CU coffee
1 Nov 01

Granma Intl. - Havana - There is a well-known song by Cuban composer Eliseo Grenet about a certain "Mama Inés" and the virtues of coffee drinking. Notwithstanding time or place, the idea it gets across is that any time is good to drink that aromatic nectar. Cubans drink it with milk in the morning, black with lots of sugar after lunch and dinner and at meetings or visits: basically all day long. Originally from Ethiopia, Kahwe or Kahwa is a drink used in African rituals, and it is said that all Orishas (African deities) like it as an offering. Young Cubans planned for independence from Spain over a coffee in front of the Inglaterra hotel in Old Havana, and the Mambises (Cuban independence fighters) would down it sweetened with honey. Coffee was first brought to Cuba from Santo Domingo in 1748 by trader José Gelabert, who planted a few seeds from his suitcase on his farm. He ended up founding the first coffee plantation here, but the red grain wouldn't really take off until almost 50 years later. That was when the French colonists fled from Haiti in the middle of a revolution they never were able to understand. With memories of burning estates still in their head, many settled in the Cuban East, where they reconstructed their empire with stone mansions. Cuban coffee does well on the international market, especially among the French, Japanese, German and Italians. Our two most common species are Arabic and Canephora, and Cuba's climate, soil conditions and careful cultivation make for almost faultless production. Some of our brands are Turquino, Serrano, Montaña de Cristal, Cumbre, Cubita and Caracolillo, all of which are great when accompanying a cigar and cup of Havana Club rum.

COFFEE RECIPES
Mama Inés - 45 ml espresso coffee 40 ml aged rum 1 tbs. honey Mixt coffee and honey in a mug before adding rum.
Café Antillano - 45 ml espresso coffee 30 ml aged rum 1 tsp. white sugar whipped cream In a 6 oz. warmed glass add espresso and sweeten with sugar. Add rum and whipped crean after diluting with 1 tsp. milk.
Cortadito Habanero - 45 ml espresso coffee 45 ml warm milk white sugar Pour espresso into a mug, add milk and sweeten with taste.
Carajillo - 45 ml espresso coffee 45 ml aguardiente (sugar-cane rum) white or brown sugar In a mug serve the freshly-made espresso, sweeten (optional) and add sugar-cane rum.