Café cubano

Ingredients

Coffee

• 60 mlstrong espresso, or one full stovetop moka pot
• 4 tspdemerara or white sugar

Directions

1. Put the sugar into a small heatproof cup or jug, preferably metal, and have a spoon ready before you start brewing.
2. Start the coffee. The moment the first few drops come through, pour about a teaspoon of that first, darkest, most concentrated liquid onto the sugar and then stop.
3. Beat the sugar and that spoonful of coffee together vigorously for a full minute. It goes from wet sand to a thick, pale, glossy cream in front of you.
4. That cream is the espumita, and it is the entire point of a café cubano. Made with later, weaker coffee it never thickens, and made with too much liquid it stays a syrup.
5. Let the rest of the coffee finish brewing while you beat.
6. Pour the hot coffee slowly into the espumita, stirring gently as it goes in, and a pale tan foam will rise to the surface.
7. Pour into small cups, sharing the foam evenly between them rather than letting the first cup take it all.
8. Serve immediately, in tiny cups, to be drunk in two or three sips.

Technique

• Only the first drops will whip. Wait for a full shot to accumulate and you have missed it.
• Beat harder and longer than feels reasonable. A minute of real effort is what builds the foam.
• The ritual spread through Havana’s cafés with Italian espresso machines and travelled with the diaspora to Miami, where it is sold by the colada.

Substitutions

• A moka pot, catching the first liquid that comes up the spout.
• An Aeropress pulled short and strong, using the first pressing.

Variations

• Cortadito, cut with an equal measure of steamed milk.
• Café con leche, a shot poured into a large cup of hot milk.
• Colada, a large cup served with a stack of small ones for sharing at work.

History

Espresso whipped with sugar until a pale foam, the espumita, forms; the ritual spread with Italian machines through Havana’s cafes.

Frequently asked questions

What is Café cubano?

Café cubano is a drink from Cuba: sweet espresso whipped with sugar foam. Espresso whipped with sugar until a pale foam, the espumita, forms; the ritual spread with Italian machines through Havana’s cafes.

How long does Café cubano take to make?

Café cubano takes 2 min of preparation and 5 min of cooking. The recipe makes 4 small cups. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Café cubano?

Yes, within limits. A moka pot, catching the first liquid that comes up the spout. An Aeropress pulled short and strong, using the first pressing.

What is the most important thing to get right in Café cubano?

That cream is the espumita, and it is the entire point of a café cubano. Made with later, weaker coffee it never thickens, and made with too much liquid it stays a syrup.