My Cuban Coffee Recipe

Makes 1 cup of Cuban coffee:

• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 shot coffee
• 2/3 cup steamed milk

Steps:

1. Pour boiling shot of coffee into mug.
2. Mix in sugar until dissolved.
3. Add steamed milk, mix and allow to cool to desired temperature.

From Wikipedia:

Traditional Cuban-style espresso is made by adding demerara sugar to the container into which the espresso will drip, allowing the espresso to mix with the sugar as it is brewed … Some people believe that this results in a smooth, sweet espresso.

My version doesn’t use demerara sugar necessarily… don’t really know what that is. But this is my take on it, and it’s quite splendid.

My Mocha Recipe

Makes 1 cup of Mocha:

• 1/2 teaspoon of hot chocolate powder
• 1 shot coffee
• 2/3 cup steamed milk

(note: hot chocolate powder can be substituted with 50% cocoa, 50% sugar/sweetener)

Steps:

1. Put hot chocolate powder in bottom of mug, add boiling coffee shot and stir until combined.
2. Add steaming milk and stir lightly, allowing to slowly combine and cool to desired temperature.

This is my favourite way to make a mocha, which is essentially a latte with some addition of chocolate. Some use cocoa or hot chocolate powder, while others use chocolate syrup or even melted cooking chocolate. This variation isn’t quite as chocolatey as most.