Our van rumbled up the mountain 4,800 feet above sea level, to San Sebastian del Oeste in the mountains of the Sierra Madre on a quest to find tequila, coffee and Mexican history.
It took two hours to drive from Puerto Vallarta to San Sebastien. The tourism group touts it as a historic mining town where you can explore local food, architecture, and culture, so it seemed worth spending a day exploring it.
There were 10 of us in the tour group. We’d been passing rural homes, reminiscent of American garages and roadside businesses made of tarps and pallets, but eventually, those tapered off and the trees and mountains took over.
Finally, our little group neared San Sebastián.
1. San Sebastian Tequila Distillery
Three quarters of the way into the Sierra Madre mountains, on the other side of a famous bridge, we stopped at a tequila distillery. The blue agave plants grew around the property in perfect diagonal rows overlooking the bridge and the mountain. There, just like I did in Sayulita, I learned of the tequila-making process.
Everyone on their way to San Sebastian stops at this distillery – it’s part of the experience. At the distillery, they had a variety of distilling devices set up and the proprietor explained to us the lengthy and time-honored tradition of making tequila. He gave samples and sold bottles to many of us on the tour.
While over 200 types of agave grow in Mexico, authentic tequila is only made with blue agave from Jalisco. Mexican laws only allow tequila to be called as such if it’s produced in Jalisco, Guanajuato, Michoacán, Nayarit, or Tamaulipas.
2. Coffee Plants
Before we left, our guide, Gambino, showed me a coffee plant. It looked like a red berry bush. Something similar to a cranberry growing on a small Ficus plant. He picked one of the red berries and squeezed it until two white, slimy coffee beans popped out. The juice, he said, is what had the caffeine in it and if I ate about seven of the cherries, it’d be equal to a cup of coffee.
So, I picked a cherry, squeezed the seeds into my hand and ate the rest. It was vaguely sweet and bitter and left a medicine taste on my tongue. The texture was between a fruit and a vegetable. I imagined that I could feel the pure caffeine in me. As we made our way higher into the mountain, I would see many, many coffee trees. They are native to the region and grow wild as far as I can tell.
As we walked through San Sebastián, I tried each of the many herbs that Gambino pointed out to us. I ate the lemon and thyme, clove, mint, oregano, and rosemary—just little sprigs of each and, of course, more coffee cherries.
3. The old town of San Sebastián
The streets, like many in Puerto Vallarta, are deeply cobbled and rough to drive or walk on but seem to have lasted hundreds of years. I saw a man laying bricks at the city entrance and was impressed at the progress. Then, as we made our way in, we noticed that his stonework was only a continuation of a sidewalk that looked many years old. This construction, like everything here, has likely been ongoing for many generations and would continue for many more. Many things here seem unfinished or perpetually endless in construction.
Gambino pointed out historic landmarks and buildings as we walked through the town. Many were marked with signage in English and Spanish. At one point, they say the town housed up to 20,000 people, but now fewer than 5,000 call it home, though they must be hiding somewhere in the jungle. During our trip, we saw fewer than 50 people.
The tourism department heavily promotes it as a destination, but there is little to do or see in the town. The most interesting thing is that many buildings were built with cut stone or adobe in the 19th century and remain unchanged. They say that the town is like entering a time warp because so much is preserved in antiquity. In the United States, we’d call it a ghost town.
4. La Quinta Mary Coffee Factory
We stopped at the La Quinta Mary coffee farm to buy some fresh mountain coffee beans. There, you will see them roasting, bagging and grinding the beans. The coffee-making process at the factory isn’t nearly as interesting as the property itself.
Different types of fruit trees fill the coffee farm including lime/lemon avocados, mango, coffee and many others. Everything flowers and produces fruit and there are a ton of butterflies everywhere. There are butterflies everywhere in Puerto Vallarta – they’re practically plagued with them!
There were macaw birds in cages and a table with bags of coffee sold by the kilo. Only in Mexico. I bought some coffee and it’s pretty good – almost like chicory coffee in New Orleans, but more bitter.
5. Restaurants in San Sebastian
In the city, there is one restaurant and a small café. We stopped at the restaurant for lunch. It was traditional Mexican food and as good as any you’ll get elsewhere in Puerto Vallarta. A few other places may sell food, but they don’t provide a restaurant experience as far as I saw.
The town square is made up of a few small businesses and gathering areas where a blue topped 18th-century church stands out. The air is mountain fresh, and the colorful bougainvillea that climbs the walls and balconies is charming.
I went in and out of a few shops, but there was nothing I had already seen elsewhere in Puerto Vallarta. I was surprised that they didn’t have shops dedicated to silver and jewelry. as an old mining town. And for being a place known for coffee, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a cup.
There are a few streets that branch off the square and there you’ll find a few more businesses and some homes. Perhaps secrets are hidden there that I didn’t find. Further out, there are farms and beyond that, just jungle.
Traveling and Buying Things in Mexico
Tip: If you don’t want vendors to overcharge you, ask the price in advance. In my experience, Americans will be told the highest possible price. You’re welcome to negotiate if you can manage it in Spanish. Almost no vendors list their prices for this very reason. The price is different for everyone.
San Sebastian was a quiet and sleepy town, without much to see or do besides what I mentioned here. If that sounds appealing, then a visit may be in order! If not, you might try some of the other excursions nearer to Puerto Vallarta first. See 10 things to do in Puerto Vallarta here.
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