Potent as jet fuel, and with the aroma of an exotic elixir, Cuban coffee, or cafe Cubano, evokes a culture all its own.
With or without the caramel-brown foam, the steamy strong coffee is becoming so popular in cafes and espresso bars around the world that new brands are being added to the growing market of Cuban coffees.
For generations, sipping Cuban coffee has been the staple of life for Hispanics who use this precious time to discuss problems, passions and politics. Over tiny porcelain cups containing the sweet black magic, moods sweeten, energy increases and positive ideas brew like hot-bodied Cuban roasters.
“Coffee for Cubans has always been very important,” explains Jose Enrique Souto, vice president of sales for Pilon Espresso Coffee in Miami.
“It’s like the old-time coffee break. Every so often throughout the day we have the instant shot of espresso.
“It used to be called the 3-cent coffee. We would have 10-minute coffee breaks at least three times a day, including more with meals. It’s a tradition that has been carried on since the 1700s.”
Cubans, who have lived through pain, fear, sacrifice and, for many, permanent exile, have definite ideas of how their high-octane coffee should taste. About 40 percent of Cuban people have lived in rural areas and worked on the land where coffee, sugar and tobacco were leading products.
Those who have fled Havana for freer climes such as Miami, Mexico City and Madrid, complain that nothing is missed more than the mystical cups of Cuban coffee brewed with earthy scents of burnt wood chips.
In their rural villages, commercial coffee machines, which preceded espresso makers, brewed one liter of coffee at a time. When the hissing coffee was ready, a bell rang and workers lined up for their “shot” of caffeine, then returned to the fields.
Some former pre-Castro government leaders believe the richness of the Cuban soil combined with the pureness of the sun makes the coffee and tobacco in Cuba better than that available in other countries.
For instance Olga Guillot, the famous Cuban ballad singer who now lives in Miami, says, “Nothing in America could compare to the coffee I enjoyed in Cuba.”
To recapture the patriotism, nostalgia and hot-blooded fervor surrounding the sacred ritual of drinking coffee, Hispanics are creating the coffee culture wherever they land, usually in public places where socializing is a must.
In palm-shaded plazas, Hispanic-Moorish coffeehouses and bustling al fresco (outdoor) cafes, Cuban cafe and cafe con leche (coffee with foamy milk and sugar) are taken as seriously as work and the weather.
Complete with a good Cuban cigar, the festive, albeit serious, mood can be compared to the intellectual and social life created in Vienna and Prague coffeehouses.
With so many Hispanics moving to America and other countries around the world, the Cuban coffee culture is spreading like an epidemic. People accustomed to drinking traditional coffee take one sip of the smooth Cuban espresso and get hooked on its flavor: sweet, without a trace of bitterness.
“Cuban coffee gives me a wonderful kick around 4 p.m. every day,” explains David Lynch, general manager of The Bath Club, the oldest social club on Miami Beach.
“Most of my members are Latinos, and they have taught me that when life gets stressful, Cuban coffee should take over. So I pour a cup and head for the cabana with friends. We relax and talk about what ails us.”
At night and on weekends, the traditional Cuban culture found most families sitting on their porches, talking, laughing, drinking cafe and playing dominoes.
While waiting for the bread man to hang a loaf of “Cuban” on the door spike, families drank home-roasted coffee made in an infusion style of brewing. Coffee and water would be boiled together in a tin cup, then poured through a cone-shaped cloth that filtered the grounds.
The beans were ground fresh and often brewed with brown sugar, which left a dreamy caramel glaze. The flavor was sweeter than hot chocolate and cappuccino combined.
“Our family has been in the coffee business for more than 125 years,” says Jose Gavina, an owner of his family coffee business, F. Gavina & Sons in Vernon, Calif., near Los Angeles.
“We left Cuba when Castro took control of the government and started our coffee business here. We see Americans being influenced by our coffee culture. They now want 100 percent high-quality coffee like we grew and toasted in Cuba.”
Gavina adds: “People are changing their coffee drinking habits. They want less liquor and more espresso-like coffees to either drink quickly or linger over.”
Coffee in Cuba is made from top-quality Arabica beans, the purest coffee beans, which experts say can be roasted to a near-black without becoming too bitter. The roast, the grind, the dose and especially the extraction are critical to that wonderful sweet flavor.
Cuban espresso shouldn’t be extracted from anything hotter than the drip method. It should be about 192 degrees to 195 degrees to achieve the best flavor.
“Our Cafe Llava is a dark roasted, strong-brewed espresso,” Gavina says. “What sets Cuban coffee apart from Italian and the better American brews is that we use more milk than coffee, say 80 to 90 percent steamed milk and 10 to 20 percent pure coffee.”
“It’s almost a religion with us,” laughs Nicolas Quintana, director of architecture and urban affairs for the Cuban National Heritage, a Miami organization devoted to saving Havana’s treasures.
“Cuban coffee is served at every meeting I attend – even in American offices. It’s transculturation. I drink mine with a lot of milk so I can stop my work and enjoy more cups throughout the day. It’s a non-routine way to make human contact.”
Cuban coffee is sold by the cup in corners of larger restaurants and under awnings of city cafes, so devotees can enjoy their shots without ordering a big meal. It is not uncommon to find all-night coffee windows with zealous customers in need of a fix.
“We have a 24-hour window where people walk up and order two coladas (tiny amounts of espresso, sugar and milk),” says Roberto Reyes, who was born and raised in Cuba and now owns the popular Havana Cafe in West Palm Beach.
“Our Cuban coffee is a lot stronger than anything Americans are used to sipping. And 90 percent of our repeat customers are Americans. They love Cuban coffee and the cafe-styled gossip atmosphere that goes with it.”
Best-selling Cuban coffee and espresso manufacturers such as Bustelo, Pilon and Gavina, and newcomers Goya and Cubita, spend an abundance of time trying to duplicate the flavor from memories of their beloved Havana kitchens and cafes. These companies produce both caffeinated and decaffeinated coffees.
Cubita, which is manufactured in San Diego, originated because creator Michael Angel’s Cuban-born parents couldn’t find any American-distributed coffees that reminded them of home. So the Harvard business-school graduate decided to round up his own Arabica beans, the kind his family had enjoyed in Cuba.
He trademarked the name Cubita in Florida, and now sells his coffee nationally to supermarkets and other commercial establishments.
To saturate the market even further, Cuban coffee manufacturers have instituted office coffee service, which delights people who are stuck inside at work and can’t run to the corner for a colada.
“We have 3,000 corporate customers just in Miami,” marvels Souto of Pilon. “We come to them. People look forward to their shot several times a day.”
Un cafe con leche, por favor. Cup in hand, the rest is pure emotional high.
