Planning to Grind Your Beans for Cuban Coffee? Read This First!

Being able to brew coffee at home is pure bliss. However, it can be a bit frustrating to almost always have an issue with the end result. Sometimes, your coffee turns out mouth-puckeringly sour. Other times, it’s more bitter than your taste buds can handle. 

And the few times you get it right, you’re unable to reproduce the result.

Perhaps the worst part is that you don’t even know what you’re doing wrong. 

Could it be your grinder or coffee maker? 

Or is it the beans? 

Before giving up on becoming a barista, you should consider paying more attention to the coffee you’re using.

What’s the Relationship Between Grind Size and Taste?

Aside from the brewing time, the grind size influences how much flavor you can extract from your beans. If you have an overly coarse grind, you won’t be able to extract enough flavor from your coffee, resulting in a salty or sour-tasting brew. 

On the other hand, over-extraction occurs when the coffee is too finely ground, and you’re likely to get a bitter or hollow-tasting cup of coffee.

A third, and perhaps worse option, is an inconsistent mix of fine and coarsely-ground coffee. It should come as no surprise that it tastes horrible.

Consistently producing perfectly-ground coffee takes a lot of skill and practice. It’s also important to note that “perfect” may vary with the kind of coffee you’re making and your recipe. For example, Cuban coffee can be finer than regular American coffee, and it’s a mixture of two bean species.

Why Not Let Us Do the Work for You?

If you want to make an excellent-tasting café cubano topped with a rich espuma, starting from scratch might be an arduous process. It takes a lot of mastery and experience to get the right mixture of Robusta and Arabica beans to help achieve the perfect grind size. 

Even if you’re able to do that, you still have to figure out the ideal grind size for your Moka pot. Many think this is too much work, and we don’t blame them.

To make your life much easier while still enjoying the best Cuban coffee, we recommend that you  buy La Carreta coffee. While you may have heard a lot of negative things about pre-ground coffee, we assure you that La Carreta is a breath of fresh air.

La Carreta’s coffee blend is a result of a careful selection of the highest quality beans from Latin America. You can rest assured that you’ll get that scintillating coffee aroma that you adore, as well as the full flavors of traditional Cuban espresso. 

Most importantly, you’ll be able to effortlessly enjoy the thick and smooth espuma that makes Cuban coffee so special.

Keep in Mind

Grind size is the most critical determinant of your coffee’s taste. Even if you have the best coffee beans, grinder, and coffee maker in the world, your coffee can still turn out bad if the beans are not properly ground.

The fineness of your ground coffee becomes even more important if you’re making Cuban coffee because it is a specific blend of Arabica and Robusta beans. Without the right formula, Cuban coffee’s unique espumita will not form.

Have you already attempted to grind your own coffee beans for a cafecito? How did it go? Share your thoughts with us in the comments!

Featured Photo: Igor Haritanovich in Pexels