Cuba
Café cubano, or cafecito, is strong espresso sweetened with espuma, sugar whipped with the first drops of coffee into a pale foam. Why it works, how to make it.
Café cubano — cafecito — is espresso with sugar, and the technique is what makes it.
A spoonful of sugar goes into a cup. The first few drops of the espresso are poured onto it, and the two are beaten hard with a spoon until they form a thick, pale, caramel-colored paste.
The rest of the shot is poured through, and the espuma rises as a sweet crema layer.
Beating sugar with a small quantity of very hot concentrated coffee partially dissolves and aerates it. The result is more stable and more integrated than sugar stirred in afterwards, and it sweetens the whole shot evenly.
Cortadito — this, cut with equal steamed or evaporated milk. Colada — a large serving with several tiny cups, meant to be shared. A Miami workplace institution.
Dark-roasted, often with robusta, and traditionally brewed in a moka pot at home.
Whip a teaspoon of sugar with the first drops of a double espresso until pale and thick, then pour the rest through.
In Miami, café cubano is sold from walk-up windows, the ventanitas, of Cuban cafés and bakeries, often alongside pastelitos. A colada comes in a foam or paper cup with a stack of thimble-sized cups, and offering it around is a gesture of hospitality at work. Ordering a cafecito gets a single small serving, very sweet unless you ask otherwise.
A moka pot is the usual tool in Cuban homes. Keep the first few drops for the sugar by holding a small cup under the spout as soon as coffee appears, then whip and pour as above. Dark-roast espresso blends made for this drink are widely sold in Florida and online.
The equipment this actually requires — not a shopping list, the shortest route to doing it properly.
Aluminum · 130 ml · not induction
Over ninety years old, sold by the million, and misused by almost everyone who owns one. Brewed properly — low heat, pre-boiled water, off the heat at the first gurgle — it is one of the great cheap coffees.
Best for: One or two strong cups on a gas or electric cooktop, at almost no cost.
51 mm (2.01 in) portafilter · 15 cm (5.9 in) wide · pressurized baskets
About six inches wide, heats in forty seconds, and makes a decent drink at an entry price. It ships with pressurized baskets that fake crema from any grind — which is exactly why it works for beginners and why it stalls after a year.
Best for: A tiny kitchen, a first espresso machine, or a second machine for an office.
