How To Make Cafe Bustelo In A Drip Coffee Maker

how to make Cafe Bustelo in a drip coffee maker

Café Bustelo is a popular Cuban-style coffee known for its strong, concentrated flavor and dark roast. Making Café Bustelo properly brings out its signature bold, rich taste. With the right technique, you can brew up a cup of Café Bustelo espresso that rivals your favorite coffee shop using just your regular drip coffee maker at home.

In this article, I’ll walk you through exactly how to make authentic tasting Café Bustelo using a standard drip coffee machine. You’ll learn the proper coffee-to-water ratio, brewing time, and other tips to draw out the full robust flavor of this dark-roast Cuban coffee.

Follow these steps and you’ll be able to make café Bustelo like a pro barista in your own kitchen.

Why Make Your Own Café Bustelo?

Before we get into the how-to, let’s look at why you’d want to make your own Café Bustelo in the first place:

• It’s inexpensive – Buying Café Bustelo in bulk is very affordable compared to purchasing a cup of espresso at a coffee shop daily. This allows you to enjoy café Bustelo coffee more often.
• Customize your cup – Making it yourself allows you to adjust the strength and flavor exactly to your taste by tweaking the number of coffee grounds.
• Convenience – With the steps below, you can whip up a cup of Café Bustelo in just a few minutes right in your own home.
• Consistency – Once you dial in the proper coffee-to-water ratio and brew time, you can replicate that perfect cup of Café Bustelo easily and consistently.

Now let’s get into how to make that perfect cup of café Bustelo using a standard drip coffee maker.

How to Make Café Bustelo in a Drip Coffee Maker

Making Café Bustelo in a traditional drip coffee machine takes just a few simple steps. Here is the process from start to finish:

1. Use the Right Coffee to Water Ratio

Café Bustelo has a very bold, strong flavor because it uses more coffee grounds per cup compared to typical brewed coffee.

For drip coffee makers, the ideal Café Bustelo ratio is:

• 2 tablespoons of Café Bustelo ground coffee per 6 oz of water

This produces a concentrate similar to a shot of espresso. Adjust the amount of water and coffee grounds to make a full mug of coffee.

For example, for a 12 oz mug:

• Use 4 tablespoons of Café Bustelo coffee grounds
• Brew with 6 oz water to produce a concentrate
• Dilute concentrate with an additional 6 oz of hot water before drinking

Use this 2:1 coffee grounds to water ratio as a starting point. Adjust to your particular tastes as needed. More coffee makes a bolder, stronger cup.

2. Use Medium-Fine Ground Coffee

The grind size affects the flavor and brew time. Café Bustelo uses a medium-fine grind, which is between a regular drip coffee grind and a true espresso grind.

Make sure to buy pre-ground Café Bustelo coffee, not a whole bean. The pre-ground Café Bustelo is already the perfect consistency for drip coffee makers.

3. Brew for 4-5 Minutes

After adding the coffee grounds and water to your drip coffee machine, brew for 4-5 minutes. This allows the water enough time to properly extract the full flavor from the finely ground Café Bustelo coffee.

Brewing for less than 4 minutes may result in weaker coffee, while over 5 minutes could lead to some bitterness. 4-5 minutes is ideal for drip coffee makers.

4. Dilute the Concentrate

After brewing, you’ll have a very concentrated Café Bustelo coffee concentrate. Pour this concentrate into your mug first, then add an equal amount of hot water to dilute it to drinking strength.

For a 12 oz mug, brew 6 oz of concentrate then add 6 oz hot water. The 2:1 dilution ratio is perfect for bringing out all the rich espresso notes in the coffee.

5. Drink Immediately

Pour yourself a mug and enjoy your homemade Café Bustelo right away while it’s hot and fresh. The bold, robust flavor will be at its peak.

And that’s it! Just follow these simple steps of the right coffee-to-water ratio, brew time, grind size, and dilution process, and you’ll be able to make café Bustelo coffee at home just like a pro.

Tips for Making the Best Café Bustelo

Now that you know the basics, here are some additional tips and suggestions to take your homemade Café Bustelo to the next level:

• Use freshly ground coffee – Pre-ground Café Bustelo coffee starts losing its flavor shortly after being ground. Buy whole bean Café Bustelo and grind it yourself right before brewing for the freshest, boldest taste.
• Keep coffee maker clean – Rinse out your drip coffee machine regularly to prevent any old coffee residue from tainting the flavor.
• Use cold filtered water – Good-tasting coffee starts with quality water. Cold-filtered water is ideal. Avoid tap water, which can impart off-tastes.
• Weigh grounds instead of using tablespoons – For complete consistency, weigh out coffee grounds using a kitchen scale instead of measuring by volume. 15 grams of fine grind per 1 oz of water is recommended.
• Heat water first – Always start by heating the water in the coffee maker before adding the grounds. This helps extract the full flavor.
• Store coffee properly – Keep unused Café Bustelo coffee sealed tightly in a cool, dark place to maintain freshness. Refrigerate if stored for over two weeks.
• Customize taste with more coffee – Add extra tablespoons of grounds if you prefer an even bolder, stronger Café Bustelo.
• Try a coffee press – Although drip machines work great, you can also brew concentrated Café Bustelo using a French press for another flavor profile.

With the proper method and these additional tips, your homemade Café Bustelo can taste just as amazing as having it in a cafe. Part of the fun is experimenting and customizing it to your preferences.

FAQ

Conclusion

Café Bustelo is an intensely flavored Cuban coffee. With just a basic drip coffee maker at home, you can brew cups of Café Bustelo espresso with a strong, indulgent taste to rival your local coffee house.

By following the recommendations in this article for the proper coffee grounds to water ratio, medium-fine grind size, optimal brew time, and dilution process, you’ll be able to make delicious café Bustelo yourself any time with ease.

Drink it black to enjoy the undiluted richness and body. Adjust the strength to your liking with more or less grounds. Sip Café Bustelo first thing in the morning for an extra caffeine jolt or after dinner for a delicious dessert-like coffee indulgence.

So try out these tips today. With just a bit of practice, you’ll be making and enjoying café Bustelo like a true pro. Let me know how your homemade Café Bustelo turns out in the comments!