Cuban Coffee Culture

Written Lori Thiessen

Dear Readers,

I’ve been away in Cuba for a holiday and also to check out the coffee culture in Cuba. I must say it wasn’t nearly as obvious as I imagined. Coffee is available everywhere in most hotels and restaurants, but I didn’t see too many coffee shops.

There was one coffee shop near to my hotel on 23rd Street and the Avenue of the Presidents. It served quite a decent cuban coffee which was like an extra strong espresso. The cost of the tiny cup of concentrated coffee was $1 CUC (convertible pesos).

While I was at this coffee shop, I saw groups of university students huddled around tables talking earnestly about issues. Considering that Havana is a university town, it only makes sense that this kind of scene would occur.

In general, Cubans enjoy a rather potent cup of coffee and the more timid coffee drinker should be prepared to add hot water, lots of sugar and milk to tame it.

Unfortunately, I was in Cuba for only a week and so I didn’t get to explore Havana as I would have liked to.  But from what I did see, coffee isn’t nearly as prominent a beverage as say, aqua minerale and coca-cola.

However, I think that I should re-confirm my observations by taking another trip to Cuba!

A pronto!