How to Make Aguapanela con Café, Colombia’s Panela Coffee

In much of Colombia, the morning starts with something sweet and warm made from panela, the solid blocks of unrefined cane sugar sold in every market. Dissolve panela in hot water and you have aguapanela, one of the country’s most widely consumed drinks. Combine it with coffee and you get aguapanela con café: a rounded, caramel-sweet cup that tastes of molasses and brown sugar rather than plain white sugar. If you want to know how to make aguapanela con café at home, there are two simple ways: brew the coffee directly in hot panela water, or mix strong coffee with ready-made aguapanela.

Key takeaways

• Panela is whole cane sugar made by boiling down sugarcane juice and setting it in molds.
• Aguapanela is panela dissolved in water, drunk hot or cold across Colombia.
• Sweetening a pot of tinto with panela, or brewing the coffee in aguapanela, is a common home habit.
• Use about 1 oz (25 to 30 g) of panela per 8 oz (240 ml) of water, then adjust.
• Piloncillo, rapadura or dark muscovado sugar are the closest substitutes.

In this article

1. What is panela?
2. Aguapanela, Colombia’s everyday drink
3. How to make aguapanela con café
4. Variations and serving ideas
5. FAQ

What is panela?

Panela is unrefined whole cane sugar. Sugarcane is crushed, the juice is boiled until it thickens, and the hot syrup is poured into molds where it hardens into blocks, often rectangular bricks or rounds. Because the molasses is never spun off, panela keeps a deep brown color and a flavor somewhere between caramel, molasses and toffee.

Versions exist across Latin America and beyond under many names:

Panela is big business in Colombia. Figures from the national panela federation, Fedepanela, reported in 2017 put production at about 1.5 million tonnes a year and say around 350,000 families depend on it. Average consumption was estimated at 19 to 22 kg (about 42 to 48 lb) per person per year, down from roughly 32 kg fifteen years earlier. Many Colombian homes even keep a hard river stone just for breaking the blocks.

Aguapanela, Colombia’s everyday drink

Aguapanela (also written agua de panela) is panela dissolved in water. It is drunk hot on cool mornings, often with lime, or iced with lime as a refreshing drink, and in rural areas it has long been an important source of energy for working people. Some families serve it with a piece of fresh cheese melting in the mug.

It is also the starting point for coffee. Colombia’s everyday black coffee, tinto, is frequently sweetened with panela instead of white sugar, and some households simply brew the coffee in a pot of hot aguapanela. The result is less a separate recipe than a family habit, so proportions vary from kitchen to kitchen. Mexico has a similar tradition in café de olla, which uses piloncillo and cinnamon.

How to make aguapanela con café

What you need (2 cups)

• 2 cups (480 ml) water
• 2 oz (50 to 60 g) panela, grated or broken into small pieces (more or less to taste)
• 2 to 3 tablespoons (about 12 to 16 g) medium-ground coffee
• Optional: 1 small cinnamon stick, 2 cloves, a strip of orange or lime peel
• Equipment: small saucepan or olleta, fine strainer or cloth filter

Method 1: brewed in aguapanela (the pot method)

1. Make the aguapanela. Put the water and panela in a saucepan with any spices. Heat gently, stirring, until the panela dissolves completely, about 5 minutes.
2. Bring to a gentle boil, then take the pan off the heat.
3. Add the coffee. Stir in the grounds, cover and let them steep for 3 to 4 minutes.
4. Settle and strain. Tap the pan or add a splash of cold water to help the grounds sink, then pour through a fine strainer or cloth filter into cups.

Method 2: brewed coffee plus aguapanela (the mixing method)

1. Make a small batch of aguapanela: dissolve 2 oz (50 to 60 g) panela in 1 cup (240 ml) hot water.
2. Brew 1 cup (240 ml) of strong coffee with your usual method: drip, French press, moka pot or pour-over.
3. Mix the two in a jug, taste, and adjust with more coffee or more aguapanela.

Method 1 gives a rounder, more integrated cup; method 2 gives you more control over coffee strength and works with any brewer. Keep the leftover aguapanela in the fridge for up to 3 days and use it like a syrup.

Sweetness guide

Panela blocks vary in density and sweetness, so taste as you go. Grating the block on a box grater makes it dissolve much faster.

The coffee to use

A Colombian coffee is the obvious match. Our Colombia single origin from the mountains of Antioquia is a balanced medium roast with dried orange, berry and chocolate notes that pair beautifully with panela’s molasses tones. If you like a deeper, cocoa-tinged cup, try the Latin American Blend, a medium-dark roast of Central and South American coffees. Ask for the Standard grind for drip or pot brewing, or Coarse for a French press.

Variations and serving ideas

• Spiced: simmer a cinnamon stick and two cloves in the aguapanela before adding coffee.
• With milk: add warm milk for a panela café con leche. Oat milk works well for a dairy-free version.
• Iced: make it double strength, cool it, and pour over ice with a squeeze of lime peel oils.
• Lighter: use half the panela, or brew a large pot and sweeten each cup to taste.
• Breakfast pairing: serve with arepas, scrambled eggs or a piece of fresh cheese, as many Colombian breakfasts do.

For more about Colombia’s coffee regions and flavors, read our guide to Colombian coffee.

Aguapanela con café FAQ

What does aguapanela con café taste like?

Like a mellow black coffee with caramel, molasses and brown sugar notes. Panela’s sweetness is rounder than white sugar, which softens the coffee’s bitterness.

Can I use brown sugar instead of panela?

Yes. Dark muscovado is closest; regular brown sugar works but tastes thinner. Mexican piloncillo or Brazilian rapadura are almost identical substitutes.

Is panela healthier than sugar?

Panela keeps a little more of the cane’s minerals than refined sugar, but it is still mostly sugar, so treat it the same way.

Is aguapanela con café the same as tinto?

Tinto is Colombia’s small black coffee. Aguapanela con café is coffee brewed in, or sweetened with, panela water, so it is one way of making a sweet tinto.

Sources

1. Panela, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026.
2. Un colombiano consume 19 kilos de panela cada año, Agronegocios, 2017 (Fedepanela and DANE data).
3. Colombian café tinto, At the Immigrant’s Table.

Facts checked in October 2026.

Keep reading: Coffee with cinnamon · Brazilian cafezinho · Single origins