Origin: The shout of “¡Azúcar!” ¿Who came up with it? Well, here is the story.             

All artists have a catchphrase that they use to connect with their target audience. The catchphrase of Celia Cruz was a shout of “¡Azúcar!” (which means “Sugar!”). 

According to Celia Cruz's friend the late Dr. Marvette Pérez (1961-2013), Curator of Latino History at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. 

The phrase originated one day when Celia Cruz and her husband Pedro Knight were having lunch in a restaurant in Miami and after they finished, the waiter said “Do you want your black coffee with or without sugar?” And Celia Cruz enthusiastic told the waiter, “With sugar of course I'm Cuban, how else am I going to drink my coffee!” 

Then that night Celia Cruz shared her story with her audience at one of her shows in a nightclub in Miami causing her fans to laugh out loud at the joke.  

Celia Cruz also said it was a battle cry and an allusion to African slaves who worked Cuba's sugar plantations.