Raf Coffee

Also Raph coffee, раф

Russia's espresso steamed together with cream and vanilla sugar into a sweet, uniform drink. Invented in a Moscow café in the 1990s for a regular named Rafael.

Espresso and milkServed hotFrom Russia

Volume
130ml4.4 US fl oz
Espresso
1shot
Caffeine
64mgderived, USDA FDC
Coffee to milk
1:3.3
Cappuccino cup, 200 ml. Layers in pouring order from the bottom, drawn by volume.
  1. Espresso30 ml23%
  2. Cream100 ml77%
Volume
130ml
Caffeine
64mg
Espresso
1shot

Scales every component together, so the ratio holds; caffeine scales with the coffee.

Espresso, cream and vanilla sugar steamed together in the pitcher rather than layered.

Caffeine

Derived
64mg

in a 130 ml raf coffee

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

2
NameCountryHow it differs
lavender rafRussiaWith lavender syrup; many flavoured versions.
breveUnited StatesHalf-and-half latte, not steamed with the coffee.

History

Popular account

Wikidata records Russia as country of origin, 1996 as inception, espresso as a part and a person named Raphael as namesake. The Coffee Bean café in Moscow is the usual origin story (popular account).

Moscow, 1990s; named after a customer called Rafael.

Popular account

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.

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