Tinto

Why this works

Tinto is deliberately light. At about one to eighteen, it is weaker than most specialty filter coffee and far weaker than espresso, because it is drunk many times a day in small cups. A heavy brew at that frequency would be too much. The name means dyed or inked, the same word Spanish uses for red wine, and on most of the continent it simply means black.

Panela, unrefined cane sugar boiled down into blocks, is the traditional sweetener and does more than white sugar would. It still carries its molasses, which brings caramel and slightly mineral notes that suit a medium-roast coffee. Colombians drink aguapanela, panela dissolved in hot water, on its own, so making coffee in it is just combining two everyday drinks.

Steeping off the boil is the improvement over the street version. Many vendors boil coffee or keep it hot for hours, which over-extracts and stews it, and that bitterness is part of the street tinto's character. At home there is no need for it.

The history behind the taste is worth knowing. For most of the twentieth century Colombia's coffee federation exported nearly all of the best beans, and the domestic market was supplied with lower grades, broken and defective beans known as pasilla. Tinto was the drink made from them, sweetened partly to cover it. That is changing quickly as Colombian cafés serve specialty coffee to Colombians, but on a street corner, tinto is still tinto.

Variations

• Sin azúcar: unsweetened.
• Pintado: tinto with a splash of milk.
• Perico: a little more milk, close to a cortado.
• Carajillo colombiano: tinto with a splash of aguardiente, in some regions.
• Iced: chilled, over ice, with a squeeze of lime, as some cafés now serve it.