Source For Cuban Green Coffee Beans?


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Along with some of you, I roast beans at home. Does anyone have a decent source to get green Cuban coffee beans. My wife has had them before and would like to compare a fresh roasted batch of Cuban beans to what we are currently roasting. Thank you for any help!

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Green beans not that I know of but If you want Cuban coffee that’s already been roasted then this is the only place I know. They have an agreement with Cuba to export a certain amount off coffee.

 

https://shop.havana.co.nz/collections/coffee/products/cuban

 

I found out about it by a coffee magazine called Drift. They had an issue on Cuban coffee. It’s more like a book than a magazine and is worth every penny:

https://driftmag.com/products/volume-3-havana

 

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Just as a matter of clarification, you're meaning you want to roast Cuban beans to a Cuban roast level, and drink, right?  My understanding is that Cuban style coffee tends to be a very dark roast, mixed with milk. If that's true, you could replicate that with any bean, just take it to a vienna/well past second crack. Personally, anything close to second crack is way too dark for my liking. Give me a medium roast Ethiopian or Costa Rican, and I'll be perfectly happy!

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1 hour ago, aerochris said:

Along with some of you, I roast beans at home. Does anyone have a decent source to get green Cuban coffee beans. My wife has had them before and would like to compare a fresh roasted batch of Cuban beans to what we are currently roasting. Thank you for any help!

You'd want to contact an importer (probably in Europe) - somebody like Hamburg Coffee (HACOFCO) or Daarnhauer.  They're used to selling full 60 KG bags and containers, but might be able to direct you to a customer of theirs who sells green coffee by the pound.

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54 minutes ago, fitzy said:

Green beans not that I know of but If you want Cuban coffee that’s already been roasted then this is the only place I know. They have an agreement with Cuba to export a certain amount off coffee.

 

https://shop.havana.co.nz/collections/coffee/products/cuban

 

I found out about it by a coffee magazine called Drift. They had an issue on Cuban coffee. It’s more like a book than a magazine and is worth every penny:

https://driftmag.com/products/volume-3-havana

 

Great website design on that one wow! I've been kicking myself that I didn't have enough cash to cover the rum, coffee, and honey while in vinales on a day trip. I'd love to get some of that honey from the region and the coffee to. It was either guava rum or coffee, honey. Obviously I chose rum. Ha! If anyone knows where to purchase Cuban honey that would be excellent!

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1 hour ago, Deeg said:

You'd want to contact an importer (probably in Europe) - somebody like Hamburg Coffee (HACOFCO) or Daarnhauer.  They're used to selling full 60 KG bags and containers, but might be able to direct you to a customer of theirs who sells green coffee by the pound.

I will look into that. Hopefully I can find someone in the US who has some.to sell. 

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8 minutes ago, aerochris said:

I will look into that. Hopefully I can find someone in the US who has some.to sell. 

Bear in mind no supplier will officially sell you Cuban green coffee in the U.S. for obvious reasons.

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There is a cafe in Plaza Vieja in Havana called El Escorial

https://www.facebook.com/Café-Escorial-1706510519568815/

They roast their own beans on site. I've heard they get their beans from the Escambray Mountains.

I know they sell freshly roasted beans by the bag in that cafe. If they roast them on site they must have green beans there too. I haven't heard of anyone buying green beans from them before and they probably don't "officially" sell them. But, in my experience, Cuba is one of the easiest countries in the world for buying things not necessarily on a menu.

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55 minutes ago, Ryan said:

There is a cafe in Plaza Vieja in Havana called El Escorial

https://www.facebook.com/Café-Escorial-1706510519568815/

They roast their own beans on site. I've heard they get their beans from the Escambray Mountains.

I know they sell freshly roasted beans by the bag in that cafe. If they roast them on site they must have green beans there too. I haven't heard of anyone buying green beans from them before and they probably don't "officially" sell them. But, in my experience, Cuba is one of the easiest countries in the world for buying things not necessarily on a menu.

When I had friends or family going on a trip to Havana and they asked if I wanted anything, I wouldn't bother to ask for cigars, just as many bags of El Escorial coffee as they could carry.

The roaster is a few feet away from where they sell the bags, so I'd bet you could get some green beans provided you didn't talk to a surly employee.

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There is a cafe in Plaza Vieja in Havana called El Escorial
https://www.facebook.com/Café-Escorial-1706510519568815/
They roast their own beans on site. I've heard they get their beans from the Escambray Mountains.
I know they sell freshly roasted beans by the bag in that cafe. If they roast them on site they must have green beans there too. I haven't heard of anyone buying green beans from them before and they probably don't "officially" sell them. But, in my experience, Cuba is one of the easiest countries in the world for buying things not necessarily on a menu.

If you go, go early. I’ve tried probably 10 times on various trips to buy roasted beans and they are always sold out.


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On 7/15/2019 at 1:47 PM, fitzy said:

Green beans not that I know of but If you want Cuban coffee that’s already been roasted then this is the only place I know. They have an agreement with Cuba to export a certain amount off coffee.

 

https://shop.havana.co.nz/collections/coffee/products/cuban

 

I found out about it by a coffee magazine called Drift. They had an issue on Cuban coffee. It’s more like a book than a magazine and is worth every penny:

https://driftmag.com/products/volume-3-havana

 

Hey, thanks for the recommendation on Drift! I bought a copy of the Havana issue and you're right--really cool.

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On 7/24/2019 at 6:28 PM, bpm32 said:

Hey, thanks for the recommendation on Drift! I bought a copy of the Havana issue and you're right--really cool.

 

Glad to help out. That’s one hell of a magazine. It’s awesome to see the pictures and learn about coffee in Cuba. Worth every penny. 

 

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