What is a café cubano?
A café cubano (pronounced kah-FEH koo-BAH-noh) is a traditional Cuban coffee made with stovetop espresso and whipped brown sugar.
The sugar and coffee are beaten together until the mixture becomes frothy, forming a light layer of crema similar to that of espresso — this foamy sugar is known as espumita (pronounced eh-spoo-MEE-tah).
Although often prepared at home, café cubano it is also commonly served in cafés and at street-side vendors known as ventanitas (window cafes).
Origins of the Café Cubano
Like many classic coffee drinks, the exact origins of the café cubano are unclear. It is believed to have developed in Cuba in the early 1900s.
Given that two of the country’s major crops are coffee and sugar, it makes sense that Cubans combined the two into a national beverage.
Why not milk?
Cubans do drink milky coffee too, but these drinks have less of a cultural significance for reasons that will become clear.
Cuba has always been fond of dairy products, but before the 1959 revolution didn't product much milk.
However, Fidel Castro was obsessed with dairy — particularly ice cream. He founded what became the world’s largest ice cream parlour1 and even promoted the idea of breeding dog-sized cows so every household could produce its own milk2. Despite these efforts, the dairy industry continued to decline, leading to milk rationing.
Castro attempted to create a thriving dairy industry, but the U.S. embargo made importing cattle feed difficult. So much of Cuba's dairy was imported and rationed. The CIA even tried to infect Cuban cattle with hoof-and-mouth disease.
This scarcity of milk likely contributed to the enduring popularity of the café cubano, a drink that requires no milk.
Café cubano ingredients
Café Cubano typically consists of
- 60ml of moka pot coffee
- one tablespoon of Demerara sugar.
How to make café cubano
- Fill your moka pot with coffee and water.
- Place your moka pot on a stove on a medium to high heat.
- Once the coffee is brewed place the sugar in a cup and add a few drops of the brewed coffee.
- Stir the sugar and coffee vigourously until it forms a sugary foam (espumita).
- Pour the rest of brewed coffee into the cup and enjoy.
