Make a café cubano

Cuban tradition is to drink coffee strong and sweet, often mixing the sugar with the coffee beans before brewing. The traditional method of brewing coffee was a filter method using a cloth cone; this has mostly been replaced with an aluminium cafetera or coffeemaker—in tourist areas some cafés will have an espresso machine, though espresso machines are expensive, so espresso is not a common drink for most Cubans. Though quality coffee is grown in Cuba, it is expensive, so most Cubans drink coffee imported from Puerto Rico, and often mixed with ground peas. The Cuban habit of brewing coffee with sugar has spread to Miami, West Palm Beach, Tampa and the Keys, in Florida, US, where espresso is the preferred brewing method and an espresso brewed with sugar is termed Café Cubano, Cuban coffee, Cuban espresso, cafecito, Cuban pull, or Cuban shot. Sometimes demerara sugar is used, and sometimes the sugar (white or brown) is not brewed with the coffee, but is placed in the cup as the coffee is dripped into it, then stirred into a froth. Variations on the Miami café Cubano are with a splash of milk – cortadito; and with steamed milk – café con leche.