Just behind Torres de Quart, the medieval gateway on the western edge of Valencia's old city, Mayan Coffees opens into a small room of yellow walls, woven pendant lamps and shelves of beans. A colourful wall diagram explains the differences between coffee drinks; the green espresso machine puts them into practice. This Carrer de Murillo shop is a good place to begin an old-city morning, with Guatemalan coffee roasted by Mayan and enough breakfast to get you walking again.
Coffee
The Guatemalan focus gives the coffee menu a clear centre. Espresso, cortado and flat white are the natural starting points, with V60 offering a longer cup if you have time to sit. Batch brew adds a filter option for a shorter visit. You can keep the order familiar or use the stop to explore the house coffee through a different method; there is enough range here to make a second cup a different order from the first.
The retail shelves make the connection between the cup and the roasting side tangible. If you like what you have been served, ask which bag matches it and how it suits your brewer at home. Advice about the beans is a reason to spend a few minutes at the counter, especially if you are choosing coffee to take back from Valencia.
Breakfast & room
Food follows a simple cafe breakfast: tomato toast, a slice of tortilla, sandwiches and something sweet from the cakes. A cortado with toast or tortilla is the order to build a morning around; coffee and cake suits a break later in the walk. The menu gives you a reason to sit down and eat without turning the visit into a long brunch.
The lamps, wall colours and coffee illustration give the compact interior plenty to look at, but seats are limited. It works best alone or with one companion, when finding a small space is easier than accommodating a group. Take a table for breakfast if one is free, or keep the stop to a drink before heading through the nearby gateway into the old-city streets. The short walk back to the towers makes the location easy to fold into a morning on foot.
Why Filter Notes shortlisted Mayan Coffees
Mayan earns its place for the combination of its own Guatemalan roasts, a small breakfast menu and a colourful room beside the old-city gateway. Seek out the Murillo shop for a cortado and tortilla, or give a V60 some time before choosing beans for home.