By Louis Zylka
The 830 Times
A new coffee shop in downtown Del Rio brings coffee lovers together to taste and learn about coffee beans from around the world.
Cardinal Points Coffee Shop opened its doors in September at 115 E. Greenwood St., and it combines a coffee-shop atmosphere with the experience of buying, tasting and roasting green beans to make coffee.
uses a roasting machine at her new coffee shop located in historic downtown Del Rio. Cardinal
Points separates itself from other coffee shops by selling roasted coffee beans delivered from all
around the world.
Cardinal Points was created by Del Rioans Angela Garcia Leija and John Leija, who bought the building in March 2023. Angela spoke with The 830 Times about her business and demonstrated how their in-store bean-roasting machine works to produce fresh and flavorful coffees.
Angela said she has been making coffee since she was “super young,” and her passion for the art was reinvigorated when her husband gave her a roaster on Valentine’s Day four years ago.
Since then, she has been experimenting with the flavors of roasted beans bought from various locations.
Angela explained how optimistic she was about creating a “local bean roaster/bean area” for Del Rio. She said the goal of the shop is to allow people to appreciate the flavors and aromas of green coffee beans after they have been roasted.
“I want people to know that Cardinal Points is not a specialty-drink coffee shop. My specialty is the beans. It is not about the drinks. My focus is roasting the beans,” Angela said.
Angela orders beans from all the continents of the world except Antarctica. Cardinal Points gives customers the experience of tasting coffee beans from around the globe. The idea of a coffee shop providing beans from around the world inspired the shop’s name and logo, which is a compass featuring the four cardinal directions.
Cardinal Points sells beans from various coffee-producing regions, including El Salvador, Costa Rica, Brazil, India and Africa. Customers can grind the beans at home or have them roasted at Cardinal Points. Angela said their beans from Costa Rica were the most popular when the shop first opened.
One of Angela’s goals for the shop is to add a 3D canvas of the globe with flags to indicate where each bean is from. Customers can then learn more about the beans provided at Cardinal Points and the regions from which they originate.
Angela said she also plans to expand her menu and offer more drinks in the future.
Cardinal Points Coffee Shop is open Mondays through Fridays from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., and it is located at 115 E Greenwood St.
