Warm greetings friends of this beautiful community. It is the first time I write here but I am a coffee lover and I have read many posts on this subject, especially from my friends and his wife
. I am Cuban, a characteristic of our nation is that we love coffee, there are very few people in Cuba who do not appreciate this comforting drink.
I confess that I like it strong, with sugar and very hot after brewing, in a porcelain cup. My grandparents used to drink it in small containers called güiros. These were made with the hard shell of the coconut, from which the mass is removed and the hard shell, which has a concave shape, is polished well with sandpaper and the result is a perfect vessel for drinking coffee. It can also be made with the fruit of the güira bush, which is round and hard.
This picture is not very good because it was in my archives, it is of a coffee drinking güiro of an uncle of mine and it was taken with a small key phone and its camera is of few megapixels.
In my grandparents' house it was strained in a cloth teapot, the powder was put to boil with the necessary water and when it began to boil the contents were poured into the strainer or teapot. Now at home it is made in a traditional coffee pot that is placed on the stove, on the fire.
I have a little ritual to drink my coffee, almost always sitting down so that it is enjoyed well, as my grandfather used to say and my mother repeats it every time the coffee maker announces that it is brewing: "coffee is drunk sitting down, that way it is enjoyed and it is more profitable". Another thing to note is that I prefer pure coffee, I am not used to drinking espresso coffee or coffee with chocolate or cinnamon, although if someone offers it to me I don't refuse.
In Cuba, due to a regulated distribution, a package of coffee of 4 ounces per person is sold once a month, it is called Café Hola. A few months ago we have had problems with the distribution and the product has been missing. For this reason I bought some packs of coffee for the house. According to the packaging I have read that they come from Spain and Italy.
Very recently I bought coffee beans, raw. I gave it some sun and roasted it according to my wife's instructions. This is the third time this year we have roasted coffee. Friends, if there is something that cannot be hidden, it is the smell of coffee. People came to the house attracted by the aroma of the bean that was taking a brown color and perfumed the air. We also added a little bit of peas, which is the way we have to lengthen a little bit more the black gold dust that is coffee.
I tell you that it is very expensive in relation to the salary that is received. This price is determined by the scarcity of the product and the high demand for it. Finally the beans were ready to grind and so warm I took them to my brother-in-law's house who has a good mill for such purposes.
Well, we already have guaranteed coffee for the rest of December, although this month the product did come to the bodega. We already make it in the morning and at noon after lunch. It is not advisable to drink coffee after three o'clock in the afternoon because the high caffeine content can affect sleep and cause insomnia.
If someone is near my house in Pinar del Río, I invite him/her to drink coffee and I can even give him/her a little bit of powder to make a colaita as my grandmother used to say.
The images used in the publication are my property taken with my wife's cell phone Redmi 12C. English translation by Deepl Translate.