Learning how to make Brazilian cafezinho with the cafezinho recipe and using my top recommended beans will result in an authentic and tantalizingly tasty traditional cafezinho that is on par or even better than what you will get in the Latin American nation that is famed for its coffee.
Keep reading for the details.
How To Make Brazilian Cafezinho
Making a cafezinho is very easy, and is best made with the best Brazilian coffee beans that you can find. Ensure that they are freshly roasted for the best results.
Keep your eyes open for my recommended coffees for making this tasty traditional Brazilian coffee.
Read: What is Cafezinho?
What Is A Cafezinho?
A cafezinho is a traditional Brazilian coffee beverage that is small, typically 4 ounces (120 ml) and hot, very hot and strong. It’s made with Brazilian coffee beans (obviously!) of varying quality depending on where you get it and rapadura, a Brazilian unrefined cane sugar.
It’s filtered through a flannel coffee sock, and then dripped into a carafe and poured into a cup or glass.
It’s served as a black coffee; coffee drinkers in Brazil will milk to it for a café com leite (coffee with milk) in the mornings. A traditional cafezinho is served and enjoyed black. It’s always a small coffee and never more than 4 oz (120 ml) but you may see 6 Oz (180 ml) on occasions.
A cafezinho is an integral part of Brazilian coffee culture.
Cafezinho Meaning
The word cafezinho translates to mean little coffee. From cafe meaning coffee with the suffix zinho being the diminutive.
How To Make Brazilian Cafezinho – Cafezinho Recipe
Making a Brazilian cafezinho is easy, very easy and is probably one of the easiest coffees to make with only 3 ingredients needed: Brazilian coffee, Rapadura, and of course water.
At Latte Love Brew we encourage you to follow the baristas principle of using the best ingredients and best equipment to get the best results.
The only piece of equipment that you’ll need is a cotton coffee sock which is a flannel coffee filter.
Read: Brazilian coffee cocktail
Ingredients Needed For Making A Brazilian Cafezinho
- 4 Oz (120 ml) Filtered or bottled water per cup of cafezinho.
- ½ Oz (15 grams) whole coffee beans per cup of cafezinho.
- 2 Teaspoons of rapadura per cup of cafezinho.
Instructions For Making A Brazilian Cafezinho
Start by adding your water to a small saucepan and heat at a medium to high heat and add your rapadura and stir well while your water is heating until it is completely dissolved.
While your water is heating, weigh and grind your whole coffee beans. For recommended beans, see the list below.
Let your water and sugar come to a boiling point and then take it off the heat. Cover your water and sugar mix and let it cool down for 30 seconds or until it reaches 97C (205C).
97C (205C) is the maximum temperature for brewing coffee. If you brew your coffee above this temperature, you will end up with a bitter and burnt tasting coffee. This is why you must let your water cool for 30 seconds.
Add your freshly ground coffee and stir gently for a minute. Cover your saucepan and leave your coffee for 4 minutes to extract.
Total brew time is 5 minutes including the one-minute stirring.
When your coffee is ready, pour it slowly through a flannel coffee sock and into your coffee carafe and ready, transfer and serve in 4 Oz (120 ml) cups.
Cafezinho Coffee Recommendations
A cafezinho is the stand-out classic and traditional Brazilian coffee beverage and thus, to make it and enjoy it at home, the use of Brazilian beans is a must.
For best results, don’t just use random Brazilian beans, use the best that you can find or use the same beans that Brazilians do!
Here are some ideas for a great Cafezinho:
- Brazilian Peaberry Coffee By Volcanica: Rich in flavor and well respected by coffee lovers as the best Brazilian coffee. Grown in mineral-rich organic soil and full of flavor.
- Brazilian Espresso Cremoso By Cooper’s Cask: A high quality premium single origin coffee with lovely notes of orange and cherry with notes of chocolate and brown sugar.
- Brazil Minas Naturais By Peets Coffee: Fruity, nutty and chocolaty and a great coffee by Peet’s coffee.
- Pilao Coffee Traditional Roast: This is the big yellow box, a very popular coffee that you’ll see in Brazilian homes and makes great cafezinho.
- Café Caboclo ‘Torrado e Moido’: This is a great every day coffee that is popular with Brazilians. It’s not a premium or specialty grade coffee but still produces a quality cup of coffee.
Peaberry, a quick word on this as I have it as the top coffee to try. Peaberry is a very natural genetic mutation in coffee where only one bean is grown inside the coffee cherry, which means all the flavor compounds, nutrients and antioxidants go to that one bean without them being shared with its twin.
It’s easy to see why a peaberry coffee is tasty and highly nutritious. A volcanic peaberry coffee is rarer than regular peaberry coffee and even better as it is grown in mineral-rich volcanic coffee.
Read: Cafezinho
Cafezinho Nespresso Capsule
If you have a single serve coffee maker, the Cafezinho Nespresso capsule is worth getting. It’s limited edition and only available around the time of the Carnival. You will find it often on eBay year round at an elevated price.
It’s a great coffee, while some refer to it as split roast, which is correct, I prefer the term omni roast as there is more than one roast level used, medium and dark roast, in the 4 bean blend of Brazilian coffees.
In my humble opinion, it is one of the best cafezinhos that you will try with coffees sourced from Espírito Santo and Minas Gerais. It’s intense, strong and bold with herbal notes of thyme and rosemary surfacing amongst very peculiar hints of walnut and sandalwood.
Frequently Asked Questions About How To Make Brazilian Cafezinho
What Is A Typical Brazilian Coffee?
The most typical and commonly served coffee in Brazil is a Cafezinho. It’s a filtered coffee that is small, typically 4 ounces (120 ml) and brewed hot, very hot.
How Does Brazil Make So Much Coffee?
Brazil produces so much coffee due to the large area of land that is perfect for the cultivation of coffee. The country has the perfect climate for growing coffee and nutrient-rich soil. Although coffee is not native to Brazil, the crop thrives there.
What Flavors Are In Brazilian Coffee?
Brazil coffee has a unique flavor with a low acidity, nutty notes and hints of caramel and chocolate.
Did Brazil Invent Coffee?
No, Brazil did not invent coffee, in fact coffee is not even native to Brazil. Coffee was brought into Brazil in 1727 by the Portuguese colonialists from French Guiana.
What Is The Most Popular Type Of Coffee Bean In Brazil?
The most popular coffee bean in Brazil is by far the Arabica coffee bean. Coffee grown in Minas Gerais, São Paulo, Espírito Santo are particularly popular.
Is Brazilian Coffee Acidic?
No, Brazilian coffee is a low acid coffee. If you suffer from GERD consider using Brazilian Coffee to make cold brew coffee, a low acid coffee drink.
How Much Caffeine Does Brazilian Coffee Have?
Brazilian coffee has on average 100 to 150 mg of caffeine per 8 Oz cup of coffee depending on how it has been brewed.
Why Do Brazilians Drink So Much Coffee?
Coffee is incredibly cheap in Brazil, and it is very much a cultural habit. Frequent coffee breaks in the work place are common and even encouraged. Coffee in Brazil is somewhat of a local social thing in Brazil much more than what you would see anywhere else.
Final Thoughts – How To Make Brazilian Cafezinho
If you have read this far, you have learned the secrets of how to make Brazilian cafezinho with great beans and great techniques and can enjoy a great coffee that perhaps reminds of your holiday to the Copacabana Beach.
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