A Hidden Cafe on the Peninsula Serves Rare Peruvian Coffee and Tea

For the average Bay Area caffeine seeker, Peruvian coffee and tea probably aren’t very high on the list of familiar options. Yet, Peru is one of the highest tea-consuming nations in the Western Hemisphere, largely due to the country’s high elevation. (In townships along the Andean peaks, tea made with coca leaves — of cocaine fame — is believed to prevent altitude sickness.) Peruvians have also become increasingly fond of coffee in recent years.

But many Bay Area residents probably have never even heard of Peru’s choice beverages, let alone know where to get them. And who can blame them? Though Peruvian cuisine has done extremely well in our region — from local restaurant chains like Limón to smaller mom-and-pop shops like El Cerrito’s El Mono — there isn’t much of a Peruvian cafe scene to speak of.

So when I came across Papachay, a husband-and-wife-owned brick-and-mortar located on a sleepy back street in the Peninsula city of San Carlos, I made my trek over. (In Quechan, an indigenous language in Peru, papachay is akin to saying “what’s up?” to a male friend; “mamay” is used to greet women).

The business is masterminded by Maximiliano Gambirazio (originally from Peru) and Juliana Zieira-Gambirazio (a Brazilian immigrant). Impressively, the couple started out in their San Carlos warehouse nearly 20 years ago, when they sold raw coffee beans to roasters before buying a roasting machine of their own and expanding their business to include wholesale roasted coffee. Now, they run a full-fledged cafe — which opened in 2018 — and pop up every Sunday at the Mountain View Farmers’ Market.

“It all started spreading by word of mouth. We would get notes under the door of people asking us to call [them] so they could visit to buy fresh brewed coffee,” Zieira-Gambirazio says. “That pushed us to open [the cafe], and we started getting a crowd of people. After that, we had some calls to the fire department because of the smoke coming from all the roasting we were doing. [The fire department] told us to put a sign that we’re coffee roasters. That brought us more people.”

Zieira-Gambirazio isn’t aware of any other strictly Peruvian cafes in the greater Bay Area. What Papachay is doing might be unmatched. That’s because the couple owns two coffee farms in Peru — in a highly elevated rainforest on the eastern slope of the Andes, near the small town of Villa Rica. With the help of a family, they source their organic coffee beans directly from these farms. Translation: they’re legit.

Specializing in Peruvian-origin coffee — as the massive “Peruvian Coffee” sign announces from the rooftop, like a 1920s hotel in Beverly Hills — the shop also sells Peruvian chocolate and Brazilian treats like pão de queijo (Brazilian cheese balls). But what caught my eye more than anything were the Peruvian teas. At its Sunday farmers market stand, the cafe brews emoliente, a mix of flax seed, plantain leaf, alfalfa sprout, toasted barley, Andean horsetail herb, cinnamon and cat’s claw bark. Native to Peru, the refreshing herbal drink is believed to help with digestive, circulatory and respiratory issues. The medicinal tea tastes earthy but not bitter, toasted but not burnt, balanced but not bland.

“Emoliente is a very common drink in Peru. You often see it being prepared and sold on the street. Everybody has their own recipe. We make ours from scratch,” says Zieira-Gambirazio.

Papachay also serves cascara, a tea-like beverage made from boiling the skin and pulp of dried coffee fruit husks to make a drink that has recently become more popular in Peru.

“I don’t see many people having that in the Bay Area, or even in Peru, really,” she continues. “It’s new to Peruvians. It’s a mix of fruit flavor with a green tea texture on your tongue.”

The reason you may have never heard of Peruvian cascara, or any other Peruvian coffee products for that matter, is due to the country’s internal political turmoil dating back to the 1980s, when insurgent groups like Sendero Luminoso (the Shining Path) occupied isolated territories in Peru that otherwise could have been used to cultivate coffee. Byproducts of the coffee industry such as cascara were therefore less available for decades. Instead, tea became popularized as the nation’s drink of choice, leading to emoliente’s rise.

When I first encountered Papachay at the Mountain View Farmers’ Market, a long line of coffee drinkers waited for their lattes and cold brew. Naturally, I ordered emoliente, something I’d never heard of until then. Though the drink is typically served hot, I asked to enjoy it with ice — something the owners were happy to do. After a few sips and light conversation with the friendly Latin Americans, they mentioned having a shop a few miles north.

Some days later, I made the drive over to their home base in San Carlos. That’s where I ordered cascara. It isn’t the kind of sugary morning drink you might find at Starbucks or Dunkin’ Donuts. Instead, the old-world beverage — which predates coffee itself — is a tangy mix of sweet and sour notes, most reminiscent of tamarind. Like emoliente, it’s consumed in Peru’s high-altitude areas and beloved for its health properties and organic freshness.

Although it provides a jolt of caffeine, it’s not meant to zap you awake with a quick rush of energy. Rather, Peruvian culture — and its teas — are meant for the long haul, for those steady uphill climbs (think Machu Picchu). Both cascara and emoliente share a smooth drinkability that doesn’t feel like it should be solely limited to a morning commute. In fact, most Peruvians prefer to drink cascara and emoliente in the evenings.

Perhaps I’ll start to do the same.

Papachay Peruvian Coffee (1431 Old County Rd., San Carlos) is open Mon. through Fri. from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Every Sunday, they can be found at the Mountain View Farmers’ Market (600 W. Evelyn Ave., Mountain View) from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.