Café Cubano

Café Cubano (Cuban coffee) at its core is a sweetened espresso (or strong coffee). Being a common and simple way of preparing coffee, there are many variations of how to make it, this is how I like to make it at home.

Apron by Labarrère Mexico, coffee from Black Coffee.

Ingredients

Makes one coffee

• About 2 tablespoons whole coffee beans (or 18-20 grams)

• Water 2 teaspoons sugar

Special equipment

• Coffee grinder

• Moka Pot

Process

Fill the moka pot to the line with water. Grind the coffee beans to a semi-fine grind and place into the metal filter. Assemble the moka pot and place it on the stove over medium heat.

Meanwhile place two teaspoons of sugar into your coffee cup. With a small spoon collect the initial drips of coffee (about ½ teaspoon) and add them to the coffee cup with the sugar. Vigorously whip the sugar until it dissolves and turns a light beige color, this is the espuma or foam.

Add the remainder of the coffee to the cup and stir it gently until the light colored espuma rises to the surface.

Notes

In the video I do whip the sugar and coffee mixture in the demitasse, but it is a lot easier to do in a cup with a wider mouth and more room to whip the sugar. If you are having problems getting the espuma to rise to the top, try whipping the sugar in a larger vessel.

Using local, freshly roasted coffee will give you the best cup of coffee, if you don’t have a coffee grinder at home most local shops will grind it for you. If there aren’t any local shops selling coffee beans, you can use a pre-ground “espresso” type coffee such as Café Bustelo.

Dalgona Cappuccino

The second of a series of cooking videos from my home while under quarantine. The audio was kept raw as I find the sounds of a kitchen relaxing, soothing, and familiar. My take on the dalgona (whipped coffee) trend. Since I'm not a big fan of iced coffee I wanted to keep this beverage hot and decided to go the cappuccino route replacing the ice and cold milk with frothy, steamed milk. If you don't have an espresso machine you can easily heat the milk on the stove.

All aprons worn in this video series are courtesy @_labarrere_ Mexico City.

Ingredients

• 1 packet Nescafé Clásico instant coffee

• 1/3 cup hot water

• 1 tablespoon sugar

• 1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 6 oz milk

Process

Combine instant coffee, sugar, hot water, and vanilla extract into a bowl and whisk vigorously until light and foamy. Steam milk with your espresso machine creating a decent amount of foam. Add warmed milk to your mug and top with coffee mixture.