The Secret Behind Authentic Cuban Coffee

The ultimate guide to making Cuba’s most iconic drink.

Cuban coffee is also commonly referred to as café Cubano due to where this style of coffee originated. Although it’s known for its strong nature, bold flavor, and sweet, syrupy taste, it’s also a major cultural ritual for Cubans all around the world.

In Miami, café Cubano is more than just a drink. Locals set their watches by it, with each one punctuating different points of the day.

“At 9 am, café Cubano comes around,” says Grace Della, a long-time Miami resident. “At 12 o’clock, café Cubano comes around. At 3 pm, café Cubano comes around. Miami runs on café Cubano.”

What is Cuban coffee?

Café Cubano is a strong, dark, sweet espresso-based drink that originated in Cuba.

Coffee production here stretches back to the 18th century and, by the early 1800s, coffee surpassed sugar as Cuba’s top export. Naturally, this crop filtered into Cuban society in a big way, with it becoming a deeply ingrained part of the culture.

Cubans have developed their own styles of preparing coffee, but café Cubano is, without a doubt, one of the most popular.

To prepare café Cubano, brew finely ground dark roasted coffee in a Moka pot or espresso machine with demerara sugar. The key is to beat the sweet extracted liquid vigorously until it forms the iconic light brown espumita on top.

The result is a dark, concentrated coffee with a rich sweetness that helps balance out the bold flavor. It’s considered a stronger coffee with notes of caramelized sugar and a syrupy mouthfeel.

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Cuban coffee in Miami

After the Cuban Revolution in 1959, coffee production was nationalized. As a result, it began a steady decline from a peak of 60,300 tons in 1960-61 to less than 10,000 tons in 2020-21.

However, the café Cubano lived on and continues to form an integral part of the Cuban identity today, both in Cuba and abroad.

Undoubtedly, the place where café Cubano has since become synonymous is Little Havana in Miami. The vibrant neighborhood is home to thousands of Cuban immigrants, many of whom left Cuba shortly after the revolution.

Their culture and traditions soon merged with those of the locals, giving rise to some of the city’s most distinctive features. These include Miami’s ventanitas, where café Cubanos are served from morning until night from small holes in the wall.

Here, the drink is commonly served in Styrofoam or plastic cups as opposed to the ceramic demitasse cups you might typically find in homes or restaurants.

Although the coffee used is not from Cuba itself, Cuban migrants brought most of the traditional aspects of preparing café Cubano from back home. As a result, most acknowledge that the best place in the US to enjoy an authentic café Cubano is indeed in Miami.

How Cuban coffee is made

If you are not lucky enough to take a trip to Little Havana or Cuba anytime soon, then you might be wondering how you can make an authentic Cuban coffee at home.

It’s quite easy to make at home as long as you have the right ingredients and the proper tools. With a little practice to solidify your technique, you’ll have traditional Cuban coffee you can share with your family and friends.

Ingredients and tools needed for Cuban coffee

Before you start brewing a traditional Cuban coffee recipe, be sure you have these ingredients and tools ready to go:

• Dark roast coffee: Traditional Cuban coffee starts with dark roast coffee beans. The darker roast gives it its distinctive bold flavor and rich body. We recommend using Mayorga’s Cubano Roast, a blend of Latino coffees carefully chosen and roasted to give it the signature Cubano taste.

• Coffee grinder: If you prefer to buy quality coffee beans whole, we also recommend a grinder that allows you to grind your coffee finely.

• Moka pot or an espresso machine: If you order a café Cubano from a ventanita in Miami, it will most likely be made using an espresso machine. But if you don’t have access to one, then a Moka pot works just as well. In fact, Moka pots are staples of Cuban households for this very reason.

• Demerara sugar: To get the signature sweetness and espumita, you’ll need to use demerara sugar. It has larger sugar crystals that help whip up the signature topping.

• Spoon and metal jug: Finally, you’ll need a spoon for beating the coffee and sugar mixture and a metal pouring jug.

How to make Cuban coffee at home: step by step

With your ingredients and tools gathered, you’re ready to follow these steps to make traditional Cuban coffee at home:

1. Grind your dark roast coffee beans to a fine consistency, similar to espresso.

2. Add the demerara sugar to your metal pouring jug and set aside.

3. Brew your coffee using a Moka pot or an espresso machine. Stay nearby because you’ll need to be ready for the first few drops of coffee.

4. When the first few drops of coffee appear, pour them into the jug containing the sugar and whisk vigorously to create a thick, light brown paste.

5. Add the remaining brewed coffee to the jug and stir to combine.

6. Serve immediately, making sure each cup gets a layer of espumita on top.

Café Cubano is meant to be shared with friends and family. Taking time to sip a Cuban coffee while socializing is the final ingredient that makes the drink truly special.

Types of Cuban coffee

Café Cubano is the most well-known Cuban coffee drink, but it’s just one part of this rich coffee culture. There are several other traditional preparations that are popular:

• Cafecito Cubano: Also known as café Cubano, it’s a small shot of Cuban-style espresso, made from finely ground dark roast coffee and brewed in a Moka pot or an espresso machine. It is whipped with demerara sugar for a bold, sweet flavor and a syrupy mouthfeel.

• Cortadito: This is a cafecito with an added splash of steamed milk to help give it a slightly less intense flavor.

• Colada: A larger version of café Cubano that is meant for sharing. This is typically served in a Styrofoam cup and comes with small cups to make sharing easier.

• Café con leche: Like a Cuban latte, this is a combination of a shot of espresso and steamed milk, and typically comes with sugar already included.

Tips to improve Cuban coffee at home

To prepare traditional Cuban coffee at home, make sure to get these details right:

• Grind size: To get your brew right, use a finely ground dark roast coffee, with the grind size similar to what you would use for traditional espresso. This produces the bold, concentrated flavor needed for café Cubano.

• Sugar ratio: Sweetness is a defining characteristic of café Cubano, but you can adjust this to taste. Start with 2 teaspoons of demerara sugar and adjust from there.

• Brewing time: To avoid having bitter-tasting coffee, remove your Moka pot from the heat as soon as it’s done brewing.

• Espumita: Your Cuban coffee isn’t ready without the espumita. Whisk the first few drops of your extracted coffee with your sugar immediately to create this crucial part of your cafecito.