As you walk through Coatepec, dropping in on the old haciendas puts you in touch with the history of coffee production in the town. One of the region's largest coffee plantations, the El Trianon Hacienda, still boasting its original furnishings, wrought iron and artwork, continues to ply its trade as a producer of coffee.

The town's elegant and traditional restaurants offer typical fare such as chileatole (a corn-based soup), mole sauce, red meat, prawns, trout, seafood and other, more common Mexican specialities. If you're tempted to try a dessert, it'd be hard to beat the local lime ice cream, served with orange leaves for spoons. Afterwards, the richly aromatic coffee is de rigueur in Coatepec, along with masafina, a scrumptious bread made with whey and baked in a traditional wood-fired oven.