The United States is Mexico’s primary market for coffee exports, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In Arizona, coffee shops embrace their cultural roots through bright colors, intricate details and the products they sell.
Maria Miranda is the owner of Maleta Café in downtown Phoenix. Miranda said a goal when opening the shop was to feature coffee from Mexico, specifically a Mexican wash from Chiapas.
Miranda’s efforts to showcase culture go beyond the coffee cups themselves. Miranda wanted to create a space that offered customers a change of scenery, somewhere they could experience a culture beyond Phoenix.
“I would love the decor and the ambiance of my café to make people feel like they’re been pulled out of Phoenix. You enter and you’re like, ‘Am I in Phoenix still?'” Miranda said. “Very intentional about my decor and kind of makes you feel at home or in my grandpa’s home in my pueblo.”
Cultural representation can also extend beyond decorations and the atmosphere it creates. The items on a menu and how they are made have their own stories, allowing customers to embrace the familiar flavors and traditions that reflect cultural roots.
That’s the case for Chico Coffee Bar, another downtown coffee shop. Jonathan Martinez, owner of the shop, said most of his expression of Latino culture is through the menu, with items like their matador, a Spanish-Mexican latte, and the Havana, a Cuban-inspired drink with caramel and banana.
“It’s a big, big part of who I am and my family. Because this is a family business, I wanted to make sure people knew that,” Martinez said. “I feel like right away you feel it, and you don’t have to have a big logo.”
To Martinez, authenticity and staying true to one’s place in the Latino community is an important part of embracing Latino culture through a business. He said it’s important the intentions come from a sincere place.
“It has to be a part of who you are, and then you have to genuinely want to share it with other people rather than make a profit off of it,” Martinez said.
About one mile away is Malegría Cafe, another Latino-owned shop that serves Latin-inspired coffee, drinks, food and sweets.
“For the menu, we wanted to incorporate flavors we grew up with into things people already know and love,” the owner, Melina Ruano Serrano, said in a written statement.
This is reflected in drinks like their horchata latte and Abuelita mocha, Ruano Serrano added. The approach for the decor was rooted in the same mentality.
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With much of the café situated outdoors, Ruano Serrano stated the staff designed it to resemble the patios and spaces they grew up around. She hopes Latino customers feel a sense of familiarity.
“Maybe something reminds them of their own home, their family’s patio, a street in their hometown, or somewhere they visited growing up,” Ruano Serrano stated. “We wanted the space to feel special while still feeling like home.”
All three owners said their Latino-owned businesses provide an important sense of representation for the area’s Latino community.
For Ruano Serrano, her coffee shop is an opportunity to put a unique twist on traditional flavors.
“You can respect where something came from while still being creative with it,” Ruano Serrano stated. “I think that’s one of my favorite parts of what we do—being able to represent where we come from without feeling like there are rules for what that representation has to look like.”
Edited by Natalia Rodríguez, Carsten Oyer and Sophia Keeling.
Reach the reporter at islarios@asu.edu.
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Indira LariosLa Prensa Reporter
Indira Larios is a La Prensa Reporter at The State Press majoring in Journalism. This is her first semester with The State Press.
