It can be surprising to note the differences in coffee all around the world. After all, it’s the same beverage but different cultures and regions have their own twist to it.
In this article, I will try to explain a little about the different coffee traditions around the world.
Introduction
Coffee is a drink that is so much a part of our culture that we hardly think about it. We drink coffee for breakfast, at work, or at home. And it can be prepared in a coffee machine, like a quick instant coffee, or in an advanced espresso machine.
Coffee around the world also plays a big role, but coffee traditions can take many forms.
Here are some countries that have vastly different ways of drinking coffee:
Spain
Here you can order a café solo if you are in the mood for an espresso and a café double if a double is needed.
However, coffee con Leche, coffee with milk, is the national drink.
It gets drunk in the morning, in the evening, and yes, it also ends most meals.
Coffee is an important part of Spanish culture and much of the social life in the cities takes place in the cafes.
Each region has its own rituals. Malaga offers the highest number of cafes per square meter in the world, and if you travel to Mallorca you will find that they have their very own coffee accessory, Ensaïmada, which is a kind of croissant with icing.
In Spain, the coffee is usually very strong.
A “café” – a cup of coffee – resembles espresso, but of course, there are variations.
The name and amount vary according to the ratio of coffee to milk.
The starting point is strong coffee and sugar is always served on the side.
Here in Europe, we each have our coffee rituals and ways to prepare the dark drink.
Ethiopia
In addition to exporting coffee to the whole world, they also have a rich coffee culture.
However, preparing a cup of coffee can be a somewhat time-consuming process, a ceremony held, for example, in honor of guests.
The green coffee beans are roasted in a flat bottomed pan over hot charcoal for a few minutes until the oils begin to pull out of the beans but without being roasted.
The beans are put in a mortar and painted by hand, after which they are placed in a jebena, a pitcher made of black clay.
Once cooked, the coffee is poured into another container and allowed to cool, then it is poured back and heated.
Eventually, the coffee is drunk in small cups, either black or with a little sugar, herbs, or salt.
A little more advanced than the morning coffee from the machine!
The origin of Coffea Arabica is found in Ethiopia, and not in Brazil as many believe.
Ethiopians are the real coffee connoisseurs.
Areas Nearby
Buna, or Ethiopian coffee as the rest of us know it, originates in the Harar region, where the people of Oromo, Harari, Amhara, and Somali live.
The coffee is boiled in the household according to a ritual with the help of jebena and then flavored with black cardamom capsules.
In other areas of the country, other spices, such as ginger in the Kaffa region, or cinnamon along the border with Sudan are used. Some Muslim communities in the Kaffa region prefer to salt rather than sweeten their coffee or dissolve a teaspoon of butter in the cup.
Turkey
Turks have a famous way to make their coffee.
Here you put very finely ground coffee directly in water that is just at the boiling point without boiling.
And if you want sugar in the coffee, it must be added during cooking, not after.
Turkish coffee is also found in large parts of Eastern Europe, for example in Bosnia, where a similar way of making coffee goes by the name of Bosnian coffee.
Czech Republic and Slovakia
Again, they have a unique way of making coffee.
The coffee can be dense and strong, but you can of course risk a little grumble in the cup when you pour, which you are not used to if you tend to drink coffee that has run through a filter.
On the other hand, it is said that the cloud can be used for divination.
So next time you get annoyed with coffee grounds at the bottom of the cup, don’t worry. Your future may be hiding in the pattern.
Hopefully, you learned a thing or two about the different coffee traditions around the world.
