Flavors · Miami

Cafecito

Cuban coffee: a short, strong espresso sweetened during preparation, with a sugar foam on top. It’s the everyday coffee of Miami’s Cuban community, served in small cups at café windows.

Traditional drink from Miami, Flórida

Also known as: Café cubano, Cuban coffee, Cuban espresso

Updated October 2026

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Cafecito — Miami, the United States — Cafecito

Cafecito — Miami, the United States

The cafecito is Cuban coffee: a short, strong espresso sweetened during preparation. The first drops of the coffee are beaten with sugar until they form a light paste, the espumita, and the rest of the coffee is mixed into it, which leaves a layer of foam on top. It’s served in small cups.

The drink came to Miami with the Cubans who settled in the city and became part of the local routine: in the morning with toasted bread, or in the afternoon as a break. Miami’s Cuban cafés serve the cafecito at windows opened to the sidewalk, the ventanitas, where people stop, order and talk standing up.

There are ways to order. The colada is a larger dose, served in a styrofoam cup with several small cups to share with colleagues; offering a colada is a gesture of friendship. The cortadito has a bit of steamed milk, and the café con leche is the version with more milk, common at breakfast.

In 2013, a campaign created cafecito hour at 3:05 p.m., referencing 305, Miami’s area code, according to Miami press.

The cafecito is drunk throughout the city, but the Little Havana neighborhood, around Calle Ocho, concentrates many of the traditional ventanitas.

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Where it comes from

Miami , Flórida
The everyday coffee of Miami’s Cuban community.

Ingredients

Dark-roasted coffee, finely ground, prepared as espresso, and sugar beaten with the first drops of the coffee.

How it is eaten

In small cups, standing, at the cafés’ windows. The colada is divided into several small cups.

When it is eaten

Every day, in the morning and mid-afternoon.

Your questions

Questions about Cafecito

What is a cafecito?

A Cuban coffee: a short, strong espresso sweetened during preparation, with a sugar foam on top, served in a small cup.

What is a colada?

A larger serving of Cuban coffee, served in a cup with several small cups, to share among friends or colleagues.

What is the difference between cafecito and cortadito?

The cortadito has a bit of steamed milk; the cafecito is just the sweetened coffee.

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