Café Bustelo: The Coffee That’s Good to the Last Drop

Every time we wake up in the morning, the first thing that can help us in getting out of the morning slump is the caffeinated joe of our favorite.

Cafe Bustelo has a prolonged history in dealing with people’s taste for coffee and has grown into a household name for espresso-style roasted coffee. Have you ever tried the coffee or have gone through the reviews?

Because it’s crazy. The brand is extremely doing well for its rich coffee products.

Short answer: Café Bustelo is an espresso-style coffee that was created with the endured hardship of the Bustelos, Gregorio Bustelo, and his wife. The Latin American root of the brand provides a strong taste profile to its distinctive character. On top of that, the taste is amazing and worth the value.

The following section provides an in-depth explanation of the product.

Where did Cafe Bustelo come from?

Bustelo Coffee is the brainchild of a Spanish man named Gregorio Bustelo. Young Bustelo was an ambitious man who happened to visit many Latin American cities throughout his lifetime. He moved to Cuba in his young days and explored the rich coffee culture existing at that time.

At that time, the Cuban-style coffee was a delicious treat with sugar and a creamy foam at the top. With this, his love for delicious Latin coffee was enhanced and he started the foundation of his business.

Gregorio invented a secret blend of beans to give a rich taste to the drink. This blend of coffee is well-recognized as Café Bustelo Coffee.

When the Jones-Shafroth Act was signed into law, Gregorio and his wife had to move to the United States for better living opportunities. They started doing what they were good at roasting coffee.

His first storefront was opened in 1928 on 5th Avenue. This was known as the Bustelo Coffee Roasters. The business slowly prospered and by the 1930s, Gregorio started selling Café Bustelo coffee to the Latino-owned bodegas, supermarkets and started to reach the other business owners to build his brand.

Is Café Bustelo Coffee Stronger than Regular Coffee?

Yes, Café Bustelo is a strong coffee compared to the regular ones.

Let’s have a look over the caffeine content of various brand’s coffee varieties:

Café Bustelo has caffeine content more than some energy drinks as well. The authentic, rich flavors of the drink give you an energy jolt that may sustain for a long period right after the first sip.

However, not everyone is accustomed to such a high dose of caffeine. Make sure the high caffeine dose and the bold flavors in the drink don’t trigger your hypersensitivity to the caffeine content.

Remember too much caffeine can cause withdrawal symptoms such as anxiety, headaches, nausea, insomnia, restlessness, irregular heartbeat, and so on.

Is Bustelo an Instant Coffee or Espresso?

Café Bustelo is an instant coffee. This instant coffee contains a unique blend of dark roast espresso-style coffee with rich flavor.

As this is instant coffee, you won’t be needing expensive coffee machines to brew it. The confusion regarding the coffee being an espresso stems from the fact that it is prepared in an espresso style giving the drink a unique taste.

Just like any other brand of instant coffee, you need to pour the dried soluble part of Café Bustelo coffee in hot water to be your favorite cup of brown gold.

How does Cafe Bustelo Taste like?

Many customers have reviewed the taste as that of the rich taste of Café Mocha. The full-bodied flavor of Café Bustelo also does show a chocolatey and nutty note that feels amazing to taste buds.

Though you can enjoy the coffee black, adding a bit of milk or healthy sugar content can spark the appetizing flavor further, enhancing the taste profile. Also, since this coffee is relatively stronger than many coffee brands, you can put the additives to dilute the strong flavor and have a milder taste.

While reviewing hundreds of online feedbacks, I was stunned by the overwhelming amount of good reviews regarding this coffee.

Café Bustelo is one of the most go-to sources of instant coffee that is found at almost all grocery shops. This coffee is best for people who enjoy a dark texture in their cup of joe. As already mentioned in their official website and packaging, Café Bustelo coffee gives a bold espresso flavor in the beverage.

Many coffee and espresso grounds tend to give a burnt taste afterward but not in the case of Café Bustelo coffee.

This might come from the fact that the company uses fresh batches of grounds on regular basis and doesn’t put unwanted additives as all these degrade the quality in the future.

What is Special About Cafe Bustelo?

Café Bustelo shines as an amazing coffee with alluring features and affordable pricing. There’s a lot to talk about this coffee since it this been one of the most popular coffee brands for a long-time.

Personally, while going through the reviews and product details, I found that people are liking the drink both for economic value and mental satisfaction.

Availability of the product

Undoubtedly, it is one of the most easy-to-find coffee. It’s not only affordable but also easily found everywhere.

For seeing the whole product range you can visit their website.

The shops or retailers where you can find Café Bustelo are:

• Amazon
• Target
• Walmart
• Sainsbury’s

An affordable pricing

You can purchase a pound of coffee for about $10 which is perfect for a budget-constraint living. Not to mention it’s currently one of the most affordable brands over there.

From the various website, you can see the prices of different jars. The 7.05oz jar comes at about $4.95 and the 10oz vacuumed pack comes at $3.18. Typically, this is quite a cheap option for the quality they are providing.

Strength

Café Bustelo contains a major portion of Robusta beans and that’s why the coffee seems to be bitter on the first go. The bitter and harsh undertone may seem to be an upsetting point for someone who loves a smooth texture in their coffee.

However, getting the instant boost and the desired caffeine kick, the brand surely stands tall among others. If you find the drink to be too strong, just add milk to weak the strength.

Packaging

I liked the packaging very much. It’s a bright yellow-colored with red and blue scribbles and notes that makes the product bright.

If you go through their product line you’ll see the tiniest differences between the product varieties, each having its share of uniqueness even being the same coffee.

Taste

The reason behind the immense popularity of coffee is its taste. The coffee is intensely rich and bold with a chocolatey and nutty undertone that gives a distinct flavor.

This kind of fruity underneath is very popular among American audiences. The taste profile is unique but not over the top.

How to Prepare Cafe Bustelo?

To get the best authentic flavor out of Café Bustelo’s coffee you need to use only some sugar and a Moka pot.

Cuban coffee has its distinct taste flavor, doing justice to the Latin American coffee profiles. To make the best flavored Cafecito or Cuban Coffee follow the mentioned steps:

• Brew a fresh batch of Café Bustelo’s coffee in the Moka pot.

• Take 1 tablespoon of the brewed coffee and add an equal amount of sugar. (You can curb the sugar content if you want less sweetness for any chance)

• Simply, repeat the process for the number of servings you want to prepare.

• Get a demitasse cup and put some sugary syrup evenly inside the cup.

• Pour the prepared coffee into the cup and enjoy.

Where to buy Cafe Bustelo?

As already mentioned earlier, Café Bustelo is widely distributed and found at almost every major grocery store. It’s also very popular online with retailers and you can also avail several discount offers occasionally.

However, all the versions might not be present at the stores at the same time. In the grocery store, you can mostly find the brick packaging, trade canister, and K-cup versions.

So, you can find this coffee in CVS, Target, Amazon, Walmart, and of course in any of your local supermarkets.

Final thoughts

I would personally rate Cafe Bustelo an 8/10. The features that I liked about the product include:

• Affordability
• Easy availability
• Strong taste

If you’re not a fan of strong coffees, you won’t like Café Bustelo on the first go. However, if you are a fan and would like to know more about similar strong coffees, you can check out my other article where I talk about the strongest coffees in the world.

The strong punch from the Robusta beans might be a turn-off for the beginners. However, many people like the burnt aftertaste of espresso-style coffees. I feel that this is the reason why this brand has a long history and had undergone several eras of coffee culture.

The Café Bustelo Supreme contains 100% Arabica for a change. So there is always a variation for the coffee lovers to enjoy their drink.

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