Cafe asiatico is a hot, layered coffee from Cartagena in southeastern Spain: sweetened condensed milk on the bottom, Spanish brandy, Licor 43, a shot of espresso, and a float of evaporated milk, finished with cinnamon, a twist of lemon peel and two coffee beans. Licor 43's house recipe uses 60 ml of condensed milk, 20 ml of brandy, 20 ml of Licor 43 and one hot espresso, layered over the back of a spoon so the bands stay separate. It takes about five minutes and one heat-safe glass.
Ingredients for one glass
| Layer (bottom to top) | Amount (Licor 43 recipe) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Sweetened condensed milk | 60 ml (2 oz, 3 parts) | The sweetness and the weight that holds the bottom layer |
| Spanish brandy | 20 ml (0.75 oz, 1 part) | Licor 43 specifies Spanish brandy; any brandy works |
| Licor 43 Original | 20 ml (0.75 oz, 1 part) | Made in Cartagena, which is why the brand claims the drink |
| Hot espresso | 1 shot | Poured slowly so it sits on the liqueur |
| Evaporated milk | To top | Unsweetened; it floats and gives the pale cap |
| Garnish | Cinnamon, 2 coffee beans, lemon peel | The lemon oil is the part people miss most when they skip it |
Amounts are from the Asiatico 43 recipe on licor43.com. With a 25 to 30 ml espresso the glass holds about 130 ml before the evaporated milk, so a 5 to 6 oz glass is the right size.
Method
1. Warm a thick, heat-safe glass with hot water and empty it. The traditional asiatico glass is made of thicker glass than a normal copa precisely so it survives the hot coffee.
2. Pour the condensed milk into the bottom. Let it settle level.
3. Hold a teaspoon upside down just above the condensed milk and pour the brandy over the back of it, then the Licor 43 the same way. Licor 43's instruction is to add each ingredient over a spoon to keep the layers.
4. Pour the hot espresso over the spoon, slowly. It will sit as a dark band above the liqueur.
5. Float a little evaporated milk on top the same way.
6. Dust with cinnamon, drop in two coffee beans, and twist a strip of lemon peel over the glass before adding it so the oil hits the surface.
Serve it as is. The layers are for the presentation; stir before drinking if you want the condensed milk through the whole glass rather than at the end.
The glass and the measures
In Cartagena the drink comes in a dedicated glass whose shape marks the pour levels for the condensed milk, the brandy and the coffee, so bartenders pour by eye. The Spanish Wikipedia entry describes both the marked glass and the thicker glass it is made from. If you do not have one, a stemmed heat-safe glass or a small tumbler works; the measures above replace the lines.
Where it comes from
The base recipe, per the gastronomy dictionary cited in that entry, is condensed milk, brandy and coffee. Licor 43, lemon zest, cinnamon and coffee beans are additions, so a version without Licor 43 is still an asiatico. The origin is argued over locally. The traditional story credits Pedro Conesa Ortega at Bar Pedrin in El Albujon, a village outside Cartagena, in 1947, who is said to have combined the carajillo his passing customers ordered with the belmonte, another local coffee order, and added cinnamon. A 2019 book by Juan Ignacio Ferrandez and Angel Vicente Roig produced a document showing the drink was already being served in central Cartagena at least seven years earlier. Since 2011 the city has run a Ruta del Asiatico, where bars serve their version at a fixed price and customers vote. Licor 43's own page says the drink has been popular in Cartagena for over 70 years.
Two relatives worth knowing. The carajillo is the simpler Spanish coffee with a spirit and no condensed milk, and the barraquito of the Canary Islands is the closest cousin: condensed milk, Licor 43 or Tia Maria, coffee, lemon peel and cinnamon, built in a tall glass. The Spanish habit of sweetening coffee with condensed milk on its own is the cafe bombon.
Sources
Licor 43: Asiatico 43 recipe
Wikipedia (Spanish): Asiatico (cafe), history and glass
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