How to Prepare Your CoffeeRaf Coffee
Raf coffee was born from one customer's request at Moscow's Coffee Bean café in the mid-1990s: a regular named Rafael Timerbaev asked simply for a good cup of coffee with milk, and the baristas on shift — Gleb Neveikin, Artem Berestov, and Galina Samokhina — answered with something that had never been on the menu before. Instead of steaming milk separately the way a latte does, they combined a shot of espresso with cream and vanilla sugar and steamed the whole mixture together into one silky, sweet-scented foam. Regulars started asking for 'the one they made for Raf,' and the name stuck. Timerbaev never claimed to have invented it — he just wanted a good coffee — but the drink he inspired has since become Russia's best-known coffeehouse original, one of the few coffee ideas to travel outward from Moscow rather than in.
Ratio breakdown
Ingredients run from the top of the cup to the bottom; the last item is the bottom layer. Values are normalized to a true 100% stack.
What you need
- 1 tablespoonSugar
- 1 tablespoonVanilla sugar
- 100–120 ml, up to 30% fatCream
- 1 shot espresso (30–35 ml)Coffee
Method notes
- Grind
- Fine — espresso grind
- Water temperature
- Espresso 90–94°C · mixture steamed to about 65–66°C
- Total time
- 4 min
Steps
Pull a single shot of espresso
Everything else in a raf is built to fold around this shot rather than replace it — a stale or under-extracted pull disappears completely under the cream and vanilla sugar that follow.
Combine the espresso, sugar, vanilla sugar, and cream in a steaming pitcher
All four go into the same pitcher before any heat is applied, so the steam wand froths one combined mixture rather than a shot with a separately-foamed topping.
Steam the whole mixture together, not just the cream
This is the move that defines a raf and separates it from a latte: foaming the espresso, sugar, and cream as one liquid builds a finer, sweeter microfoam than steaming milk alone ever produces, and it's what lets the vanilla sugar dissolve evenly through every layer.
Pour at once and serve
The silky foam a whole-mixture steam builds is at its best in the first minute — a raf left standing separates and flattens faster than a milk-based latte does.
Tips
- Keep the pitcher around 65–66°C — cream scalds faster than milk, and pushing past that temperature collapses the fine microfoam the drink is known for.
- A pinch of ground cinnamon on top is a common garnish at Russian coffeehouses, though the classic cup carries none.
- Lavender and honey versions are popular modern riffs at Russian chains like Double B, but espresso, sugar, vanilla sugar, and cream is the original trio.
Common mistakes
- Steaming only the cream, like a latte — the whole point of a raf is that the espresso, sugar, and cream are foamed together as one mixture; frothing the cream separately and pouring it over a plain shot makes a cream latte, not a raf.
- Skipping the vanilla sugar — plain sugar alone misses the vanilla note that Russian coffeehouses treat as non-negotiable; it's what gives the raf its signature scent, not just its sweetness.
FAQ
Who was Raf?
Rafael Timerbaev, a regular customer at Moscow's Coffee Bean café in the mid-1990s who simply asked for a good cup of coffee with milk. The baristas on shift — Gleb Neveikin, Artem Berestov, and Galina Samokhina — improvised the espresso-cream-vanilla sugar drink in response, other customers began ordering 'the one they made for Raf,' and the shortened name stuck to the menu. Timerbaev has said he wasn't involved in developing the recipe himself.
How is raf coffee different from a latte?
A latte foams milk separately and pours it over a shot of espresso. A raf steams the espresso, sugar, vanilla sugar, and cream together as one mixture, which builds a finer, sweeter microfoam and lets the cream's flavor dominate the espresso far more than a latte's milk does.
The Atlas
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