In September 2017, just as Abner Román and Karla Ly Quiñones were about to open the doors of Café Comunión in the Santurce neighborhood of San Juan, Puerto Rico, Hurricane Maria devastated the island.
“It took the entire front of our shop, we had structural damage and there was no electricity,” they remember. Instead of serving coffee from behind a counter, they took to the streets. “I would make it at home in the morning and walk across the street with a thermos, milk and sugar,” Abner recalls. They gave the coffee away for free, and also accepted donations, which they used to rebuild what the devastating storm had destroyed.
Who would have thought that seven years later Bad Bunny would stop in for a coffee at their shop after voting in Puerto Rico’s 2024 gubernatorial election? And that the singer would end up forming such a close relationship with Karla and Abner that he would offer them the chance to join his tour so he could keep drinking his favorite coffee while performing around the world.
“He came with his assistant, sat at the bar and we spent several hours talking about coffee and normal things, like NBA games,” they say. He came back the following week and kept coming back. Abner thinks this is because “they treat him like everyone else. Other customers have caught the vibe and no one asks him for photos. They greet him, yes, but I think that’s part of why he likes coming here.”
The truth is that before Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio stopped by Café Comunión, several members of his team were already regulars. Through their frequent contact with people working in the music industry, Karla and Abner had toyed with the idea of offering their coffee services at concerts, but they never imagined they would do so on a tour of this scale, catering to all the backstage staff.
First they took part in Bad Bunny’s 30-show residency in Puerto Rico, held between July and September 2025. Then they were invited to join the DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS world tour — and off they went, with their “coffee shop on wheels” and their six‑year‑old son in tow.
Over the past few months, they have been serving coffee backstage at Bad Bunny’s concerts in the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Peru, Colombia, Australia — and now Spain. Each day, they cater to between 150 and 200 members of the artist’s crew, as well as the show’s guests. Abner admits he himself is still amazed by the situation.
“I had never heard of an artist taking baristas on tour. Concert venues offer catering services that include coffee, but here they wanted an experience — an area where colleagues could come to talk and disconnect,“ he says. ”Like going out for a coffee, but in the backstage area.”
Café Comunión’s distinctive blue cup has even made its way onto the stage on several occasions, with Bad Bunny raising it in front of the crowd.
Despite years of experience running their business, managing a mobile specialty coffee shop comes with its own challenges.
“Before we arrive at each city, we contact local suppliers and try to use that country’s coffee,” they explain. “We speak with roasters and producers, with espresso machine technicians (just in case), with milk distributors and sometimes with baristas in case we need someone to cover a shift.”
While they travel with the tour, their team keeps the two cafés they own in San Juan open (in addition to Santurce, they have another location in Río Piedras) and, in the downtime between shows, they make the most of the opportunity to meet other people in the industry. “We try to build connections in every country we visit.”
On June 4, during their stay in Madrid, they will be at Hola Coffee Roastery (Av. de Pedro Díez, 21Bis) preparing coffee and some of their signature drinks, a collaborative format they previously organized with cafés in Colombia, Mexico and Peru.
“The idea is to bring the Comunión experience to the country we’re in,” they say.
And what does that experience consist of? “We use the word ‘comunión’ in its secular sense. We want people who come to our coffee shop to feel welcomed and be able to disconnect in the company of others, creating a kind of communion between the barista and the rest of the customers.”
Two teachers who fell in love with coffee
Before opening Café Comunión, both Abner, 44, and Karla, 38, were teachers by profession — he taught English and she taught history. Owning a business had always been Abner’s dream, and this drink —which, according to him, “is consumed at all times in Puerto Rico” — had always caught his attention. So in 2008, he asked for a job at one of the cafés he used to frequent.
“Since teachers have the summer off, I asked if they would give me a chance to work those months,” he recalls. “I started washing dishes, then working at the cash register, and I really liked the coffee-shop atmosphere. Little by little, I learned to be a barista, and in 2013, I won a national latte art competition and then went to compete in Australia.”
There was no turning back. That prize confirmed he could make the leap from the classroom to the coffee bar, and he did. Karla joined shortly afterwards, focusing more on importers and the farms that grow the coffee.
“Although really we both do everything, because we’re a small business,” she says.
They gradually built a place for themselves in the coffee industry, and the next logical step was to open their own café. That’s how Comunión was born in 2017. Despite delays caused by Hurricane Maria, they managed to open before the end of the year, in December.
By then, Karla and Abner had been living in Santurce for some time, and he had worked for years in one of the neighborhood’s cafés, so they were already familiar faces in the area — something that helped them build a strong community around the business.
“After the hurricane, when neighbors saw us working hard to get things going, we connected even more. It was a moment when the community really came together, and we formed a very special bond,” Abner recalls.
They continued to take part in neighborhood activities and even opened their café space for community meetings. “We’re always ready to help however we can.”
Recently, Café Comunión was included on the list of the 100 best cafés in North America, Central America and the Caribbean. It ranked 44th, and was the only café from Puerto Rico to make it on the list.
“It made us feel very honoured; it was confirmation that we’re doing things right,” they say.
The couple has earned recognition from their own community in Puerto Rico, from the industry and now Bad Bunny — what will come next?
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