Pope Leo is the most beloved pope among Catholics and non-Catholics alike since, well, the last one. As the first American to be head of the Catholic Church, before he was Pope Leo XIV he was Robert Francis Prevost of Chicago, Illinois. He roots for the White Sox, a team that’s miraculously become good after the Pope was installed, and he loves playing Wordle. But there’s still a major issue of important to this publication, and that is of course, coffee. What’s the Pope’s stance on our favorite drink?
Turns out, he’s a fan of Peruvian coffee.
As reported by the National Catholic Register, the affinities date back to his time as the Bishop of Chiclayo in norther Peru. There he developed a taste for the local traditional means of making coffee, in a cafetera gota a gota (translating to drop by drop coffeemaker). Working much in the same way as a Vietnamese phin and a Neapolitan coffee maker, the gota a gota works by pouring hot water into a pourous upper chamber than slowly drips coffee onto a portafilter-type basket of coffee grounds, creating a rich coffee concentrate—” up to four times more so than normal drip coffee”—called the escencia de cafe, or essence of coffee.
To this concentrate, individuals would then add hot water to suit their tastes, less for a stronger drink and more for a weaker one.
The pope, according to Eduard Montoya Altamirano, the owner of Chiclayo restaurant Trébol where then Bishop Prevost regularly had breakfast, likes his coffee on the stronger side. When hot water was passed around for everyone to adjust the strength of their beverages, the pope was known operate under a “less is more” strategy. And never milk. “Only with water,” Altamirano states.
Now home in Vatican City, the city inside the city of Rome, the coffee habits of Pope Leo are unknown. I mean, the obvious answer is that he switched to espresso. But the National Catholic Register notes that many of those closest to him, including his papal apartment housemate and secretary as well as the group of sisters rumored to keep his house, are all Peruvian. Perhaps one of them snuck over a cafetera de la abuela? Naples is only a two-and-a-half hour Popemobile ride away. Maybe he switched to a Neapolitan coffeemaker.
And one can’t help but wonder, how would the Chicago pope take his Chicago coffee? He hasn’t really been a Chicagoland resident since the early ’80s, so he left before the city became the specialty coffee hub that it is today. But given all that we know, we can make an educated guess or two. The pope doesn’t really feel like an Intelli guy. I could see him maybe picking up a bag of Black Cat in a pinch. But seeing how he is known to immerse himself in local culture, it’s hard to imagine him frequenting a shop owned by a German private equity firm. Definitely doesn’t go to 4 Letter Word, what with all the cursing. Dayglow and Allez both probably swing a little too light for His Holiness.
The clubhouse leader for me has to be The Wormhole. One, it’s got a whole ’80s vibe going on, which would harken back to his time in Chicago. And the coffee they serve, roasted by Halfwit, has enough development to shine in the syrupy style he is accustomed to.
Of course this is all just wild speculation. So Pope Leo, if you’re reading this, first off, hello. Please let us know your favorite coffee haunts. In Chicago, America, Rome, Peru, wherever. The floor is yours.
Zac Cadwalader is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.
