Making Cuban coffee is more art than science.
I think I learned how to make Cuban coffee when I was about 8 years old and able to maneuver in the kitchen without hurting anything. It wasn't just a matter of making the coffee itself, there had to be a frothy topping to that café and just the right amount of sweetness. Of course, like anything else, some people can make it happen with apparently less effort than others. Hence the artistry.
My dad always smelled of a pleasant mix of Vitalis, puros, and Bustelo. If Cuban music is the soundtrack of my life, the aroma of freshly brewed espresso is the fragrance.
Obviously, you can use a fancy espresso machine to get your café made for you at the press of a button. But I'm from the old espresso-maker-on-the-stovetop school of Cuban coffee making.
Why?
Because of the ESPUMA. That's what we call the frothy stuff on top. (I would say "espumita," but the stuff I'm talking about is much more powerful than the diminutive suggests.) Killer Espuma – I should trademark that! – is a matter of personal pride in our family. Today, my daughter, Amy Kikita, who is The Official Family Killer Espuma® Maker will share her secret for the Perfect Cuban Espresso with Killer Espuma®. 😉
(By the way, she doesn't really talk like that, but that's not important right now.)
In keeping with today's theme of All Things Coffee, I am grateful for the generous folks at IMUSA® for providing today's fabulous giveaway gifts.
Thing 1) An old-school (of course!) Aluminum Espresso CoffeeMaker in RED. (It's the same as the beautiful red one in the video.) Along with a set of four RED espresso cups & saucers.
Thing 2) A nine piece Stainless Steel Espresso Set. Beautiful, no?
They also have a wonderful and varied line of espresso related items. Check that out right here.
So, for a chance to win one of the two featured prizes above, please leave a comment on this post and answer one or both of the following questions:
- Do you use a new-fangled espresso machine to make your café, or are you an old-school stovetopper, like me?
- Do you like your espresso with Killer Espuma®? 😉
I'll choose 2 winners on Thursday, June 16th at 6 pm Pacific Time.
Thank you, IMUSA®!
(cross-posted at Babalú blog)
Do you use a new-fangled espresso machine to make your café, or are you an old-school stovetopper, like me? I got an old school stovetop espresso maker, $9 from the Cuban Grocery Store, hehe.Do you like your espresso with Killer Espuma®? YES! I love my espuma 🙂
I live in Italy (for the time being, being a military wife & all, lol) and they love coffee here! I have a wonky Italian coffee machine but it doesn’t work as well as the old cafetera that my Abuelita has had for like 15 years. I’d rather use that but I am yet to find a good one of my own out here!Espresso with espuma is the best! Why even have espresso without it!? :]
We almost bought and electronic one – the one that looks like the old one but plugs in – but we keep it traditional STOVETOP at the Lambie house. And OH YES, killer espuma is a MUST in our house. I think you and I do it the same way – 1 tablespoon per cup of coffee and the first “chorrito” of the coffee. But not too much, otherwise no “espumita”. And oh yes, train those biceps while you mix at alarming speed with a “cucharita” until it froths!!!!!!!
Okay okay, here’s the deal. I own a real cafetera. i beautiful stainless steel one that my mom gave me when I was in college. However, when I got married six years ago, the hubby and I received a dual coffe/espresso machine and I’ve been using that since. I will even admit that years ago, I received a microwave cafetera for work (sadly, it didn’t work).And naturally, I love espumita!
What a fun video. My kids and I LOVED it. My son goes, “Mom, is she Puerto Rican?” I’m like “no, hello, can you see she’s Cuban!” He says, “Same thing!” LOL Sadly I don’t have one of those. I have a keurig but i so miss having my cafe with espuma but my abuela makes the best. Would love a chance to win this.PS Thanks so much for teaching me how to do it. I had no idea! YAY!
I use an old- fashioned stovetop and I LOVE espuma 🙂
Love this post! Like u, I was a child when I started making café. My dad says I was 5, LOL but he’s not sure. (I called him, my mom, and my grandma to get an answer.) Abuela says I was 8. Anyway, every time I made café with killer espuma, someone would announce “ya te puedes casar!” Also, I am of the old school cafetera school, too. When I got married I DID NOT register for an expresso machine, but I still got one! The person just assumed I needed one or forgot to register for it. I returned it. And now, off to make café! Me antojé!
It’s all about being old school. I first learned how to make espumita with my Tia Olimpia. She use to blend her coffee and sugar in one of those weird bottle/glasses that already made shrimp cocktail came in. (Not sure if they had those in Cali, but my guess is probably). Anyway I was always fasinated by the foam that was created in that weird little glass.
I love the old school Cuban way of making cafe. I have the fancy smancy espresso maker in one of my cabinets… out of sight, out of mind. Per my cafetera is always ready to go. Like you, I also learned the secrets of killer espuma at a young age and have perfected it! There is no other way to make cafe than with espumita! Que rico!!! :0)
Of course I’m old school with my cafecito!(I’m just a simple Cubanita, inexperienced with the new top-of-the-line expresso machines)Killer Espumita? Isn’t that supposed to be implied when we are talking about the original cafecito cubano? 🙂
Kikita, that lovely video made me think of the vater…
😛
yo tambien me antoje! Ya esta colando por aca!
Do you use a new-fangled espresso machine to make your café, or are you an old-school stovetopper, like me?When I was back home in Miami it was the the old school stovetopper, now that I’m in grad school in Vermont, I rely on the quick new-fangled espresso machine.
Do you like your espresso with Killer Espuma?
Of course!
I’m from the old school my friend. Stove Top and I wait for the very first drip (teaspoon) to come out and I use that for the killer espumita. Would not make coffee any other way!!!!Un besote!!!!
Ody
Old school stovetop in a beat up old cafetera I got in 1987. They get better with age, ya know?! That being said, that stainless steel set would look mighty groovy with my kitchen appliances.PS my friend Debi has a Bustelo clock in her kitchen! It’s a beauty. I covet it.
If I’m having Cuban coffee, I feel it’s best from a good ol’ old-fashioned stovetop coffeemaker with killer espuma.Of course, being Puerto Rican, I also love coffee made the old old-fashioned way using a little cacerola and putting it through a colador!
I just love your Cuban coffee! Gene has gotten pretty good at doing the espuma I’m sure it isn’t as killer as yours! In fact, I wish he was here to make me some! I love the red set….it matches my kitchen! Anyway…thanks for sharing your life with us all. We love your stories and amazing pictures! I love you MORE!
Ugh..I wish I could make it like this. Maybe Amy will come over and make me coffee every morning.xo jana
Thank you IMUSA !!! What a lovely gift for the winner.I am old fashion and use the stovetop cafetera. Killer espuma a MUST!
I love the old school way of making “espumita”. This stuff got me through many all-night cram sessions in college. My friend Dulce showed me how to make espumita exactly the same way Kikita showed…I was hooked after the first delicious cup. I think I’ll pull out my cafetera (which is getting a bit old and dented cough cough) and make a batch, but I’d better wait until morning!
Never actually made Cuban coffee, but like the hands-on control of the stove-top version.I can taste the Killer Espuma® from here!
I have an Italian stove-top espresso maker, and I’ve never tried coffee with espuma but it sounds delicious.
Great Job Kikita! :)I have the traditional stove-top espresso maker . . . but I also have and don’t leave home without my electric 3-cup stove-top espresso maker(Easy Cafe)when I travel!!!
I also love the killer espumita! 🙂
I wish you well 🙂 Melek
“Coffee, the finest organic suspension ever devised.” ~Star Trek: Voyager
We only use our stove top cafetera…um, actually my 9 & 11 year old are the primary cafecito makers in the home. My husbands’ Abuela taught me, and I’ve since passed down the tradition.Any guests that desire Cuban coffee don’t hesitate to request that my girls whip some up…with that killer espuma of course!
Definitely a stove top cafetera – I have three different sizes. And DEFINITELY cafe cubano with Killer Espuma. Is there any other way? 😉
Oh, wait… I forgot to answer your question! I have one of those BIG expensive (was a gift) new-fangled Nespresso machines. You have to order the very expensive pods ONLY from Nespresso in order to produce said Espresso or Cafe.. . Hence, we use the very lovely French Press System. . .
i use my abuela’s old school cafetera… i love it! i make the best espumita with it. 🙂
{hangs head in shame} I use instant. LOL… but I used the old fashioned kind before when I worked for an Italian guy who wouldn’t drink it any other way!
I am very lucky, I have a cuban co-worker who makes the coffee everyday, it’s the most delicious and powerful think to start the day 🙂 I will share this post with her 🙂
My memories of real Cuban Expresso date back to childhood. Even then it was not an everyday thing, but a special treat. I would love to rekindle that faded memory for myself and my kids. Stove top was the way my Cuban mother and grandmothers did it…so that’s the only way. Espuma? Essential.
Stovetop Sonia- y si no tiene espuma mandalo pa’tra!
Awesome! I just happened to visit an Imusa store while visiting here in Medellin, Colombia, and they’ve got the awesomest wares. Love their products. Always have. I’ve got a BUNCH of their ‘cacerolas’ to make my morning ‘huevito frito’ in.
Just like you, I prefer to use the old fashioned stove-top cafetera. Hubby, on the other hand, loves the electric espresso machine. He lives for that foam.I make a killer espuma, if I do say so myself. My mami taught me when I was a tween. =)
(p.s. I would love the red cafetera and tacitas…they totally rock. Thanks, IMUSA!
I have both a stovetop and an “espresso machine” – I use both depending how quickly I need to get that cafecito fix!I love espuma but never knew that trick – my parents are the only 2 Cubans who drink their cafe sin azucar…So I neer learned that trick. But I do insist that sugar that is whipped in during the process tastes better than when sugar is added afterwards – I just never knew that the reason for the whipping is the espuma!
By the way, hae you ever had a Cafe BomBom?? In a glass, pour in some leche condensada and then some cafecito – yum. It’s cafe and dessert in one. AMazing!
I made the perfect espuma cafe this morning!! So delicious!!
Old school so I can make the espuma!LOVE espuma, actually, I frequently steal the espuma and leave the coffee for those who are not feint at heart:)
Marta is that your daughter? she is beautiful!!Excuse me I have to go make some cafe now.
Oscar
I learned using the newfangled devices, but have since gone to the traditional cafetera! It always has to have espumita on top!
Pues claro que si!- stovetop cafeterita is the only way to go… I have to say I LOVE the red one in the video.. beautiful!! and beautiful presentation of how to make espumita… its always a competition among the women in my family!!! Love this blog…
Old-school stovetopper, handed down by my Mom, and after having replaced the rubber seal many times over the years! It’s always the best. I’ve tried it with the espresso machine and it just isn’t the same.I absolutely have to have it with the Killer Espuma! It’s just not the same without it. I do occasionally fail when trying to make it and I just dump it and start again. It makes it special and delicious!
I have a tassimo coffee maker that makes the most perfect cafecito cubano with the right amount of espumita. The aroma of the Cuban coffee brings so many wonderful memories of abuelitos and what growing up in a Cuban household was all about 🙂
I simply ADORE Amy’s (Kikita) accent!!! Believe or NOT, I do not believe I have ever sampled REAL Cuban cafe??? This needs to be remedied??? Ahhh, YES!!!
Old fashioned cafetera is the best. And it’s not real cafecito without the espuma! Delicioso!
This is a wonderful post. I’m always looking for new ways to get caffeine running through my viens!
I make my Cuban cofee in one of the stovetop cafeteras. I do love the espuma!
I’m very old school I have an old cafetera which my husband in the morning brings me my cuban coffee with espumita in a little tin cup (the best)a kiss on the cheek everyday while I’m getting ready for work. Caballero no hay nada mejor!
I have tried all kinds of cafetera’s… the best by far is the old fashion cuban cafetera and a good metal cup to make espumita. A cafecito with espumita makes my day.
Marta,I am from the old school when it comes to making coffee. I have owned fancy machines and some tools to make espuma, but end up givin them away. There is no way on earth loke making it by beating the sugar intil it is thick and light beige. I take pride on this part as I stay beating until is right. Them , I put in in the microvave for 15 seconds so that when it is served is hot. I never lt my guests see this archaic ritual of beating the sugar. It is served to guest an they always wonder how I did.
Marti–at our house, this is U.N. coffee! Not only do we love cafe Cubano, but also Turkish coffee that Jerry used to drink in Egypt. And both are made with the same stove-top kettle. Right now, we use a fancy-shmancy coffee machine. Gracias!
i’m not ashamed to say this, we fail at making any kind of espuma.. we have a stovetop maker but haven’t mastered making anything delicous from it! but if i could get my hands on turkish coffee i’d be happy!
I have three stovetop. I love them!! I also have the cups you feature, but in green. They are too cute!! But I love the stainless stell set, good luck with your giveaway!great video!
sweetlife
I’ve never tried a stove top. Maybe I should. My discount new fangled cafeteria broke!And, si por favor! Killer Espuma!
This giveaway is amazing! I’m an old school stovetopper but I always use a french press. Hmmmm…cafecito!
My mother always used an old-school stovetopper. I wish i was as kitchen savvy as her, but i am not. My espresso comes fast from the drive thru, which I know does not compare. I would love a Killer Espuma to learn how! it would make my sahm life so much easier!
I love killer espuma….. Just foud your webpage and I’m loving it
A missplaced Cuban in Tallahassee Fl.bring on the killer espuma
Great post!!! I am totally old school with the stove top cafetera. We even got a fancy espresso machine for our wedding and ended up returning it. And cuban coffee is not cafe without killer espuma.
Sadly, I must confess that my cafe is usually of the instant variety, since I don’t have any kind of maker. I love espuma when I go to el diablo cafe here in Seattle. I would love to make my own!
We have both! My husband is famous for his cuban coffee he makes out in the swamp while duck hunting. And of course, he makes it with killer espuma.
Nothing but stove top here. And, my MIL still uses the even older “sock” method! If our cafe doesn’t have espumita, well, we don’t drink it LOL Thanks for the chance to win. LOVE the red Imusa – matches my red KitchenAid accessories :)Marta
I use an old- fashioned stovetop and Of course I like espuma. My family has a coffe king, my father, he makes the best cuban coffe ever….I hope I win so he can get a new set …
I was in Miami last week and was invited to our friends house for diinner. After dinner I had a cup of Cuban coffe for the first time and it was delicious. I had four cups that night. I have one problem and that is living in Brunswick GA. Where there is no place that sell Cuban coffe. Now when I go to get coffe from a fast food chain it can’t compare to to this Cuban coffe. I like the espuma on top. The video was really good. Now the only thing I need is a Imusa espresso set. Regular coffe does not compare to Cuban coffe.
To bad I’m 2 years to late! Lol. Would have loved to win one of these! Gracias por la receta.
I do not have a fancy upscale espresso maker, I love the old fashioned way of making Cuban espresso. I have a plain aluminum coffee pot I use now. It’s more fun to make it yourself the old fashioned way. Thank you for your video, that helped me with the froth ☕️.NicoleInNaples
I’m so happy I came across this post. I recently received my own stovetop moka pot from my wife as she knows I love my coffee. I have the espresso right but couldn’t get the espuma right from directions I read. This video definitely gives me the technique better than anything I’ve read. Plus, a lot we’re say tsp not Tbsp per cup so that is a big difference too.