Introduction

The Nespresso Cafecito de Cuba capsule for Original Line machines, is a single origin (Cuba) coffee using 100% Arabican coffee with split roast technique. The split roast technique is where one half of the beans are roasted for a shorter time, and half are roasted longer. Nespresso uses the split roasting technique for a number of capsules.

The Cafecito de Cuba is part of Nespresso’s Reviving Origin coffees.

Brewing

The Nespresso Cafecito de Cuba is recommended (as per on the sleeve) to be brewed as a Ristretto size cup. On an Original Line machine, to brew a Ristretto, simply press the Espresso button (small size cup button) to start brewing and then about half way through the normal brew time, press the Espresso button a second time. The below linked Video shows an example of how this is done:

Aroma

The Cafecito de Cuba aroma is a vanilla, butter like fragrance, which isn’t a particularly strong aroma.

Taste

The coffee definitely has woody, tobacco like flavors. Although the flavor is strong, personally it’s not an enjoyable strong flavour.

Result

The end result is, that considering the cost of $1.25 USD per capsule and the flavors, this particular Gran Cru capsule is not one I’m fond of. If you like pure Arabica beans and strong tobacco and woody flavor, you probably will like this one.

Note: I did try this with brown sugar added, and I personally didn’t find that improved the flavor, since I normally drink all of the Nespresso coffees black.

One Year After Review

It was originally around June 2019 when I first tried the Nespresso Cafecito de Cuba coffee. This year (June 2020) I bought one more sleeve to give it another try. I still find I’m not that fond of it, and especially for $1.25 USD per capsule.

One final note though: I had a chance to brew it this year as a Ristretto and then added water to it to make it an Americano. This time the coffee did actually taste pretty good. So this is a reminder that if you are not that fond of a certain Nespresso coffee, then you might want to try it in a different way. For example, if a capsule doesn’t taste good as an Espresso size, then try brewing it as a Lungo size. You might find you like it better that way.

Checkout my Nespresso Reviving Origins article for more information on Reviving Origins and my reviews of other Reviving Origins coffees.

Enjoy your coffee!

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