Abuela Mami branching out with coffee brand

Abuela Mami, the Miami-based subscription company that mails a box of Cuban-themed treats and goodies each month to customers, is expanding with its own coffee brand.

It will be called Abuela Mami Coffee, an online-based business that will launch early next week.

“It’s 100 percent Arabic bean,” said Kiki Valdes who founded the Abuela Mami subscription company with his brother Humby in 2015.

The coffee label will launch with a medium dark organic roast called “Twilight Miami.” The starting price for a 14-ounce bag is $12.95. For now, the coffee brand will only be available through online orders via AbuelaMamiCoffee.com.

The original business, named after the brothers’ grandmother, delivers various items that call to mind a typical Cuban upbringing.

Items include Cafe Bustelo, dominoes, blocks of guava, espresso cups, saucers and keychains with the Cuban flag and sesame seed candy. Each month, subscribers around the country receive an Abuela Mami box filled with the eight to 12 goods. The boxes are akin to care packages or Cuban comfort for Cuban-Americans who live in or outside South Florida.

“It’s something that reminds people of home and as someone who’s lived in other cities I know how it feels,” said Kiki Valdes, a visual artist who grew up in Miami’s Flagami neighborhood with his brother and lived in New Jersey for a time.

The brothers work with local distributors for the products.