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Make Cafe Bustelo Drip Coffee Maker Right Way
How to make Café Bustelo coffee at home
Published March 10, 2022
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Jennie Backteman
Coffee experts@The Coffee Lab
If you love espresso but do not have an espresso machine at home, the good news is that you don’t have to invest a huge amount of money into one to make Café Bustelo espresso at home. You can brew a concentrated cup of Café Bustelo espresso quickly. This strong and rich Cuban coffee is ready to brew in a drip coffee maker or even on the stove. Keep reading to find out more about how to make Café Bustelo with a drip coffee machine. It’s an inexpensive, easy, and delicious way to make coffee.
What is Café Bustelo?
Café Bustelo is a finely-ground, dark roast Cuban coffee. It tastes rich and chocolatey and is suitable for various different brewing methods including portable espresso makers and espresso machines. You can certainly make Bustelo coffee in a drip coffee maker; however, it’s worth bearing in mind that if you use this method to make Bustelo espresso coffee, it’s a strong coffee so you should use less.
Café Bustelo History
Café Bustelo is a Cuban coffee that people in the US have been enjoying for almost five decades. There’s quite a generous amount of caffeine in Café Bustelo, it’s very flavorful and you can find it for a reasonable price at most popular supermarkets. This coffee brand was originally created by immigrants from Spain to Cuba in search of a better life. However, when Fidel Castro took control of Cuba, they found themselves needing to flee, and landed in New York City with just five dollars and the clothes on their backs. Although this was undoubtedly a very tough start in the US, the founders of Café Bustelo didn’t give up hope for their future. They began at a kiosk at Parkchaster mall where they sold sandwiches, but this wasn’t a very successful business. One day, however, a Cuban friend asked for advice on making a cheap cup of coffee at home, and this led to them coming up with a coffee recipe using ground coffee, toasted bread, and steamed milk. Eventually, this became the Café Bustelo brand that we know and love today.
How to Make Café Bustelo
If you are interested in making the perfect cup of coffee using Bustelo coffee beans, you will be glad to hear that there are several brewing methods that you can use including Bustelo espresso coffee and Bustelo drip coffee. Read on to find out more about Café Bustelo coffee and how to make it using your drip coffee machine.
Using a drip machine is an easy way to make Café Bustelo coffee. To make the perfect cup, you will need:
- Drip coffee maker
- Basket coffee filter
- Café Bustelo ground coffee
- Cold, filtered water
To make your coffee, follow these steps:
1. Add water to the coffee machine
Add cold water to the reservoir on your drip coffee machine. Six ounces of cold water for every tablespoon of coffee is the recommended Bunn coffee maker coffee to water ratio by Bustelo. This ratio should also work well with other drip coffee machine brands.
2. Set up the filter and coffee
Place the basket coffee filter into the filter basket and add one tablespoon of Bustelo coffee. Spread the grounds as evenly as possible. You can add more coffee to taste if you are making more coffee or want a stronger brew.
3. Start brewing
Once the coffee and water have been set up, turn on your machine and let it brew. How long this will take will depend on your coffee maker. Most drip coffee makers take up to ten minutes to brew.
4. Serve the coffee
Once the coffee has been brewed, pour it into demitasses or small cups. Espresso is traditionally enjoyed black, but if you prefer, you can add sugar or cream.
How to Make Café Bustelo On the Stove
If you don’t have a drip coffee maker, don’t worry as you can easily make Café Bustelo without any expensive equipment at all.
- Mix four tablespoons of Café Bustelo coffee with eight ounces of water in a saucepan.
- Bring this mixture to a boil, continually stirring until the coffee grounds settle at the bottom of the pan.
- Remove from the heat and enjoy or pour into a thermos to save for later.
If you prefer the coffee to be smooth, you can use a strainer to pour it from the saucepan to catch the grounds.
Customizing Café Bustelo Coffee
Café Bustelo has a bold and rich flavor that offers just enough bitterness to keep you coming back for more. There are several things that you can do to customize this coffee drink and make it how you like it.
1. Add Sugar
While Café Bustelo has a lot of natural sweetness on its own, you can always add more sugar if you prefer it sweeter. However, be careful with how much you add as too much could take away from the flavor profile of the coffee.
2. Add Milk
Café Bustelo is already quite a creamy type of coffee but adding milk can make it even better. Getting the right amount is important as too much could mean that you dilute the bold taste of the coffee making it less enjoyable. It’s a good idea to experiment with how much milk you want to add depending on how light or rich you want the resulting coffee flavor to be.
3. Add Cocoa Powder
Adding cocoa powder to your Café Bustelo coffee can be a great way to make it even sweeter. All you need to do is dissolve two tablespoons of your favorite unsweetened cocoa powder in six ounces of hot water before adding the ground coffee and other ingredients.
4. Top With Whipped Cream
If you want your Café Bustelo to be even more creamy and smooth, try adding whipped cream to the finished drink. You can top off the drink with some whipped cream or put one or two tablespoons of heavy whipping cream in your mug before you add the coffee, stirring well.
How Strong is Café Bustelo?
You might be wondering what is the Café Bustelo caffeine content and how strong is this coffee compared to regular coffee? Café Bustelo has a strong and bold coffee flavor. It is also quite high in caffeine. The instant Bustelo Cuban coffee offers a huge amount of Café Bustelo caffeine with 113mg per 8oz mug, which is nearly double the amount of caffeine found in other popular brands.
Each one ounce service size of Café Bustelo contains around 94mg of caffeine, which is around half the amount that you would get from an equivalent size serving of regular drip coffee or an espresso shot. So, while the instant coffee version is higher in caffeine compared to other instant coffee brands, Café Bustelo can be an ideal alternative to espresso shots and energy drinks if you want to get a boost of energy.
How Many Calories are in Café Bustelo?
Café Bustelo calories are 200 per one 8oz or 240ml cup of coffee. Don’t forget that the calorie content will increase if you add milk, sugar, cream, or flavored syrups to your coffee.
Where Can I Buy Café Bustelo?
Café Bustelo is one of the least expensive coffee brands on supermarket shelves, making it popular among coffee-lovers on a budget. You can find Café Bustelo coffee for sale online at sites like Amazon and in most Latino grocery stores.
Is Café Bustelo Best Served Hot?
Café Bustelo is best served hot, just like regular coffee. It’s best to drink it immediately after making it in either a drip coffee maker or on the stove.
Can I Use an Iced Coffee Maker for Café Bustelo?
Although serving hot is the best way to get tasty results from this coffee, you can make great iced coffee with it too. It’s best to wait until the coffee has completely cooled. Wait until the coffee reaches room temperature – you can add some ice cubes to speed up the process.
How to Get the Best Flavor from Café Bustelo?
If you want to really bring out the flavors in your Café Bustelo mug, there are some things you can do during the brewing process. Firstly, heating up your water before you add it to the powder can make a huge difference, as the hotter the water, the more of the flavors will be extracted from the Café Bustelo coffee. If adding milk, use fresh milk rather than UHT or powdered milk.
If you want to try an authentic Cuban coffee experience, then Café Bustelo is an ideal choice. There are various ways to make this coffee including their easy instant coffee powder, heating it on the stove, or you can use an espresso machine or drip coffee maker. Using a drip coffee maker is an ideal choice if you do not have an espresso machine and want to make Café Bustelo espresso at home. While the coffee is sweet, creamy, and strong on its own, you can add sugar, milk, or cream to customize it to your preferences.
About the author
Jennie Backteman
I´m a ultramarathon runner, landscape designer and a coffee lover.
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