# Café Cubano

Source: https://dailyextraction.com/drinks/cafe-cubano/
Last updated: 2026-10-21

> Café cubano, or Cuban coffee, is strong, dark-roast coffee from a moka pot or espresso machine, sweetened by beating the first drops with sugar into a thick, pale foam called espumita, then pouring in the rest. A single is a cafecito; a colada is a bigger cup for sharing in tiny cups.

## At a glance

- Chapter: Espresso drinks
- Served: Hot
- Brewing method: https://dailyextraction.com/methods/moka-pot/
- Origin: Cuba
- Glass: Demitasse (small cup)
- Also known as: cafecito, Cuban coffee, Cuban espresso, espumita

## Ingredients

- to fill the moka pot basket dark-roast coffee, finely ground for a moka pot or espresso
- a couple of tablespoons sugar (demerara or white cane sugar)

## Steps

1. **Start the moka pot**: Fill the moka pot with water and dark-roast coffee and put it on medium heat, slightly to one side so the handle doesn't burn.
2. **Put the sugar in a cup**: Put a couple of tablespoons of sugar in a small jug or cup.
3. **Catch the first drops**: As soon as the first, strongest drops of coffee appear, pour about a teaspoon onto the sugar.
4. **Beat the espumita**: Beat the sugar and coffee hard with a spoon until it turns into a thick, pale, creamy paste.
5. **Pour in the rest**: When the pot finishes with a hissing, bubbling sound, pour the rest of the coffee onto the espumita, stir gently and serve in small cups.

**Café cubano**, or Cuban coffee, is strong, dark-roast coffee made sweet in a very particular way: the **first drops** from the [moka pot](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/moka-pot/) or espresso machine are **beaten into sugar** until they form a thick, pale foam called **espumita**, and the rest of the coffee is poured on top. The result is intense, sweet and syrupy, with a creamy layer on top. In Miami it's poured all day from walk-up café windows. Here's how to make it, and what to call the different versions.

## The short version

- **Dark-roast coffee**, from a moka pot at home or an espresso machine in cafés.
- **Sugar beaten with the first drops** into a foam called espumita.
- **Cafecito**: one serving, in a small cup.
- **Colada**: a bigger cup with tiny cups for sharing.
- **Cortadito**: the same coffee with steamed or evaporated milk.



## What makes Cuban coffee different?

The **espumita**. Barista Magazine explains that sugar, demerara or any other, goes in at the start: as the first drops boil up through the moka pot or steam out of an espresso machine, they're beaten vigorously into a couple of tablespoons of sugar until a creamy foam forms, a technique it calls "distinctively" Cuban. The University of Miami adds that this makes a sweeter and slightly more viscous coffee than simply adding sugar at the table.

The sources disagree on the sugar:

| Sugar | How much | Source |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Demerara "or any other sugar" | A couple of tablespoons | Barista Magazine |
| Pure cane sugar | Not stated | University of Miami |
| Demerara, which you "need": its larger crystals help whip up the topping | Start with 2 teaspoons, then adjust | Mayorga Coffee |

The coffee itself is a dark, Italian-style roast. In Miami, Barista Magazine says, popular brands include **Pilon**, **Bustelo** and **La Llave**.

## How do you make café cubano at home?

The University of Miami's tips for a moka pot:

1. **Fill the moka pot** and put it on **medium heat**, slightly to one side, so you don't burn the plastic handle.
2. **Have the sugar ready** in a small jug or cup.
3. **Catch the first teaspoon** of coffee as it comes through and add it to the sugar.
4. **Beat it hard** with a spoon until it's thick, pale and frothy.
5. **Listen for the finish.** If the coffee explodes upward, the heat is too high; if it burbles lethargically, turn it up. It's done when you hear a hissing, bubbling sound. Pour it onto the espumita and serve.

## Cafecito, colada or cortadito?

| Order | What it is | Source |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Cafecito** | A single serving in a demitasse, like a shot of espresso elsewhere | Barista Magazine; University of Miami |
| **Colada** | 3–6 shots in a disposable cup, with thimble-sized cups for sharing | University of Miami |
| **Colada** | A 12 oz cup with half a dozen tiny cups | Barista Magazine |
| **Cortadito** | Cuban coffee topped with steamed milk, 50/50 or 75/25; often evaporated milk | University of Miami |
| **Café con leche** | Cuban coffee with steamed milk, often with buttered Cuban toast (tostada) for dunking | University of Miami; Barista Magazine |

The University of Miami suggests bringing a colada round the office at **3:05 pm**.

## Where does café cubano come from?

**Cuba**, by way of Miami. Barista Magazine traces coffee in Cuba to **José Antonio Gelabert**, who brought coffee plants to the island in **1748**; French immigrants fleeing the Haitian Revolution later helped build a network of farms in the east of the island, and by the early 1800s coffee had overtaken sugar as Cuba's top export. After the revolution nationalised the farms, more than half a million Cubans came to Miami in the following decades, the magazine says, bringing their coffee with them. Restaurateur **Felipe Valls Sr.**, founder of Versailles and La Carreta, designed and installed the first **ventanitas**, walk-up coffee windows, at his restaurants after arriving in the 1960s.

## Café cubano vs other espresso drinks

- **[Cortado](https://dailyextraction.com/drinks/cortado/):** the Spanish espresso cut with milk, unsweetened.
- **[Café con leche](https://dailyextraction.com/drinks/cafe-con-leche/):** Spain's half coffee, half hot milk.
- **[Espresso macchiato](https://dailyextraction.com/drinks/espresso-macchiato/):** espresso marked with a little foam.
- **[Vietnamese iced coffee](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/vietnamese-iced-coffee/):** another strong, sweet coffee tradition.

Explore every drink in the [espresso drinks chapter](https://dailyextraction.com/drinks/espresso-drinks/).

## FAQs

### What is espumita?

The sweet foam on top of Cuban coffee. The University of Miami explains it's made by beating the first teaspoon of brewed coffee into sugar until frothy, which gives a sweeter, slightly thicker coffee than adding sugar at the table. Mayorga describes it as light brown.

### What is the difference between a cafecito and a colada?

Size and sharing. A cafecito is one serving in a demitasse. A colada holds three to six shots, the University of Miami says, served in a disposable cup with tiny plastic cups for sharing; Barista Magazine describes a 12 oz cup with half a dozen little cups.

### What is a cortadito?

Cuban coffee topped with steamed milk. The University of Miami says the ratio is personal, 50/50 or 75/25, and many prefer evaporated milk; ask for it oscuro for more coffee.

### Is Cuban coffee made with espresso or a moka pot?

Both. At home it's usually a stovetop moka pot; at Miami's ventanitas, coladas are typically made on an espresso machine, Barista Magazine says, with the sugar whipped right at the machine.

### What coffee is used for café cubano?

Dark, Italian-style roasts. Barista Magazine names popular brands in Miami such as Pilon, Bustelo and La Llave.

## Sources

- [Misunderstood drinks: meet the café cubano](https://baristamagazine.com/misunderstood-drinks-meet-the-cafe-cubano)
- [Cafecito 101](https://news.miami.edu/life/stories/2018/09/cafecito-101.html)
- [How to make authentic Cuban coffee at home](https://mayorgacoffee.com/blogs/news/how-to-authentic-cuban-coffee)