Cuban coffee and my Havana experience

Introduction

Welcome to the World of Coffee section and to the post dedicated to Cuban coffee and to my experience in Havana. This time I would like to share with you a post that is slightly different from my usual recipes. It’s a brief story of my trip to Cuba, which took place in November 2017. Here are my impressions of capital city and a small guide to three types of Cuban coffee I bought there. I hope you find this post interesting and somehow helpful for your possible future trip to Cuba.

Havana!

My husband is a classical guitarist and often performs abroad. When it is possible, between working on the blog and being mom, I always want to go with him. You will surely understand my happiness when he was invited to hold a concert in Havana! Immediately I decided to share this fantastic journey with him.

Even being on the plane my emotions and expectations were very high. Flying over those magical lands, an intense and fascinating blue, is absolutely unique. We landed at the José Martí airport and immediately we immersed ourselves in the new world.

We take a characteristic Cuban taxi (a famous vintage car from the ’50)

and, after a brief visit to the hotel, we make a trip to visit the Habana Vieja (the historical center): the art museum, musem of the revolution, and colonial museum.

Cubans are always kind, full of life, fun, full of dignity despite the difficulties caused by decades of embargo, and very erudite (in Cuba education, as well as health care, is completely free).

Cuban cigars

My husband is a lover of Cuban cigars and obviously we had to visit cigar factory that is still present in the historic center.

If you now a good spot Cuban food is quite delicious. Typical dishes are mostly based on rice, chicken, pork. You can taste delicious lobsters at low prices and try amazing ceviche inside local paladar (typical restaurant).

We visited famous Bodeguita del Medio and El Floridita (bar where Hemingway often went), where we tasted the typical cocktails like Mojito, Daiquiri and Cuba Libre (all prepared with their delicious Rum), and we made very long walks along the seafront (the Malecón),

the Vedado (the richest residential area, full of beautiful buildings), Plaza de la Revolución.

This was our week in Havana: food, music (always present in the streets), sea and culture.

Cuban coffee

And the surprise of the surprises was the Cuban coffee. It is a very aromatic, almost sweet with a creamy and strong flavor at the same time. Cubans prepare it with a special infusion “stocking”, or with a classic moka They also put some of their delicious brown sugar inside the coffee powder. This method makes coffee even sweeter and enhances its already important aromatic qualities. Among all the coffees that we drank in Cuba, I was very impressed by the coffee offered to us during the rehearsals of my husband’s concert: it had a truly enchanting flavor.

Before leaving, we bought three types of coffee to take with us: Cafe Regil, El Arriero Cafe, Cafe Turquino.

The first one is a coffee with an intense body and a delicate and very aromatic flavor

The secon one has a medium strength and is also rich in flavor. This particular blend of arabica comes exclusively from the plantations of the East of Cuba.

The third has a rich body and delicate aroma of chocolate and some acidity. It has a very pleasant slightly smoked taste.

These three types of coffee can be prepared with moka, espresso, different types of infusion machines, professional coffee bar machines.

Among the three I recommend the Café Regil, more delicate and aromatic.

Cuba remains deeply in my heart. I can not wait to organize another holiday in this beautiful and fascinating island.

If you love coffee flavour you shoul check my coffee recipes: World of coffee