Ah… Café de Olla! That sweet, steaming and aromatic Mexican drink that brings friends and family together around a table.
Hot and delicious, perfect to warm up our bellies and hands when we hold our clay jug where it is served.
What is Cafe de Olla?
The café de olla owes its name to the utensil where it is prepared, that is, in a clay pot (olla, in spanish). The traditional recipe calls for only coffee, cinnamon and piloncillo but nowadays is also made with extra ingredients to enrich the flavour.
It is a hot drink born with the arrival of coffee in Mexico, back in the 18th century and today it has some variants where other spices are added such as star anise, cloves, orange peel, chocolate, etc.
The smell of café de olla, for us mexicans recalls of Christmas as a family, posadas, Candelaria Day, everyday’s breakfast, mid-afternoon snacks (merienda) and even funerals.
We serve it in the mornings, freshly made, for breakfast with our family; but actually café de olla is always there, sitting on the stove at home, ready for anyone who wants to enjoy it at any time of the day.
Ingredients and Substitutes
COFFEE: The best options would be mexican coffee from some of the States where is produced, such as Veracruz, Oaxaca, Tabasco, etc. But actually any ground coffee should just works fine, even instant coffee!
SWEETENER: Traditionally, café de olla is sweetened with piloncillo, but sometimes is just not possible to find it where we live. So, you could replace it with molasses or brown sugar, even though the first option is by far better.
SPICES: Cinnamon is something it shouldn’t be missed in café de olla, that’s the only ingredient I recommend not replacing it. You can use any type if you can’t find Mexican cinnamon, even ground cinnamon! From there, as our recipe calls some optionals, you could also add star anise, whole cloves or also orange peel.
EXTRAS: If you want to take your café de olla to the next level add some cacao powder to the mix, it’s truly delicious! Want more? add a splash of Kahlua and…¡Arriba, arriba!
Step By Step Recipe
Place the water on a pot, you can use any kid of you you have on hand, just make sure is big enough to hold about 8 cups of water.
Add the piloncillo (or molasses), the cinnamon, anise star and the whole cloves. Stir.
Bring the water to a boil and then let it simmer for about 5 minutes while stirring to allow the piloncillo to dissolve and the spices to release their aroma.
Add the coffee and stir well. Cover the pot and immediately turn off the stove. Let the café de olla steep from 5 to 10 minutes, depends how strong you’d like it.
Pour through a strainer to serve into mugs.
Recipe Notes
- Turn the leftovers into iced coffee. Place them into a jar and store in the fridge to serve with ice whenever you want.
- I really don’t recommend adding milk or cream to Café de Olla, believe me, it kinda ruins the taste and aroma.
- Add cacao powder to the mug, give it a good mix and enjoy! You’re welcome.
- To easily cut the piloncillo, pop it into the microwave for a few seconds, this will soften it and making it easy so cut.
How to enjoy
Watch the video
Café de Olla Recipe
Ingredients
- 8 Tbs (50 gr) ground coffee
- 5 ½ oz (150 gr) piloncillo or molasses, to taste
- 8 ¼ cups (2 lt) water
- 2 small sticks of cinnamon
- 2 anise star
- 2 whole cloves
Instructions
- Place the water on a pot, you can use any kid of you you have on hand, just make sure is big enough to hold about 8 cups of water.
- Add the piloncillo (or molasses), the cinnamon, anise star and the whole cloves. Stir.
- Bring the water to a boil and then let it simmer for about 5 minutes while stirring to allow the piloncillo to dissolve and the spices to release their aroma.
- Add the coffee and stir well. Cover the pot and immediately turn off the stove. Let the café de olla steep from 5 to 10 minutes, depends how strong you’d like it.
- Pour through a strainer to serve into mugs.
Notes
- Turn the leftovers into iced coffee. Place them into a jar and store in the fridge to serve with ice whenever you want.
- I really don’t recommend adding milk or cream to Café de Olla, believe me, it kinda ruins the taste and aroma.
- Add cacao powder to the mug, give it a good mix and enjoy! You’re welcome.
- To easily cut the piloncillo, pop it into the microwave for a few seconds, this will soften it and making it easy so cut.
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