So, perhaps obviously, I am not Cuban. But I grew up in South Florida and my fondest food memory there is grabbing a Café Cubano from la ventana at Cuban restaurants around Miami. Whenever I am home, I make a point to enjoy at least one, preferably after a medianoche sandwich.
Café Cubano, also known as Cuban espresso, Cuban coffee, or cafecito, is an espresso drink prepared in Cuba and among the Cuban-American community in which an espresso shot is sweetened with sugar during or immediately after brewing and prior to serving. It is sweet, but balanced, even for those of us who take our coffee without sugar, and an excellent bookend to a meal.
In restaurants, Café Cubano is made using an espresso machine, but the traditional way—and the way it is still made in homes—is with the Italian stovetop espresso maker called a Moka pot or macchinetta, with the iconic Bialetti model remaining the most popular. My recipe utilizes a Moka pot, but you can easily adapt it to an espresso machine.
Moka Pot on the Stove
Traditionally, Café Cubano is made with Pilon or Bustelo espresso; the former is popular in restaurants and the latter in homes. I love Bustelo Supreme, although go ahead and use your favorite espresso.
There are several variants to this recipe, and everyone seems to do it slightly different. I have seen the sugar added to the ground espresso during brewing or directly into the demitasse cup. But the best method whips just a little bit of the brewed espresso with the sugar, maximizing the espumita, the beautiful froth on top of a perfect Cuban coffee. As Moka pots don't generate tons of crema, this is doubly useful for such preparations.
Makes 1 Café Cubano. Easily doubled.
Ingredients:
sufficient ground espresso beans, per your device's directions
sufficient filtered or spring water, per your device's directions
1 tablespoon turbinado sugar
Following your Moka pot's instructions, brew one shot of espresso. (Hint: When using a Moka pot, take it off the heat a few seconds after it starts steaming. It will finish steaming without additional heat, and you won't boil the coffee.)
Add the turbinado sugar to a metal milk frothing pitcher. Pour one teaspoon of brewed espresso into the milk pitcher. Using a small whisk, violently beat the sugar and espresso until fully combined into a thick, brown foam. Gently pour the remaining espresso into the milk pitcher. Pour the pitcher into a demitasse glass. The brown foam—the espumita—should end up on the top of the glass. Enjoy.
Variant: Una colada is a pitcher of Cuban coffee, generally four to six shots, suitable for sharing. To make, multiply the recipe accordingly, using a sufficiently large milk pitcher. If you lose the espumita, beat the pitcher's contents with a whisk or fork as needed.
