Café Cubano (also known as Cuban espresso, Colada, Cuban coffee, cafecito, Cuban pull, and Cuban shot) is a type of
espresso
Espresso (, ) is a coffee-brewing method of Italian origin, in which a small amount of nearly boiling water (about ) is forced under of pressure through finely-ground coffee beans. Espresso can be made with a wide variety of coffee beans a ...
that originated in
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
. Specifically, it refers to an espresso shot which is sweetened (traditionally with
natural brown sugar which has been whipped with the first and strongest drops of espresso).
However, the name is sometimes used to refer to coffee based drinks that include Cuban espresso as the main ingredient, such as
café con leche
''Café con leche'' ('coffee with milk') is a coffee beverage common throughout Spain and Latin America consisting of strong coffee (usually espresso) mixed with scalded milk in approximately equal amounts. The amount of milk can be higher in ...
.
Drinking ''café cubano'' remains a prominent social and cultural activity in Cuba and in
Cuban-American
Cuban Americans ( es, cubanoestadounidenses or ''cubanoamericanos'') are Americans who trace their cultural heritage to Cuba regardless of phenotype or ethnic origin. The word may refer to someone born in the United States of Cuban descent or ...
communities, particularly in
Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...
,
Tampa and the
Florida Keys.
Preparation
Traditional Cuban-style coffee is made using the darker roasts, typically either Italian or Spanish roasts, with the brands
Cafe Bustelo, Cafe La Llave and Cafe Pilón being popular. It can be made using an electric espresso machine, but is commonly made with a
moka pot
The moka pot is a stove-top or electric coffee maker that brews coffee by passing boiling water pressurized by steam through ground coffee. Named after the Yemeni city of Mocha, it was invented by Italian engineer Alfonso Bialetti in 1933 and ...
.
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
Hydrolysis (; ) is any chemical reaction in which a molecule of water breaks one or more chemical bonds. The term is used broadly for substitution, elimination, and solvation reactions in which water is the nucleophile.
Biological hydrolysis ...
some of the
sucrose, thereby creating a sweeter and slightly more viscous result than a normal pull or adding sugar at the table.
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
A cortado is a beverage consisting of espresso mixed with a roughly equal amount of warm milk to reduce the acidity. The milk in a cortado is steamed, but not frothy and "texturized" as in many Italian coffee drinks. The cortado comes from Spain, ...
served in other Latin countries, but pre-sweetened.
Café con leche
''Café con leche'' ('coffee with milk') is a coffee beverage common throughout Spain and Latin America consisting of strong coffee (usually espresso) mixed with scalded milk in approximately equal amounts. The amount of milk can be higher in ...
, 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
Cuban bread is a fairly simple white bread, similar to French bread and Italian bread, but has a slightly different baking method and ingredient list (in particular, it generally includes a small amount of fat in the form of lard or vegetable s ...
.
''Colada'' is 3–6 shots of Cuban-style espresso served in a Styrofoam cup along with small, plastic
demitasse
A demitasse (; French: "half cup") or demi-tasse is a small cup used to serve espresso. It may also refer to the contents served in such a cup (though that usage had disappeared in France by the early 20th century).
A demitasse typically has a ...
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
Coffee has been grown in Cuba since the mid-18th century. Boosted by French farmers fleeing the revolution in Haiti, coffee farms expanded from the western plains to the nearby mountain ranges. Coffee production in eastern Cuba significantly i ...
*
Dalgona coffee
*
List of coffee drinks
Coffee drinks are made by brewing water with ground coffee beans. The brewing is either done slowly by drip, filter, French press, ''cafetière'' or percolator, or done very quickly under pressure by an espresso machine. When put under the p ...
*
List of hot beverages
This list of hot drinks comprises drinks that are typically served hot. Drinks are liquids specifically prepared for human consumption.
__TOC__
Hot drinks
Indonesia
India
There are many hot beverages that originated from India that have gai ...
*
Vietnamese iced coffee
Vietnamese iced coffee ( vi, cà phê đá, lit=iced coffee) is a traditional Vietnamese coffee recipe.
At its simplest, is made using medium to coarse ground dark roast Vietnamese-grown coffee with a small metal Vietnamese drip filter (''phi ...
References
External links
Cafe Cubano - Cuban Coffee Recipe
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cuban Espresso
Cuban drinks
Coffee drinks