Torrefacto Coffee and the Shepherd Who Elevated It

José Abelardo Gómez Tejedor (1854 - 1932) is a figure whose life story deserves a comprehensive biography, a couple of historical novels, and perhaps even a film or series adaptation. For those unfamiliar, the audiovisual subgenre known as "teacup dramas" refers to period productions where characters, often from the upper class, navigate various dramas with poise, tea cup in hand. In this case, however, the cups would not contain English tea but rather a distinctly Spanish and intensely dark torrefacto coffee, around which José Gómez Tejedor built an empire that still endures today.

The tale of how an orphaned boy from Frades de la Sierra (Salamanca) transitioned from a shepherd to Spain's foremost coffee producer is fascinating. Yet, our protagonist bears a heavy burden: today, not only is his greatest creation often criticised, but a quick internet search reveals headlines as insulting as "This man is responsible for Spain's poor coffee quality." It's easy to criticise torrefacto coffee now, but we forget that this type of coffee, mixed with a certain percentage of sugar, preserves better, allowing it to be stored longer and transported to distant areas. Today, with logistical conveniences, we can enjoy the pure and complex taste of natural coffee shortly after roasting. However, 125 years ago, when things were far more challenging, torrefacto made coffee accessible to much of the Spanish population and became the national standard, creating a tradition that is hard to shake off completely.

When roasted with sugar, torrefacto coffee beans are coated in a thin caramel layer that prevents aroma loss and moisture, adding a darker colour and a more bitter, intense flavour compared to natural roast coffee. While one may dislike it, its implementation was undoubtedly a masterstroke.

Young José Abelardo, while herding sheep between Extremadura and La Rioja, likely never imagined he would lead such a radical transformation in the coffee world. Along the Cañada Real Segoviana, there were probably few places to enjoy a coffee, so Gómez Tejedor might have known little about coffee production until he moved to Badajoz around 1880. There, he worked in a grocery store, tasked with roasting green coffee beans imported from overseas. A few years later, he acquired a thriving café in Badajoz, renaming it Café La Estrella in 1887, which later became his commercial brand. At the time, "torrefactar" simply meant slow roasting, and various methods were known to prevent the aroma from escaping. American John Arbuckle, for instance, patented a method in 1868 using sugar, gelatin, and egg to coat coffee beans during roasting, facilitating packaging and transport, making his brand Ariosa famous as "the coffee that won the West." In Spain, Matías López, a renowned chocolatier and coffee producer, published a brief account in 1870 boasting a secret technique to "concentrate all the aroma in the coffee bean," and by 1883, Madrid's press noted that some merchants roasted coffee with sugar, resulting in a darker brew that required less coffee. This caramelised coffee was known in France as café Chartres or gourmet coffee, and similar practices were found in coffee-producing countries like Cuba, Colombia, and Mexico.

Legend has it that Gómez Tejedor learned the secret of "sealed" coffee during a trip to America, but he needn't have travelled so far. In fact, he didn't invent torrefacto but developed a specific method for large-scale production, patented in 1901, earning him the title of official supplier to the Royal Household in February 1902. Imagine Alfonso XIII drinking a shepherd's coffee: surely, there's a film in that story.