The beautiful thing about coffee culture is that it is ever-evolving, and there’s plenty of it to go around in Salt Lake City. Hopping over to the New World, Cuba has long had a rich tradition of coffee. Executive Chef and Founder of Fillings and Emulsions, Adalberto Diaz, or Chef Al as he is known, talks about how his grandmother originally made coffee in Cuba. “When I was born in Cuba, my grandma made coffee with a fabric percolator. It was a very thick linen,” he says. “She would boil the coffee just like Turkish coffee, and then she would pour it through the conical fabric [to remove the grounds]. She brewed it to be very strong. But back then, we didn’t have the new little Italian percolators,” he adds.
Cuban coffee is still just as strong, with Cubanos embracing the Italian stovetop Moka pots at home to make espresso. “We love our coffee very sweet compared to other places,” Diaz says. “We have no problem adding in sugar. Like a lot.”
A primer on Cuban-style café
Café Cubano—if you’ve been to any Cuban coffee place in Miami, this is the coffee you expect to get at the walk-up window. “We like the crema you get from an Espresso machine,” Diaz explains. “But in Cuba, most people don’t have espresso machines, so we used to get the crema on top by getting the first drops of coffee that come out into a little metal mug, and with a spoon, we basically scrape brown sugar against the walls of that little carafe to create a foam with the coffee and the sugar. Then, you add the rest of the coffee to that. So you get this sweet coffee foam with the coffee in it.” The Café Cubano is strong and sweet and has a beautiful layer of foam. Coming in at a few ounces, it packs a punch in terms of strength and sweetness. It will wake you up and have you kicking if you aren’t accustomed to it.
Photo Credit Adam Finkle
The Colada—a slight variation of the classic Cafecito (aka “lil coffee”). The same sweet jet fuel arrives in a bigger cup or a small pitcher with a stack of thimble-sized cups. This is the afternoon beverage of choice for meeting, passing, sharing and talking. It is made for sharing, and if you try to drink it solo, you may be up for 24 hours straight.
Cortadito—this translates as a “little cut,” as in cutting either the strength of the coffee or the flavor profile. “I wouldn’t be able to tell you if the word ‘cut’ is about cutting the strength or the bitterness of the coffee,” he says. “I think that’s lost in time, but we definitely use the word “cutting” to refer to adding a little condensed milk or steamed milk to the cup.” At Fillings and Emulsions, they add a thin line of sweetened condensed milk with a double shot of espresso. It is sweet, but not nearly as sweet as a Café Cubano.
Café con Leche—the description on the Fillings and Emulsions website says it best, “Double shot of espresso tops a full glass of milk made from our condensed milk. It can be made with steamed milk, but that is just a latte.” The point: if you want a latte, order a latte.
Note: In keeping with the way Diaz’s grandmother made it, Café con Leche isn’t just coffee with milk. “Café con leche for me, since I was born, it’s café, and it’s sweet,” he says. “It was always made with condensed milk, or you had to add the milk and then add the sugar. So café con leche without sugar wasn’t café con leche at all.”
In Cuba, we drink coffee like water
You can get all three types of Cuban Coffee at Fillings and Emulsions. And you should expect only the best coffee experience. Their coffee is a blend of Brazilian, Ethiopian and Columbian coffee. It is roasted locally by Eric Hammond at Twin View Coffee, a small micro-roaster. “Eric is a friend of mine,” says Diaz. “And we get fresh roasted coffee at least twice a week. The coffee is very, very fresh. Our coffee has so much crema, and it’s beautiful and delicious. It pays off to have a micro-roaster taking care of you.”
So, what to get with your coffee? “A croissant,” Chef recommends. “Or if you have a café con leche, get a piece of baguette with butter and dunk that in the coffee. You don’t need anything else. We call that café con leche y pan con mantequia.” And that is an everyday Cuban breakfast.
For Cubans, any time is coffee time. “We’re pretty deep into coffee. And I know for a fact my mom cannot live without it,” he says. “If my mom spends four hours without coffee, she’s already going crazy. Her next question is, ‘Is coffee ready?’ Where is the coffee?’ ‘Can I make some coffee?’ “ And don’t tell a Cuban to have dinner without coffee. It will not go over well.
If you go
Fillings & Emulsions
1475 S. Main St., SLC & 1980 W. 3500 South, West Valley City
fillingsandemulsions.com
Interested in learning more about global coffee traditions? Check out Lydia’s coverage of Ethiopian and Turkish coffee you can find right here in the Beehive State.
