Cafe Bustelo

Umm...the brick is just vacuum-packed ground coffee beans. Just cut it open at the top. I use their espresso ground coffee beans in the can to make lattes at home. As far as cheap coffee goes, it’s pretty respectable

That's exactly what I wanted to do, R1.

How many scoops do you use, per cup of water?

I heard that Cafe Bustelo is extra strong.

Can’t help you there. I use it in an espresso maker and add plenty of steamed milk. It’s definitely on strong side. Good luck.

I use it as instant coffee. The fine grounds sink to the bottom if my mug and I don’t drink drink the last bit.

It's pre-ground coffee. Tastes like dark roasted, IMO. It's pretty finely-ground, probably too fine for a French press. Maybe use 1/4 cup of Bustelo for a small pot of drip coffee.

Will it work in a regular coffee filter, R5?

Yes, R6, a regular paper filter should work.

Be careful using a paper filter.

CB is ground very fine and can clog some paper filters. Stay close by in case for your first go in case your filter clogs, sending hot liquid and grounds over-flowing.

That coffee works well in a mokka pot. Lots of coffee works well in a mokka pot.

I swear the average age is here is 85.

Cafe Bustelo is pretty delicious. It reminds me of burned sugar.

What does Cafe Bustelo have to do with being old, R10?

R9, do you know what stores sell them?

OP has been recently released from long-term institutionalization due to the COVID19 crisis.

Next up: OP buys Tide pods...Do I mash up the pod before adding to my machine? Do I tuck a pod into each pocket of my chinos before laundering? How does the Bounce sheet fit into the process?

R13 is tiresome and a twit.

Once opened, the grounds will expand, so plan on putting the opened Cafe Bustelo into a container or using a Ziploc bag to store it in.

I love it and have never had any problem with using it in a plain coffee maker with a #4 coffee filter. Just rinse the filter first and add a little hot water to the grounds for 30-60 seconds to let them bloom before brewing.

moka pots or Italian coffee makers are sold in many Italian shops, kitchen shops, and I think Target.

They sell Biatti moka pots at Walmart.

Ground CB works fine in a French Press, no problems, delicious coffee

0h my darling R14, You think I’M tiresome and a twit, yet the OP, who could’ve sorted his whole dilemma with a snip of his kitchen shears, you find riveting.

I guarantee you’d have much more interesting conversations with me, my dear. But carry on. If you’re lucky, OP might next discover canned ham (what DOES this key unlock???)

Cafe Bustelo makes the BEST instant espresso powder - great for whipped coffee.

R19 -- Nope, you're a tiresome twit.

This is what you look like in the commercial you starred in:

How do you fold the cheese?

R15, you sound like you know what you're talking about.

What's your ratio of water to coffee grounds?

R20, do you have a recipe? It sounds delicious.

[QUOTE]What does Cafe Bustelo have to do with being old?

Nothing, it's just that the younger queens only know how to get coffee through an App at Starbucks.

I use it. It comes in cans too.

Cafe Bustelo is the Official Coffee of Data Lounge.

Long time habitués know this.

Bustelo started in the Bronx and is cuban style coffee. The yellow pack has arabica robusta mix of beans. Robusta is deeper and more bitter and has more caffeine. When coffee went uber trendy, the Robusta bean fell into disfavor. I still like it. If it's really fresh. Lots of Italian coffees still use the robusta. Bustelo has a 100% arabica product but why bother?

Next up from OP: How do you make ice water?

r20 - it is simple - equal parts instant coffee sugar and hot or boiling water, then whip the shit out of it (I use an immersion blender). Whip it until it gets thick - like whipped cream thick. Once it gets that thick you can serve it over hot or ice cold milk. You can sip as is stir it up (when cold I mix it a bit still stays whipped on the top).

It is all over the internet - just google korean whipped coffee.

it's my favorite brand. I do pour over now and it tastes even better. I usually get the big yellow 'party' canister

I use the moka pot depicted at R9. Same brand, too: Bialetti. I have used that moka pot on Cafe Bustelo and it works fine. "Blooming" before a drip is also easy and very nice.

Cafe La Llave is cheaper & maybe better (IMO) than Cafe Bustelo. Give it a try. Comes in a can or a brick.

Another Naif Troll™ post, I see.

R28 Did you know there are no ice cubes in Poland? The woman who had the recipe died.

Cafe Bustelo is so bitter, it'll grow hair on your tongue.

Cafe Bustelo was very good until about a year or 2 ago when its corporate owner Smuckers decided it would be a good product for the discount coffee tier, which hardly exists anymore outside store brands.

You used to have to mail order it or get it at hispanic groceries. It had a fuller flavor, and although strong, wasn't really bitter. The website sold 2 other brands that were probably relabeled Bustelo, called El Pico and Pilon. These were excellent coffees at a good price and were shunned by gavachas because they were marketed to white adjacents.

Then the coffee got re-tooled, and suddenly it tastes burnt similar to Starbucks, pretty unremarkable.

I remember El Pico and Pilon from my Brooklyn days. Now I live in Egypt and Switzerland, and drink Italian equivalents of those Latin American coffees. Shaheen is an Egyptian brand for Turkish style coffee

Come to think of it, Cafe La Llave has a burnt flavor as well.

I was first introduced to Bustelo over 20 years by my Puerto Rican boyfriend from New York when I lived in LA. At the time, I drank mostly American coffee, and he brought it out when he came to visit me at Christmas time. He also introduced me to adobo and sazon so I get a little bit of Latin flavor in my food now. Bustelo was expensive in LA but I find it cheaper since I've moved to New York. I haven't drank American coffee, particularly Maxwell House or Folgers ever since. Sorry Cora and Mrs. Olson.

Cafe Bustelo is the mythical Blatino Husbear of coffees.

I’ve made espresso with the yellow can Bustelo with a mokka pot every morning for about a decade now and I won’t go back to regular drip coffee. They sell a “supreme” version but the regular is fine by me.

A month or so they didn’t have any Bustelo where I shop, so I paid about twice for a can of the Italian brand Lavazza which was surprisingly weak and lighter colored.

Can you tell me how you make your espresso, R40?

I'd like to know an easy and reliable recipe for good coffee.

There are tons of videos on YouTube showing how to use a stovetop espresso pot like the Bialetti.

Could you recommend a video showing me how to open the brick?

[quote] I haven't drank American coffee

Oh, dear.

For a standard issue "12 cup" coffee maker, use one half cup ground Cafe Bustelo. As others have noted, it is more of a powder than ground. A cheap coffee maker than releases the water into the filter quickly can overflow the filter and that crap erupts.

You can also boil it in water, let it settle, then pour into a small cup with a ton of sugar for a Cafe Cubano.

La Llave is comparable in price, but better tasting. I like very dark roasts – the oilier the better.

Recipe for a moka pot coffee?? You fill the container with your coffee. you can tamp it slightly. you fill the water container with water. Screw it together and place on stove. Turn on heat and stick around. When you hear it has stopped gushing into the top container, remove from burner, pour, wait a minute, drink.

For the moka pot users: I use the paper Aeropress filters w/my moka pot. Lay the paper filter down on the coffee right before you screw the top on. The coffee comes out clearer, with less sediment.

[quote][R15], you sound like you know what you're talking about. What's your ratio of water to coffee grounds?

I don't know if I know what I'm talking about, but I can tell you I like mine strong: I use 41 grams of Cafe Bustelo bloomed with 1/3 cup hot water, then about 28 ounces of water (up to the 5 1/2 mark on the side of the coffee pot). I serve the coffee with warmed or steamed milk, usually cafe con leche/cafe au lait style with an equal amount of coffee and milk.

I have a basic Russell Hobbs coffee maker where the water in the filter area comes out when you put the coffee pot back in, because the pot pushes up on a springloaded mechanism, so be aware of that if you bloom the coffee in the maker. The hot water used to bloom the grounds will immediately come out into the pot. I made a mess the first time because I wasn't even thinking about that.

[quote]A month or so they didn’t have any Bustelo where I shop, so I paid about twice for a can of the Italian brand Lavazza which was surprisingly weak and lighter colored.

Which kind, do you remember? The Lavazza crema e gusto is a reddish brown and very good, and so is their Espresso ground, but it's pretty weak and you have to use a ton of it to get a good flavor, even with the darker roast. The medium roast Lavazza Espresso is just not worth it.

I think it must have been the medium roast Lavazza. Earlier this morning I went shopping and AGAIN they were out of Bustelo... is this brand becoming hip? Very annoying. I was tempted to try Illy coffee but it is the most expensive ($5 for Bustelo vs. $18 for Illy). Has anyone tried that brand?

R50, Cafe Bustelo has been heavily advertising lately.

I've never seen their commercials before, until recently.

That could be why they're selling out.

The commercials are very enticing.

Read the comments at the bottom of the video at R50, R51.

This one is my favorite:

[quote] adrishak 6 months ago My baby loves watching this commercial and helps me keep him still while changing his diaper 😆

"One thread, 20 DL posters, and 50 coffee cups. Around here, we don't like coffee, we LOVE it!"

you can order it from eBay, only the big yellow canister party can is a good price there though. sometimes Walmart online and boxed dot com have it too, usually in 6 pack bricks.

[quote] Has anyone tried that brand?

Illy has gone down in quality in the past few years. It is definitely not worth the price.

I remember my grandmother Bustelo espresso, with a splash of Courvoisier for my Dad. It was a cortadito.

R50, I've tried Illy. For that price, I think you have more options. Also, in my local store, the Illy coffee sits on the high shelf and I suspect the turnover is low. I'd rather buy something that is constantly replenished (in stock). I posted a photo of the Cafe La Llave, above. That's actually cheaper than Bustelo and comparable, IMO.

What about Cafe du Monde? (In the orange can.) You can drink it however you like, but you can also mix in sweetened, condensed milk and make a Vietnamese coffee.

Cafe Bustelo was mentioned on Bon Appetit a couple of times as well, that's why I tried it, but afterwards I also noticed a lot of advertising.

Seconding the recommendation for the six-pack of Cafe Bustelo bricks from Walmart. If you shop there anyway, add it to your cart to get free shipping.

Is it possible to make a latte or a cappucino with Cafe Bustelo?

If so, how?

R59, make a cup of Bustelo and add steamed milk to it.

Can you make coffee with Cafe Bustelo? Why it a brick? Why it not name Coffee Bustelo? Why? How? Where?

Will it increase my bustline?

I drink the instant coffee, use plant of milk or half and half...you can make it like Mexican coffee, in a pan.

What is the guy above talking about? For at least three decades I have been buying bustello at grocery stores and produce stands.

Can someone explain moka pots to me. There are always a ton of them at every grocery store and drug store....but I only know one person who uses them.

Why are they on sale everywhere, yet so little used?

R51 perhaps those commercials should include information on how to open the brick and the other bits of Bustelo that seem to befuddle OP

#TeamTwit #Icewaterforidiots

This coffee is awesome, especially when made in a Moka pot.

So rich and delicious. It's the easiest espresso ever.

Thank yo all so much! Now, it's raining here. Should I close my mouth when I go outside? If so, how will I breathe? What about rubbers? Do I really need? I'm on PReP.

It's delicious and incredibly potent. I can only have one espresso or I will be jittery and unable to sleep.

R64, if you were able to buy Bustelo at groceries and "produce stands," you probably lived in an urban area with a lot of Caribbean hispanics. In the rest of the country, Bustelo and similar were only available by mail order or at specialty shops. I was introduced to it in El Paso by a Cuban woman, who had to mail order it.

R70, is it still like that?

I’m a New Yorker and can’t remember NOT seeing the bright yellow packaging in every store, from bodega to UES grocery. When I was a broke 20-something we used to drink it all day long, Bustelo or Medaglia D’Oro.

R50 Illy crushes Bustelo. I've let American friends who only like American coffee try Illy and they get hooked after tasting it. You can find Illy on Amazon. It is less expensive there than in the stores.

ditto here r71. Bustelo was THE brand in my Latin American neighborhood when I was growing up. My parents, of course, stuck to Maxwell House, so I never tasted it until I was an adult. I have Cuban friends who prefer El Pico, but I do not see a difference. Nowadays, I switch between Lavazza and Illy and I like them both, though Lavazza has a milder taste.

You had Bustelo in NYC because you have Puerto Ricans, Cubans and Dominicans in NYC, R70. I first started seeing Bustelo in my flyover grocery stores in about 2009-10 at Fresh & Easy. Then it was in Big Lots, long before anywhere else, $3.50 a package. Eventually by 2014 or so, it was in mainstream groceries like Kroger and Walmart.

My friend who introduced me to Bustelo said that she thought Pico was the same coffee in a different can. There was also Pilon, same shit different can.

What is Fresh and Easy?

Is it a supermarket or an online store?

my nickname in college r75

r75 Fresh & Easy was Tesco's attempt to break into the US market. They were smaller grocery stores (like the size of a Trader Joe's.) They lasted a few years, then Tesco bailed and sold them, then the new owners failed and shut the whole chain down. I kind of liked them. They had one within walking distance of my house. It's been empty for several years now.

I found Bustelo at Target (before the protests and looting), cheaper than other brands and as mentioned already, almost ground to a powder. It makes a stronger tasting coffee than what I'm used to, but I would buy again if I needed to watch my budget.

I sent for some Cafe Bustelo k-cups to try. For a few years I’ve been having Illy Espresso and latte/cappuccino made with a bigger Keureg machine called a k-cafe. But the Illy k-cups went up in price on Amazon (there is another thread on Amazon price increases), so I’m trying the Bustelo based in this thread. The Keureg K-cafe machine makes pretty good cappuccino, latte and espresso. I’m drinking the espresso now because I overdid it with the morning cappuccinos (too much milk and sugar). Now the espresso is my morning routine, and maybe cappuccino for a treat. Damn carbs ruin everything.

Bustelo has a slight caramel flavor I like. After reading this thread, I want to try Illy.

R81 tried them side by side this morning, and they’re quite close in flavor, but the Bustelo k-cups are less than one third in price.

R81 Illy has many different varieties when compared to Bustelo. Illy coffee tastes elegant and nuanced whereas Bustelo tastes burnt in comparison. Bustelo is like a cheap OK wine(plonk) and Illy is like a much better tasting expensive wine.

R82, why the fuck are you using plastic kcups for coffee? Way to rape the earth, boomer.

I love Bustelo. I found it when I moved to NYC in the early 2000s and bought it because it was cheap and I was broke. My favorite hands down and it's the only coffee I've used since. It's stronger and has a richer mouthfeel than any other coffee I've had and you can't beat the price. Love it!

Walmart has Illy espresso on sale for $12 -- I"m going to try it.

Kimbo Coffee is pretty good. The advertised price in the US is pretty high though, it's less than $3 a pack in Italy.