How to Make Café de Olla: Mexico's Spiced Coffee, Brewed in a Clay Pot

By James Whitfield · 5 October 2026

Quick answer

Café de olla is Mexican pot coffee: ground coffee steeped with piloncillo, an unrefined cane sugar, and cinnamon, traditionally in an earthenware pot called an olla de barro. For four cups, heat 1 litre of water with about 80 g of piloncillo and half a cinnamon stick until the sugar dissolves, stir in 40 g of medium-coarse coffee, take the pot off the heat, cover it for five minutes and strain.

The essentials

Four cups: 1 litre of water, 80 g piloncillo, half a cinnamon stick, 40 g coffee ground medium to coarse
Dissolve the sugar first, about 7 minutes over medium heat; the coffee goes in last, off the flame
Covered steep of 5 minutes, then strain; roughly 20 minutes in all
Optional: cloves, star anise, orange peel
A new clay pot must be lead-free: check before it goes near a stove

Last updated: 5 October 2026

Where does café de olla come from?

Café de olla literally means "coffee from the pot", and it is a Mexican preparation: coffee, sugar and spices go into the same vessel and cook together, rather than being brewed first and sweetened afterwards. Wikipedia notes it is drunk mostly in Mexico's colder climates and in rural areas, which fits a drink designed to warm you on a chilly morning.

Dating it is harder than you might expect. Coffee only reached Mexico at the end of the 18th century, landing in Veracruz from the Antilles, so the drink cannot be older than that. One Mexican news outlet places its emergence in the 19th century and its rise to prominence during the Revolution (1910 to 1920). A popular story credits the adelitas, women who travelled with the revolutionary troops, with adding piloncillo and spices to worn-out, bitter coffee. Treat that as oral tradition rather than documented history; none of the sources we checked back it with a primary record.

Mexican café de olla served hot, sweetened with piloncillo and spiced with cinnamon — Café de olla: coffee, piloncillo and cinnamon steeped together, then strained.

What do you need for four cups of café de olla?

This list makes about a litre, or four 250 ml cups. Published recipes differ from kitchen to kitchen, so these quantities sit inside the range we found rather than at either end.

1 litre cold water
80 g piloncillo (or panela)
½ stick Mexican cinnamon (about 4 cm)
40 g coffee, ground medium to coarse, medium to dark roast
2 cloves (optional)
1 star anise and a strip of orange peel (optional)

You will also want a fine sieve and a wooden spoon. A medium or dark roast works best, ground a touch coarser than for a standard filter machine; our grind size guide shows what that looks like in practice.

How do you make café de olla, step by step?

Sugar and spices go in first; the coffee arrives last and the pot leaves the heat almost immediately. That order is the whole trick.

Add water and piloncillo. Pour 1 litre of cold water into the pot and add 80 g of piloncillo, broken into pieces or grated.
Add the spices. Drop in half a cinnamon stick and 2 cloves. If you like, add a star anise or a strip of orange peel.
Dissolve the sugar. Heat over medium for about 7 minutes, until the piloncillo has dissolved completely.
Stir in the coffee. When the water begins to boil, add 40 g of medium-coarse ground coffee, stir once and turn off the heat.
Steep. Cover the pot and leave it for 5 minutes so the grounds settle.
Strain and serve. Pour through a fine sieve into mugs or clay cups, leaving the sediment behind.

Once the coffee is in, keep things gentle. The sources we read advise against hard boiling at this stage, and five covered minutes are enough to carry the flavour. Leftovers keep in the fridge for around two days and reheat over a low flame.

Does the clay pot really matter, and is it safe?

Wikipedia calls the traditional earthen pot essential to the drink's particular flavour, and cooks describe even, gentle heat plus an earthy note that metal cannot copy. That claim is hard to test, and several recipe writers happily use a plain saucepan, so do not let the lack of a clay pot stop you.

Safety is the more pressing question. Glazed handmade pottery can release lead into hot drinks, and the FDA states that no amount of washing or boiling removes it. Old, crudely made or brightly orange, red or yellow pieces from markets are the usual suspects. Buy a pot sold for food use, or test it with a lead kit. One suggested way to season a new pot is to simmer water in it until almost all has evaporated, then wash it well.

Piloncillo, panela or brown sugar: what is the difference?

Piloncillo is the Mexican name for panela: sugarcane juice boiled down and poured into moulds, where it sets hard. In Mexico it often comes as a small cone, which is where the name comes from, in light (blanco) or dark (oscuro) versions. Because it keeps the cane's natural molasses, it tastes of caramel, coffee and rum with a faint smokiness.

Supermarket brown sugar is refined white sugar with molasses added back, so it works as a stand-in at the same weight but tastes flatter. Panela sold in blocks at Latin American or health food shops swaps one for one. The cone is rock hard: break it with a knife or grate it, then let it melt into the warming water. White sugar sweetens, but it lacks everything that makes the cup interesting.

How strong should it be, and what can you add?

Recipes disagree, and that is fine. Coffee runs from roughly 27 g to 50 g per litre depending on whether you want a light or a punchy cup; 40 g sits in the middle. For piloncillo, three recipes we compared land between 75 g and 85 g per litre, while one goes much higher for a very sweet result. Start at 80 g and adjust on the second pot.

On cinnamon, the soft, crumbly Ceylon type is what Mexican sources describe. Cassia is thicker and harder (bark 2 to 3 mm thick) and carries far more coumarin, giving a sharper flavour. Optional extras are two or three cloves, a star anise and a strip of orange peel; some regional versions add a little chocolate. It is served without milk, typically with pan dulce or tamales, and often in small clay mugs that Mexicans call jarros de barro.

To change the batch size, scale everything together: a 2 litre pot takes 160 g of piloncillo, 80 g of coffee, one whole cinnamon stick and 4 cloves if you like them. For just two cups, halve it all; the time the sugar needs to dissolve depends mostly on how small you break the cone. Taste before serving. If the cup seems flat, it is almost always the piloncillo or the cinnamon that is short, rarely the coffee.

Café de olla: frequently asked questions

Do I need a clay pot to make café de olla?

No. The clay pot is the tradition and gives the drink its name, but a plain saucepan works. If you do use glazed earthenware, make sure it is lead-free: the FDA says washing or boiling cannot remove lead from a contaminated piece.

What can I use instead of piloncillo?

Panela, one for one by weight. Dark brown sugar is an acceptable substitute at the same weight, though the flavour is less complex. White sugar sweetens the cup but loses the caramel and smoky character.

What grind of coffee works best?

Medium to coarse. A fine grind leaves silt in the cup and is harder to strain. The coffee steeps in hot water rather than being pressed or dripped, so a grind slightly coarser than for a filter machine suits it.

Can I make a batch ahead?

Yes. Keep it covered in the fridge for around two days and warm it gently without boiling.

Sources

Facts, quantities and safety advice checked against the following sources (accessed 5 October 2026):

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