Café Cubano Recipe: Making Coffee

Café Cubano is a small, sweet coffee associated with Cuban coffee culture. Its characteristic espumita is made by beating sugar with a little concentrated coffee before adding the remaining brew. That sugar foam is different from the crema produced during espresso extraction.

A moka-pot starting recipe

• One moka pot, filled with water and coffee according to its manufacturer’s instructions.
• Granulated sugar: start with about 1 teaspoon for each 30ml of brewed coffee you expect to serve.
• A sturdy cup or small pitcher, a spoon and small serving cups.

Moka-pot cup sizes are small and vary by manufacturer. Measure your actual output once rather than assuming a ‘three-cup’ pot makes three full mugs. This sweetness level is a starting point; household recipes differ.

Make the espumita

1. Prepare the moka pot as directed. Keep water below the safety valve and do not tamp the basket.
2. Place the sugar in the mixing cup.
3. As the first coffee emerges, add only enough to wet the sugar into a thick paste. Handle the hot brewer carefully.
4. Beat vigorously until the mixture becomes lighter and creamy. Add coffee in drops if it is too dry to work.
5. When brewing is complete, gradually stir the remaining coffee into the paste, preserving some foam. Divide among small cups.

The most common mistake is adding too much coffee before beating. A thin syrup does not trap air as readily as the thick initial paste. If the foam is grainy, continue beating with a few more drops of hot coffee rather than pouring in a large amount.

Using an espresso machine

Brew espresso normally into a separate cup. Use a small spoonful to beat the sugar, then combine with the remaining shot. Keep sugar out of the grinder, portafilter and machine’s water system. Do not interrupt or alter the machine’s internal operation to make the foam.

Use a coffee that tastes balanced at your preferred strength. A traditional darker profile works well, but stale or badly extracted coffee is not improved simply by adding more sugar. Our espresso extraction guide is useful if shots are unpredictable.

Serving and related drinks

Serve fresh in small portions. For a larger group, use a properly sized brewer or multiple batches instead of overfilling a moka pot. Clean the brewer after it cools, following its instructions.

A cortadito adds a little milk to sweetened coffee, while cortado generally describes espresso cut with warm milk and is not inherently sweetened. Café bombón gets its sweetness and texture from condensed milk. Those distinctions are more helpful than treating all small sweet coffees as the same recipe.