Cuban espresso, also known as Café Cubano (or Colada, Cuban coffee, cafecito, Cuban pull, and Cuban shot), is a type of
espresso
Espresso (, ) is a concentrated form of coffee produced by forcing hot water under high pressure through finely ground coffee beans. Originating in Italy, espresso has become one of the most popular coffee-brewing methods worldwide. It is cha ...
that originated in
Cuba
Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...
. Specifically, it refers to an espresso shot which is sweetened (traditionally with
natural brown sugar
Brown sugar is a sucrose sugar product with a distinctive brown color due to the presence of molasses. It is either an unrefined or partially refined soft sugar consisting of sugar crystals with some residual molasses content or produced by t ...
whipped with the first and strongest drops of espresso).
However, the name can refer to coffee based drinks that include Cuban espresso as the main ingredient, such as
café con leche.
Drinking ''café cubano'' remains a prominent social and cultural activity in Cuba and in
Cuban-American
Cuban Americans ( or ) are Americans who immigrated from or are descended from immigrants from Cuba. As of 2023, Cuban Americans were the fourth largest Hispanic and Latino Americans, Hispanic and Latino American group in the United States aft ...
communities, particularly in
Miami
Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
,
Tampa
Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...
and the
Florida Keys
The Florida Keys are a coral island, coral cay archipelago off the southern coast of Florida, forming the southernmost part of the continental United States. They begin at the southeastern coast of the Florida peninsula, about south of Miami a ...
.
Preparation
Traditional Cuban-style coffee is made using the darker roasts, typically either Italian or Spanish roasts, with the brands
Café Bustelo, Café La Llave and Café Pilón being popular. It can be made using an electric
espresso machine
An espresso machine brews coffee by forcing pressurized water near boiling point through a "puck" of ground coffee and a filter in order to produce a thick, concentrated coffee called espresso. Multiple machine designs have been created to produ ...
, but is commonly made with a
moka pot.
A small portion of espresso from early in the brewing is added to sugar and vigorously mixed with a spoon into a creamy foam called ''espuma'' or ''espumita''.
The heat from the coffee making process will
hydrolyze some of the
sucrose
Sucrose, a disaccharide, is a sugar composed of glucose and fructose subunits. It is produced naturally in plants and is the main constituent of white sugar. It has the molecular formula .
For human consumption, sucrose is extracted and refined ...
, thereby creating a sweeter and slightly more viscous result than a normal pull or adding sugar at the table.
Serving
In addition to being served at Cuban restaurants, in areas with a high Cuban population, small cafés (or parts of larger establishments) will have small windows, or ''ventanitas'', where Cuban coffee can be ordered. Cuban coffee is often bought with tostada (a buttered slice of
Cuban bread),
pastelitos, or other Cuban pastries.
Variations
Cortadito is a standard espresso shot topped off with steamed milk. The ratio can be between 50/50 and 75/25 espresso and milk. It is similar to a
cortado served in other Latin countries, but pre-sweetened.
, or "coffee with milk", is an espresso served alongside a cup of hot or steamed milk. Traditionally served separate from the coffee, the espresso is poured to the desired darkness into the cup of hot milk and then stirred. It is the traditional Cuban breakfast beverage, served with slices of buttered, toasted
cuban bread.
''Colada'' is 3–6 shots of Cuban-style espresso served in a Styrofoam cup along with small, plastic
demitasse
A demitasse (; French: "half cup"), demi-tasse, or espresso cup is a small cup used to serve espresso. It may also refer to the coffee served in such a cup, though that usage had disappeared in France by the early 20th century.
A demitasse typ ...
s. It is a takeaway form, meant to be drunk as one shot. This is customary of workplace breaks in Cuban communities.
See also
*
Coffee production in Cuba
*
Dalgona coffee
*
List of coffee drinks
Coffee drinks are made by brewing water with ground coffee beans. The brewing is either done slowly, by Coffee filter, drip, filter, French press, moka pot or Coffee percolator, percolator, or done very quickly, under pressure, by an espresso m ...
*
List of hot beverages
*
Vietnamese iced coffee
References
External links
Cafe Cubano - Cuban Coffee Recipe
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cuban Espresso
Cuban drinks
Coffee drinks