Clarified: Celebrating Latino Coffee Culture

Coffee is the Hallmark of millions of people’s mornings. But how often do you think about where your coffee comes from and who’s making it? This Hispanic Heritage Month? Clarified as celebrating the uniquely Latino coffee makers and drinkers from across the Americas. Latin America represents one of the largest coffee growing regions in the world. The Americas are responsible for 84% of the world’s Arabica supply. In 2020 the region produced more bags of coffee than Africa and Asia combined. Coffee isn’t native to Latin America. Despite the continent’s prolific production, its journey to the Americas is actually relatively recent. Well, coffee was first brought to the Americas by the French. It was brought to Martini or Martinique uh in the 18th century. That’s Mario Fernandez Aldura, an eighth generation coffee producer from Mexico, food scientist and technical Officer at the Specialty Coffee Association. The coffee had been uh gift to the Queen of France by, by the government of the Netherlands. And so the coffee coffee tree got established in the Caribbean and the, the Caribbean Basin was soon adopted coffee from Martinique. It was taken to Cuba from Cuba. It was taken to mainland Latin America like Mexico and Guatemala. Also from the Caribbean, it was taken to the Guan and from the Guan, it was taken to Brazil. From then on out coffee production became one of the most important trades of the Americas. Many countries across the region became dependent on the crop to hold up their economies, the ways in which coffee production affected local people and economies was different from place to place. In some places, coffee Lords rose, others use coffee as *** seasonal income booster the World Cup Brazil during the late 19th century and the early 17th century was built and and coffee and the plantations used to be huge and the owners of those plantations were known as the Coffee Lords. And uh and actually coffee fueled the development of Brazil. It imagine indigenous groups in Mexico and Guatemala who adopted coffee as *** cash crop to get some extra money when maybe once *** year during the harvest season. And it’s now critical part of, you know, first nations culture across Latin America because it allows them certain economic independence or further economic independence. So coffee is *** big part of Latin American economies. But what about culture? Well, in the United States, Latinos drink coffee more frequently than non Latinos and African Americans. According to *** 2023 report by the National Coffee Association. When asked whether they drunk *** specialty coffee in the past week, 63% of Latin answered yes compared to 54% of Caucasians and 43% of African Americans, Latinos in America, not only consume more coffee than other groups, but they also prefer stronger espresso based drinks and are the largest consumers of gourmet coffee. But interestingly, the same doesn’t always hold true outside of the US. But in Latin American countries, we actually don’t drink too much coffee. With the exception of Brazil. Brazil is the one country in Latin America where people drink *** lot more coffee per person uh than an average American. So why do Latinos outside the US drink less coffee? I think there’s *** cultural component of that because uh definitely coffee is part of the Latina culture. And I think since that it uh families find more wealth in, in the US than they would in their home countries that actually allows them to buy more coffee than they would normally do in their home countries. Despite massive productions, the high quality coffee was usually exported and the coffee left for locals was traditionally the lower quality beans with *** massive diversity of countries across Latin America. There is also *** diversity in the way that coffee is prepared in each. There’s cafe cuan. It’s *** very dark roasted coffee brewed as espresso, but sometimes with sugar. Colombian tinto. It’s also brew coffee, it’s filtered root coffee and they will offer you tinto in almost everywhere in small like Demita cups, Mexican Cafe de Oya in Mexico. It’s traditional to add sugar alo which we call uh pilon and cinnamon to, to, to the cafe de Brazilian Cafein. They are espresso drinkers. So they, they prefer to go to *** cafe and, and get an espresso. Each type of coffee requires *** different roast, different coarseness and different levels of sugar, milk or other extras in the US. The specialty coffee industry started with *** lot of inspiration in Italy, right? And now it’s getting much more diverse and now you see specialty coffee shops which are, which are high quality but are inspired and other traditions. Mr Alden also sees bright future of coffee drinkers across Latin America the way how the Latin American coffee landscape used to be just 20 years ago. Well, it it’s changed dramatically now we see different actors and different coffee varieties, different coffee processing methods. *** lot more education among the coffee professionals too, *** lot more connected myths uh amongst themselves and to their markets in consuming countries, an everyday commodity that everyone drinks. There’s tons of different flavors. But I think giving it our twist of that Mexican heritage thrown into it. I saw *** need in the in the coffee markets kind of open up *** Latino inspired coffee craft coffee concept.

Clarified: Coffee Culture across Latin America

Latinos sure do love their coffee, and they’ve come up with a ton of different ways to make it. This Hispanic Heritage Month, Clarified shines a light on the proud Hispanic history and culture behind the world’s most beloved beverage.

Updated: 1:18 PM CDT Oct 12, 2023

From Cafe Cubano to Brazilian Cafezinho, Latinos have come up with dozens of inventive ways to drink one of the world’s most popular beverages. This Hispanic Heritage Month, Clarified dives into the history of coffee on the continent and celebrates its makers and innovators. Latin America is one of the most prolific coffee-growing regions in the world, producing 84% of the world’s arabica supply and filling more bags with beans than Asia and Africa combined. Surprisingly, though, coffee is not native to the Americas. Instead, it is thought to have originated in Ethiopia. Upon its discovery, it quickly became an export and was very popular throughout eastern Africa and the Middle East. Coffee was only brought to the Americas in the early 18th century after a young French naval officer snagged a coffee plant seed from the Queen of France. After a voyage across the Atlantic, he planted the tree in Martinique. From there on, the plant was cultivated all across the Americas, including the Caribbean, Central America and South America. Coffee became a highly valuable commodity and propped up the economies of many countries in the region. Whether it was through large plantations and coffee lords or seasonal micro-farms worked by indigenous people, coffee made a large economic impact. It has continued to make its mark on Latinos, especially those in the United States. According to a report by the National Coffee Association, 63% of Latinos have drunk a specialty coffee (highest quality coffee) in the past week, compared to 54% of Caucasians and 43% of African Americans. American Latinos also drink more espresso-based drinks than other groups and are the largest consumers of gourmet coffee. Outside the U.S., the story is a little different, with Latinos in Latin America not having access to the same wealth and quality of coffee as those in the U.S.The diversity of coffee doesn’t just stop at production but also blends into consumption. Across Latin America, different countries boast the unique ways in which they prepare coffee. Whether it’s the highly sweetened, dark and rich shot of Cafe Cubano or Mexico’s cinnamon and sugar-flavored filter coffee, there are endless ways in which to prepare the drink. The future of Latin American coffee looks bright, with more high-quality, affordable coffee shops and brands entering the scene in the Americas. The traditionally Italian way of preparing coffee in the U.S. may also change as more culturally specific coffee shops open up across the country and introduce the masses to the unique ways that Latinos drink coffee.

From Cafe Cubano to Brazilian Cafezinho, Latinos have come up with dozens of inventive ways to drink one of the world’s most popular beverages. This Hispanic Heritage Month, Clarified dives into the history of coffee on the continent and celebrates its makers and innovators.

Latin America is one of the most prolific coffee-growing regions in the world, producing 84% of the world’s arabica supply and filling more bags with beans than Asia and Africa combined. Surprisingly, though, coffee is not native to the Americas. Instead, it is thought to have originated in Ethiopia. Upon its discovery, it quickly became an export and was very popular throughout eastern Africa and the Middle East.

Coffee was only brought to the Americas in the early 18th century after a young French naval officer snagged a coffee plant seed from the Queen of France. After a voyage across the Atlantic, he planted the tree in Martinique. From there on, the plant was cultivated all across the Americas, including the Caribbean, Central America and South America. Coffee became a highly valuable commodity and propped up the economies of many countries in the region. Whether it was through large plantations and coffee lords or seasonal micro-farms worked by indigenous people, coffee made a large economic impact.

It has continued to make its mark on Latinos, especially those in the United States. According to a report by the National Coffee Association, 63% of Latinos have drunk a specialty coffee (highest quality coffee) in the past week, compared to 54% of Caucasians and 43% of African Americans. American Latinos also drink more espresso-based drinks than other groups and are the largest consumers of gourmet coffee. Outside the U.S., the story is a little different, with Latinos in Latin America not having access to the same wealth and quality of coffee as those in the U.S.

The diversity of coffee doesn’t just stop at production but also blends into consumption. Across Latin America, different countries boast the unique ways in which they prepare coffee. Whether it’s the highly sweetened, dark and rich shot of Cafe Cubano or Mexico’s cinnamon and sugar-flavored filter coffee, there are endless ways in which to prepare the drink.

The future of Latin American coffee looks bright, with more high-quality, affordable coffee shops and brands entering the scene in the Americas. The traditionally Italian way of preparing coffee in the U.S. may also change as more culturally specific coffee shops open up across the country and introduce the masses to the unique ways that Latinos drink coffee.