Café Cubano
Suite Habana Café is sharing its take on Cuban coffee with Wynwood and beyond.
Photos: Will Blunt
Born in Cuba, Nayelis Delisle has had a strong love for coffee since she was a child. Some of her favorite childhood memories involve sitting with her grandmother as she’d drink her coffee and describe the sweet, smoky notes to Delisle.
In a country where much of the coffee was rationed and cut with chickpeas as a result of the revolution, her grandmother always made sure to have a secret stash of real-deal coffee that she brewed daily. “She would sit in the same spot every day and savor her coffee, and I’ll never forget the bold, strong smell,” says Delisle. “She would talk to me constantly about how it tasted and how special it was.”
In 2005, at just 20 years old, Delisle got the chance to move to Miami through a visa program and, upon arrival, fell in love with the bustling Cuban community that’s planted its roots in the city. This was also when she discovered that her new home had different ideas when it came to what it considered Cuban coffee. “That first sip of ‘Cuban coffee’ in Miami was different from anything I’d had. It was sweeter and caught me off guard,” says Delisle.
An entrepreneur at heart, Delisle, alongside her husband Manny Lopez, dreamt up Suite Habana Café in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood to share Cuban coffee and coffee culture. Since opening in 2018, Suite Habana Café has focused on education and community. Delisle and Lopez have created a house coffee blend that she says evokes the same feelings she got as a child drinking coffee with her grandmother in Cuba.
Due to trade complications, it’s difficult to source coffee directly from Cuba, so Delisle and Lopez had to find other sources, settling on a combination of Colombian and Brazilian beans. “We were looking for beans that would bring out those notes of chocolate, smokiness, and tobacco,” says Lopez. “There were three different roast profiles that we attempted. But, we knew we had to go dark on the roast to be able to extract some of those notes.” It took several years for the pair to perfectly recreate the bold, dark roast flavor that Delisle so fondly remembers.
Lopez’s coffee background aided in the process of creating the perfect house blend for Suite Habana Café when the time came. “I used to work for a company that sells high-end coffee,” says Lopez. “I was always on the hunt for good coffee, even before I met Nayelis. When she said she wanted to do this, I knew I was interested.”
The robust blend is showcased in the cafe’s two signature drinks: a cafecito (an espresso with a little brown sugar) and a café con leche. For Delisle, Suite Habana Café is a place where coffee lovers can take a moment and reset. It's all about embracing the community around you—urging guests to enjoy their coffee in-house while having a conversation with friends. With plans to open more cafes in the future and expand their modest wholesale operation, Delisle and Lopez hope to remain a third space for Wynwood and beyond. “Being accepted into both the specialty coffee space and by the local Cuban community has been such a beautiful dream,” says Delisle. "It's special to see everyone, including Cuban Americans, enjoy [our] coffee.”
