Mexican · Drink · All year
Café de Olla
4.6 · community
5m
Prep
15m
Cook
Easy
Level
90
Energy
Clay-pot coffee the Mexican way: dark coffee simmered with piloncillo's smoky raw sugar and cinnamon — sweet, spiced, and ceremonial.
What you need
Ingredients
Servings
4
Before you start
Mise en place
Equipment
Blender or shaker
Tall glass
Prep checklist
Cold Brew Coffee — grounds — coarse dark roast, 4 heaped tbsp
Piloncillo — chopped — or dark brown sugar
Orange — peel
Sparkling Water — water
3 steps
Method
1
Simmer water, piloncillo, cinnamon, cloves, and orange peel 5 minutes until the sugar melts into spiced syrup.
5 min — timer available in cooking mode
2
Off the heat, stir in the coffee grounds; steep 5 minutes, then strain through fine mesh.
5 min — timer available in cooking mode
Why this works
Piloncillo's molasses smoke is the flavor — plain sugar makes sweet coffee; piloncillo makes café de olla.
3
Serve in small cups (traditionally clay). Sweet by design; adjust with more coffee, never less sugar — that's the drink.
From the pass
Chef's notes
Taste before serving and adjust salt and acid — the last 30 seconds of seasoning matter more than any single ingredient.
Afterwards
Keep, reheat & pair
Storage
Best the day it's made; syrups and bases keep a week refrigerated.
Freezing
Freeze bases into cubes for instant future drinks.
Reheating
Serve as intended — hot drinks fresh, cold drinks over plenty of ice.
Make ahead
Syrups and bases keep a week refrigerated; freeze fruit for instant thick blends.
Wine pairing
This is the drink.
Beer pairing
This is the drink.
On the plate
Serve it with
Sides
Shortbread or biscotti
Salted nuts
Garnish
A citrus wheel
Fresh mint
A cinnamon stick for warm drinks
Taste map
Flavour profile
Sweet
3
Salty
0
Sour
2
Bitter
1
Umami
0
Heat
0
Per serving
Nutrition
90
kcal
1g
protein
20g
carbs
0g
fat
3g
fiber
18g
sugar
520mg
sodium
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Your notes
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