Intras Café

How did this place come about and what made it different from the start?
INTRAS was born from a conviction: that specialty coffee in Guadalajara deserved a space worthy of its stature. Not just in the cup, but in the complete experience—the place, the pause, the ritual. What set it apart from the beginning was the decision to create a menu where every ingredient had a story and a purpose. We use coffee from renowned producers and farms in Veracruz, Oaxaca, and Puebla, with access to special edition micro-lots from Colombia, Ethiopia, and more. We work with artisanal chocolate from the Soconusco region that has won medals in international competitions. Our matcha is a Uji ceremony, the first harvest. And from day one we integrated Sabinas Garden — our own line of adaptogens — directly onto the menu. Not as an extra, but as part of the cafe's identity.

What part of the day, space, or creative process do those who work here enjoy the most?
The first few hours at the bar. Something happens there before people arrive—calibrating the extraction, preparing the brewing methods, listening to the space. The brew bar is the heart of INTRAS and the place where it's most evident that here, coffee is a creative process, not a production line. But also the mornings when the bakery is ready: INTRAS has a curated selection of bakery — sweet and savory — which we designed with the same care as the drinks menu. There's something very satisfying about knowing that the entire experience of the place is well executed, from beginning to end.

If someone is coming in for the first time, what should they not miss?
There are certain things that define what INTRAS is in a mug. The Dirty Chai INTRAS — our version with cold brew instead of espresso, which makes it something completely different from what you're used to: spicy, dark, and well-rounded. The Coco Matcha Foam, where first-harvest ceremonial Uji matcha meets our organic coconut water, balancing it without overpowering it. The Lavender Matcha Latte, which is probably the most visually striking and delicate drink on the menu. And the Mocha—with the unique feature of being able to choose between two Soconusco-origin chocolates with distinct profiles, which already tells you something about how we envision the menu. And if you also want your drink to do something for you beyond just the flavor, any of the INTRAS Selections with a Sabinas Garden blend is the only place where a latte also works for your well-being.

What has been an interesting challenge that has made you rethink something about the project?
Working with ingredients of this caliber in a market that's still not entirely familiar with them. Explaining why the chocolate we use has won international awards and what that means in terms of flavor and production. Why our chai is one of our most popular drinks and why our first-harvest Uji matcha is different. What an adaptogen is and how it can benefit you in your daily life. All of this requires building trust before selling, and that changed how we train the team, how we design the menu, and even how we envision the space: INTRAS is also a meeting place with ingredients that many are discovering for the first time here.

What influence, idea, or reference continues to shape the way you work today?
The idea that what you consume every day should matter. Not as dogma, but as a guiding principle: if you're going to have a coffee every morning, make sure it comes from someone who has worked hard to make it. If you're going to have matcha, make sure it's first harvest. If you're taking an adaptogen, make sure it's formulated with genuine intention. This logic of traceability and conscious ingredient selection continues to guide every decision at INTRAS—what we put on the menu, who we work with, what we remove when something doesn't meet our standards. And underlying it all is the conviction that a well-crafted break—a comfortable space, a thoughtfully prepared beverage—has a real impact on how you feel for the rest of the day. That's not marketing. It's the reason INTRAS exists.

What place, project, or person has inspired you recently and why?
The producers behind what we serve. We work with coffee from Veracruz, Chiapas, Oaxaca, Puebla, and other regions. For brewing methods, we use meticulously cured beans and special edition micro-lots from Colombia, Ethiopia, and Guatemala—beans that arrive seasonally and are never repeated. Every time you open a new bag, there's a story of altitude, process, and discerning taste behind it. The same is true for our organic masala chai sweetened with piloncillo, our carefully selected matcha, and our internationally acclaimed chocolate from Soconusco. These are ingredients from people who have spent years perfecting their craft, and that demands you meet their high standards. This commitment to excellence is what drives us most.

If your space could invite someone to collaborate for a day, who would it be and what would you do together?
A Mexican herbalist or ethnobotanist specializing in adaptogenic plants. There's a universe of functional ingredients of Mesoamerican origin that almost no one is exploring in the context of coffee and functional beverages. Together, we would design a completely new blend for Intras—something that could only be born in Mexico, with rigor, history, and flavor.

Is there an object, corner or detail of the place that has a story that few people know?
The contrast of the bar. It was a very deliberate choice: a completely clean, white bar against black elements—the brewing machine, the grinder, the sink, the tap, the accessories. It's not accidental decoration; it's a visual dialogue between what appears simple and what conceals precision. That contrast is a kind of metaphor for what we do: clean surfaces, complex processes. And then there's the brew bar—each extraction that comes out of there is manual, individual, made for a single person at that moment. In a world where everything tends toward automation, insisting on that gesture is almost a statement.

If this project were a city, a book, or a record, which would it be and why?
It would depend on the drink you're having. If it's an espresso or a pour-over from Oaxaca, you're in some corner of its mountains where everything is about the process—Mexican, thoughtful, without unnecessary pretensions. If it's a Matcha Latte, you're in Kyoto: precision, silence, reverence for the process. If it's a Mocha or hot chocolate, you're in Soconusco—a land of cacao that has been a global benchmark for centuries and that very few people can locate on a map. If it's Dirty Chai, you're clearly in India, in some market where masala is made with whatever's available and tastes better than anything bottled. And if you choose a blend from Sabinas Garden, you're somewhere in Asia where herbalism and wellness are part of the everyday language, not a trend. INTRAS is all those cities at the same time, depending on what you choose.

Answers by Nicolás Caicedo Gómez, Founder and CEO of Intras Café.