Introducing Café Asiático.
The name of this coffee means “Asiatic Coffee”, but its origin is a little bit unknown. Some say the origin of this combination of coffee and condensed milk was brought by the sailors that arrived to Cartagena from the Philippines (back in the XIX century, when they were a Spanish colony). Another origin could be the custom of using milk and brandy to ameliorate the poor quality coffee, by the fishermen and farmers around Cartagena. In the end, this recipe for coffee became very popular in the early 1900 in the city of Cartagena, in Murcia Region, in the Southeast coast of Spain.
This little region, known as “Europe’s Orchard” due to its agricultural importance, has been historically relevant and has its own cultural and culinary heritage. In Cartagena it’s produced Licor 43, maybe the most famous Spanish liqueur, which was early added to the recipe of the Café Asiático, providing citrus and vanilla notes to this amazing drink. Nowadays it is so popular in the whole Murcia region that it has its own glass (with markings that match the amount of each ingredient), and the coffee is proudly served in every cafeteria of Cartagena as a sign of this city’s identity.
This coffee is actually served after a good meal or in the afternoon, and the original recipe calls for sweetened condensed milk, brandy (here I’m using Veterano brandy from Jerez), Licor 43, strong espresso coffee (we do like very strong coffee in Spain) and milk foam, each one layered in that order from bottom to top. The usual garnish is a coffee bean, powdered cinnamon and a lemon zest.
I thought this post could be the first entry of a series that shows some Spanish drinks, customs and traditions. Would you like to hear some more?
Recipe:
Ingredients:
- Brandy: 0.5 oz (15 ml).
- Licor 43: 0.5 oz (15 ml).
- Condensed milk: 1 oz (30 ml).
- Espresso coffee: 2 oz (60 ml).
- Milk foam.
- Garnish: lemon zest, coffee bean, ground cinnamon.
Directions:
- Add the condensed milk to the bottom of a heatproff glass.
- Pour carefully both brandy and Licor 43 on top.
- Add the coffe layering on top of the spirits.
- Float a layer of milk foam over the top.
- Garnish with a coffe bean, a small lemon zest coin and a small pinch of cinnamon.