Café Cubano
Also Cuban espresso, cafecito, café cubano
A Cuban espresso sweetened during extraction by whipping sugar with the first drops into a foam. Small, sweet and the base of colada and cortadito.
EspressoServed hotFrom Cuba
- Volume
- 30ml1.0 US fl oz
- Espresso
- 1shot
- Caffeine
- 64mgderived, USDA FDC
- Glass
- Demitasse70 ml
The build
Watch it made, step by step- Espresso30 ml100%
- Volume
- 30ml
- Caffeine
- 64mg
- Espresso
- 1shot
Scales every component together, so the ratio holds; caffeine scales with the coffee.
Sugar is whipped with the first drops of espresso into a thick foam so the shot comes out sweet and capped; demerara or white sugar.
Caffeine
Derivedin a 30 ml café cubano
USDA FoodData Central SR Legacy caffeine per 100 g scaled to the coffee volume in components, assuming 1 g per ml. FDC 171891 (Beverages, coffee, brewed, espresso, restaurant-prepared) 212.0 mg/100 g x 30 ml.
USDA FoodData Central record 171891 · read 2026-10-26
A derived figure: the reference food's caffeine per 100 g scaled to the coffee in this build. Real cups vary with the coffee, the dose and the shot.
Variants by country
3| Name | Country | How it differs |
|---|---|---|
| colada | Cuba | Several shots in a styrofoam cup shared in thimble cups. |
| cortadito | Cuba | With a little steamed milk. |
| Cuban café con leche | Cuba | Stirred into a cup of hot milk. |
History
Popular accountWikidata records Cuba as country of origin and sugar and espresso as parts. Espresso machines arrived in Cuba from Italy in the early twentieth century; the sugared shot travelled to Miami with Cuban exiles (popular account).
Cuba and Cuban Miami.
Parts of this story are repeated widely but were not confirmed against a source this atlas accepts. They are kept as the story people tell, not as fact.
Related drinks
An espresso served with a twist of lemon. The lemon oil brightens the shot; the drink is more common in American cafés than in Rome.
Espresso Decaf Espresso 30 ml · 64 mgAn espresso pulled from decaffeinated beans. Every milk and iced drink in this list can be ordered this way with its caffeine reduced to a few milligrams.
Espresso Espresso 30 ml · 64 mgA small, concentrated coffee brewed by forcing hot water through finely ground coffee under pressure. It is the base of most café milk drinks and is served in a small thick-walled cup.
Espresso Pocillo 30 ml · 64 mgA small cup of strong black coffee, from the Spanish word for the little cup itself. Common across Latin American Spanish.
Espresso Bica 35 ml · 64 mgPortugal's everyday espresso, known as bica in Lisbon and cimbalino in Porto. Slightly longer than an Italian shot and taken with sugar.
Espresso Café Carioca 40 ml · 64 mgA deliberately weak Portuguese coffee made by passing water through spent grounds. Caffeine is well below the scaled figure.