:42","slug":"argentine-cafes-face-competition-from-trendy-coffee-shops","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/argentine-cafes-face-competition-from-trendy-coffee-shops\/","title":{"rendered":"Argentine cafes face competition from trendy coffee shops"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Siying Li<\/strong><\/p>\n

Javier Gonzales grew up working in Bar El Progreso, just on the border of the upscale Palermo in Buenos Aires, Argentina. His family owns the 106-year-old caf\u00e9. Like most Argentine caf\u00e9s, the coffee drinks Gonzales serves at Bar El Progreso are traditional espresso and espresso with milk.<\/p>\n

On a recent afternoon at Bar El Progreso customers played pool or read the newspaper.\u00a0 A TV blared the latest news and two ceiling fans squeaked in harmony. There was no air conditioner in this traditional cafe.<\/p>\n

\u201cYoung people don\u2019t come here nowadays. They go to Starbucks, \u201d Gonzales said.<\/p>\n

\"The
Bar El Progreso cafe opened in 1910. (Siying Li\/Medill)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Caf\u00e9s can be found at almost every corner in Buenos Aires, a city with a leisurely sit-down coffee culture in a continent famous for coffee beans. But the legacy is challenged by some new coffee drinking trends.<\/p>\n

One of them inevitably comes from the American \u201ccoffee to go\u201d chain. Starbucks opened its first store in Argentina in 2008, and more than 60 stores have invaded Buenos Aires since.
\n<\/p>\n

\u201cStarbucks caf\u00e9s are always crowded with students, \u201d said Gaston Carvajal, 38. \u201cI like it too, for the iced drinks I can get there. \u201d<\/p>\n

Luciano Banchero, 30, an Argentinian radio journalist, said his choice at Starbucks would always be an Americano, espresso topped with hot water.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can’t go wrong with Americano,\u201d Banchero said.<\/p>\n

To many young people in Argentina, Starbucks offers a popular alternative to traditional Argentine caf\u00e9s.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe atmosphere at the Argentine caf\u00e9s is good, but the coffee there sucks, \u201d said Sonja D\u2019cruze, a writer originally from Manchester, England, who has spent her past four years living in Buenos Aires.<\/p>\n

Even Banchero agreed. \u201cPeople here drink coffee every day, but the flavor is really not good, \u201d he said.<\/p>\n

In the pursuit of a better flavor, Banchero usually goes to the new Argentine caf\u00e9 LAB to start his day. Featuring its own roasting machine and various brewing devices, LAB opened a year and a half ago in Palermo, only three blocks away from Banchero\u2019s home.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe guys here know what they\u2019re doing to the coffee beans. They have the right coffee, \u201d Banchero said.<\/p>\n

At LAB, young Argentines were drinking flat white, Americano and freshly-brewed coffee from air press, V60 and Chemex brewing devices. According the barista Diego Baetcker, this allows the coffee beans to brew into experimental flavors.<\/p>\n

\u201cCoffee can change every day and every time. With these devices, we can control the temperature and the water amount to control and fix the flavor,\u201d said Baetcker. \u201cIt\u2019s a skill to understand how espresso develops during the process. \u201d<\/p>\n

\"H7\"<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Brewing techniques at the new Argentine cafe LAB. (Siying Li\/Medill)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"H6\"<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Baetcker brewing regular coffee at cafe LAB. (Siying Li\/Medill)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"H5\"<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Baetcker using air pressing techniques to brew flavorful coffee at cafe LAB (Siying Li\/ Medill)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"H4\"<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Coffee served in a beaker at cafe LAB (Siying Li\/Medill)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n

\u201cThe ordinary espresso machine is automatic, and the beans only come out in one flavor, \u201d Baetcker said.<\/p>\n

With so many possibilities of flavors enabled by these fancy methods, Banchero said he only goes to the old Argentine caf\u00e9s when he has no other choices.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo me, going to an Argentine caf\u00e9 is a cultural thing,\u201d Banchero said. \u201cPeople go there for social gatherings, not for coffee. \u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s porte\u00f1o\u2014a word Argentines use to describe a very Buenos Aires thing, \u201d Banchero said.<\/p>\n

\"A
An afternoon at the 106-year-old cafe Bar El Progreso. (Siying Li\/Medill)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And this porte\u00f1o flavor connects old Argentines. While the young generation grabs a Starbucks iced lat\u00e9 in Palermo, these people stick to their pool games and politics, chatting with a bunch of old friends on an 80-degree afternoon while sipping hot espresso.<\/p>\n

Photo at top:\u00a0 Barista Diego Baetcker brewing coffee at cafe LAB in Palermo.(Siying Li\/Medill)<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Siying Li Javier Gonzales grew up working in Bar El Progreso, just on the border of the upscale Palermo in Buenos Aires, Argentina. His family owns the 106-year-old caf\u00e9. Like most Argentine caf\u00e9s, the coffee drinks Gonzales serves at Bar El Progreso are traditional espresso and espresso with milk. On a recent afternoon at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":281,"featured_media":31149,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194,452,585],"tags":[1481,665,69],"class_list":["post-30691","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-culture","category-beyond-chicago","category-winter-2016","tag-argentina","tag-arts-and-culture","tag-coffee"],"yoast_head":"\nArgentine cafes face competition from trendy coffee shops - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/argentine-cafes-face-competition-from-trendy-coffee-shops\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Argentine cafes face competition from trendy coffee shops - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Siying Li Javier Gonzales grew up working in Bar El Progreso, just on the border of the upscale Palermo in Buenos Aires, Argentina. His family owns the 106-year-old caf\u00e9. Like most Argentine caf\u00e9s, the coffee drinks Gonzales serves at Bar El Progreso are traditional espresso and espresso with milk. On a recent afternoon at […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/argentine-cafes-face-competition-from-trendy-coffee-shops\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-02-18T23:43:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/02\/H6-sized.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1100\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"662\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"siyingli\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"siyingli\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/argentine-cafes-face-competition-from-trendy-coffee-shops\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/argentine-cafes-face-competition-from-trendy-coffee-shops\/\",\"name\":\"Argentine cafes face competition from trendy coffee shops - Medill Reports Chicago\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/argentine-cafes-face-competition-from-trendy-coffee-shops\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/argentine-cafes-face-competition-from-trendy-coffee-shops\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/02\/H6-sized.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-02-18T23:43:42+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/df7562ecb603247697acaae7342af6a7\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/argentine-cafes-face-competition-from-trendy-coffee-shops\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/argentine-cafes-face-competition-from-trendy-coffee-shops\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/argentine-cafes-face-competition-from-trendy-coffee-shops\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/02\/H6-sized.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/02\/H6-sized.jpg\",\"width\":1100,\"height\":662},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/argentine-cafes-face-competition-from-trendy-coffee-shops\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Argentine cafes face competition from trendy coffee shops\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/\",\"name\":\"Medill Reports Chicago\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/df7562ecb603247697acaae7342af6a7\",\"name\":\"siyingli\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/66fcf34bfe21f43521beac29d4ef8c0ad3e4ddb3c2cadaddbd1d732c3a7adbd3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/66fcf34bfe21f43521beac29d4ef8c0ad3e4ddb3c2cadaddbd1d732c3a7adbd3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"siyingli\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/author\/siyingli\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Argentine cafes face competition from trendy coffee shops - Medill Reports Chicago","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/argentine-cafes-face-competition-from-trendy-coffee-shops\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Argentine cafes face competition from trendy coffee shops - Medill Reports Chicago","og_description":"By Siying Li Javier Gonzales grew up working in Bar El Progreso, just on the border of the upscale Palermo in Buenos Aires, Argentina. His family owns the 106-year-old caf\u00e9. Like most Argentine caf\u00e9s, the coffee drinks Gonzales serves at Bar El Progreso are traditional espresso and espresso with milk. On a recent afternoon at […]","og_url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/argentine-cafes-face-competition-from-trendy-coffee-shops\/","og_site_name":"Medill Reports Chicago","article_published_time":"2016-02-18T23:43:42+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1100,"height":662,"url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/02\/H6-sized.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"siyingli","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"siyingli","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/argentine-cafes-face-competition-from-trendy-coffee-shops\/","url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/argentine-cafes-face-competition-from-trendy-coffee-shops\/","name":"Argentine cafes face competition from trendy coffee shops - Medill Reports Chicago","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/argentine-cafes-face-competition-from-trendy-coffee-shops\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/argentine-cafes-face-competition-from-trendy-coffee-shops\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/02\/H6-sized.jpg","datePublished":"2016-02-18T23:43:42+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/df7562ecb603247697acaae7342af6a7"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/argentine-cafes-face-competition-from-trendy-coffee-shops\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/argentine-cafes-face-competition-from-trendy-coffee-shops\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/argentine-cafes-face-competition-from-trendy-coffee-shops\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/02\/H6-sized.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/02\/H6-sized.jpg","width":1100,"height":662},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/argentine-cafes-face-competition-from-trendy-coffee-shops\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Argentine cafes face competition from trendy coffee shops"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website","url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/","name":"Medill Reports Chicago","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/df7562ecb603247697acaae7342af6a7","name":"siyingli","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/66fcf34bfe21f43521beac29d4ef8c0ad3e4ddb3c2cadaddbd1d732c3a7adbd3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/66fcf34bfe21f43521beac29d4ef8c0ad3e4ddb3c2cadaddbd1d732c3a7adbd3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"siyingli"},"url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/author\/siyingli\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30691","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/281"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30691"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30691\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30691"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30691"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30691"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}