A FIERY TRADITION

A FIERY TRADITION Cuban Coffee’s Mark On The Southeast

The above obituary illuminates the importance of coffee cultures and traditions in their respective communities, where they lie outside the culture that we call "specialty," even as they are themselves special and specialized. Cafe au lait and beignets, Greek coffee and baklava, and Cuban coffee and tostadas are just a few of the unique food and coffee pairings. These localized rituals have managed to survive despite hybridization and homogenization of the American coffee scene.

Cuban coffee, for one, has been involved in a unique interplay between the economic, social and political factors that allowed this culture to develop. The story of Cuban coffee contains two other important elements: cigars and, in many cases, revolutionary politics. And nowhere is this more true than in Tampa and Miami.

Two Cities, Rolled Together

Cuban coffee surely brings Miami to mind, where old Cuban men dream and scheme about the death of Fidel Castro while jolting their systems with the dark, sweet concoction that is called Cuban coffee or Cuban espresso. Here, Cuban coffee is the fuel that keeps Radio Marti transmitting and South Beach nightlife hopping. Politically, it is still 1962 here, with the Bay of Pigs disaster discussed in present tense and Cuban coffee stoking the passions of the Elian Gonzalez abduction. There is, however, another Cuban coffee culture — one tied to a much older revolution—and it’s in Tampa.

Those not familiar with both Tampa and Miami often believe the two Florida cities are very much alike. Both have historically been tied to Cuba and its revolutions—Tampa with the first revolution and Miami the second. But make no mistake: these are two very different cities and cultures. The revolution that is still apparent in Tampa occurred in the 19th century. In Ybor City, it is Jose Marti and Theodore Roosevelt that share the pedestals of history. It was in Tampa that Marti gave perhaps his most famous independence speech, “Para Cuba Que Sufra.” And it was from the port of Tampa that Roosevelt and his Rough Riders left for Cuba during the Spanish-American War. 

And while one can still enjoy a good cigar and a Cuban coffee in both of these cities, it is in Tampa where the two products became closely associated. Tampa is perhaps the only city in the world where one can enjoy a quality hand-rolled cigar from a third-generation cigar roller while drinking a Cuban espresso roasted by a third-generation roaster — both of whom are local.

What is Cuban Coffee?

Let us begin with what Cuban coffee is not, at least in the United States. Cuban coffee is not green coffee from Cuba. The U.S. trade embargo with Cuba that covers nearly all trade except vital foods and medicines for the Cuban people makes that impossible. Neither Cuban cigars nor coffee can legally enter the United States at this time.

Cuban coffee, not unlike Italian espresso, can be both a drink and a type of roasted coffee. Most Americans who have experienced Cuban coffee in passing think first of the drink, which is memorable if nothing else--dark and syrupy sweet, served hot in a demitasse or, as is the case in Miami International Airport, in small, plastic souffle cups like the ones hospitals use to dispense medicine. And medicine this coffee surely is, with the ability to jumpstart the most flagging of hearts--if not from the coffee, then from the sugar. The coffee may be made with an espresso machine or with a traditional stovetop cafeteria (moka pot), with the shot pulled or the coffee poured over the sugar.

Recipes

Cuban coffee as we know it today is actually a blend of Cuban, Spanish and Italian coffee traditions. It was from these three countries, primarily, that Ybor City's cigar workers emigrated in the late-19th and early-20th centuries.

Cuban Coffee

Pour two tablespoons of sugar in a demitasse cup. Brew coffee using a Cuban-style espresso and an espresso machine (or stovetop). When coffee is ready, pour 1.5ounces of hot coffee into the cup.

Café Con Leche

Heat milk on the stove, or steam it using an espresso machine. Brew coffee using a Cuban-style espresso and an espresso machine (or stovetop). When coffee is ready, pour heated milk (make sure there is no foam) into a six-ounce cup with coffee.

Julian´s Cappuccino (courtesy of Caracolillo Coffee Mill´s Julian Fadeo)

Pour a double shot of Cuban espresso into a six-ounce cup. Add two teaspoons of sugar. Fill the cup with warm whipped cream.

Cuban Espresso

Go to any grocery store in the Miami or Tampa Bay areas, and you will see many coffees with Latin names--Bustello, Caracolillo, Pilon and Naviaera, to name a few. Most if not all of these coffees are ground and brick-packed in brightly colored foil packages. Some of these coffees are blends, some are straights, but they all are very darkly roasted. This type of roast is often called a dark French or Spanish roast, and it has an ending bean temperature near 475 degrees Fahrenheit, or an Agtron rating near 25, giving this coffee a fairly one-dimensional, uniformly dark, almost burnt flavor. Combined with copious amounts of sugar, however, this roast can be a sweet, syrupy treat.

Caracolillo Coffee Mill— One Family’s Story

At the age of 16, Anastasio Fernandez Emigrated from Asturias, Spain, to roll cigars in the factories of Ybor City. He began roasting coffee for other workers, working out of his family’s garage. In 1936, he founded Caracolillo Coffee Mills and moved to a warehouse, and in the mid-1950s, he bought the roaster that his grandsons and great-grandson still roast on today: a three-bag Jabez Burns Thermalo. When visiting their facilty, the first thing you notice is that grandsons Julian and Micheal do the bulk of the work. While Julian's wife, Melba, runs the front office, Julian roasts on the ancient Jabez Burns, Michael operates the packaging line and Julian's son Michael humps coffee to keep the big three-bagger fed. With the assistance of a few long-term employees, the Fadeo family has been producing coffee in Tampa for more than 60 years.

That is not so say the business has not changed. Julian is developing specialty coffee business more along the lines of what is now considered a traditional specialty coffee model. In an accent that is one-part Spanish, one-part Italian and all West Tampa, Julian comments on his changing business: "Even though the specialty side of our business is growing, Cuban espresso still makes up about 75 percent of our business. Our largest markets for our Cuban espresso brands are Florida, New York City, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Philadelphia. However, that business is getting very competitive." One point Julian made repeatedly is that there is no ideal Cuban coffee recipe; it just has to be "very dark and very sweet."

A Long Tradition

In many ways, the history of Cuban coffee is our history as well. Next time you find yourself in south Florida, light up a nice, locally hand-rolled corona or torpedo, and order up a café Cubano. Before you know it, you may have enough energy to start your own revolution.

What is Ybor?

Ybor City (pronounced EE-bore) is a National Historic Landmark District—a Latin quarter replete with wrought-iron balconies, globe streetlights, brick-lined walkways and the majestic architecture of cigar factories and social clubs that provide a glimpse into a bygone era.

For more than half a century, Ybor City was the “Cigar Capital Of The World.” Early in the 20th century, between 70 and 100 cigar companies operated here. Tampa had everything cigar makers needed: a railroad, a port and a warm climate that was a natural humidor for the tobacco leaf.

While the cigar industry was thriving, Ybor City was alive with latin culture and language. On La Septima Avenida (Seventh Avenue), trolley cars carried residents across town, children sold deviled crabs and people read La Gaceta, Ybor’s tri-lingual newspaper that is still in print today. Residents depended on clubs such as the Centro Español, Centro Asturiano and Unione Italiana for medical and social needs. Many of these buildings have been renovated and are still in use.

Ybor City’s past is very much a part of its present. Today, the city’s shopping, dining and entertainment district is where Cuban-style coffee and the ancient art of premium hand-rolled cigar making live on.