CUBAN COFFEE – Waking Up

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The morning routine of hitting the snooze button and struggling to get out of bed feeling tired can be challenging, but what if you could find a way to energize yourself quickly and start your day with a boost? Enter the world of authentic Cuban coffee, which can now be made in the comfort of your own home without the need to travel to Little Havana in Miami, Florida; follow this recipe, and you’ll be firing on all cylinders in no time…

EQUIPMENT

  • 6-cup Moka-Pot
  • Creamer Pitcher
  • Spoon

INGREDIENTS

  • Supreme Bustelo 100% Arabica Estilo Espresso – Cafe Molido ground coffee
  • 3 Spoonfuls of Raw Sugar
  • Bottled Water
  • Warmed milk (if you prefer your Starbucks Latte)

HOW TO MAKE

Assemble your Moka Bot…

  • Start by filling the bottom chamber of your Moka-Pot with Bottled Water.  Stop filling when the water reaches just below the steam release valve.
  • Next, fill your round funnel basket with your ground espresso beans.  Gently tap the ground coffee with the back of a spoon so that the coffee grounds are packed.  It should not be loose.  Continue filling until the coffee grounds are flush with the top of the funnel basket.  Wipe any excess off around the basket.  Insert the funnel basket into/on top of the bottom chamber.
  • Now align the top of the Moka-Pot with the bottom, and screw it tight by hand.  Tighten it again.  Then tighten it again.   Why?  We don’t want steam coming out the sides, we want to force the steam up through the coffee grounds to make espresso.
  • Set the Moka-Pot on your stove top burner.  NOTE: If you have a gas burner, set the flame so that it doesn’t heat the handle.  I turn it down until the flame is just smaller than the bottom of the Moka-Pot.
  • Warm your milk to 160°F.  You can microwave about 1.5 cups for about 2:30-3:00 minutes *PER COFFEE MUG.

MAKING THE ESPUMA

  • Lift the lid to your Moka-Pot.  You need to see when the first drops of espresso start to flow.  In the meantime, place 3 spoonfuls of sugar into your empty creamer pitcher.  We will pour the first 2 tsp of espresso from the Moka-Pot into the sugar.  Once that happens, you must use the back of the spoon to stir vigorously until the Moka-Pot has finished brewing.  The sugar should eventually look like a caramel-colored slurry.
  • Once the Moka-Pot has finished brewing (no longer coming out the top), pour the entire contents of the Moka-Pot into the creamer pitcher that you created the espresso-sugar slurry.  Mix for 10-20 seconds.  The coffee in the pitcher is called a Cortado.

DRINK OPTIONS

Cafecito – Cuban Coffee.  Small shot of 3/4 oz. of coffee.

Cortadito – Two shots of espresso topped with an equal amount of steamed milk. A 1:1 ratio of coffee and milk.

Café Con Leche – One shot of espresso topped with steamed milk, and topped with a layer of foam.

For my White Chocolate Mocha Latte Starbucks friends, this is my substitution:

I pour half of the creamer pitcher into 2 coffee mugs (one for me, and one for my wife).  I then pour the heated milk into each mug, and stir with a spoon.  This is my perfect morning cup of coffee to get my day started.  I hope you enjoy it too!

BONUS

The Grandparents would put a small pinch of salt into their cofee to make it just a little bit better.  Try it.

– Jim