Here are seven unique coffee drinks from around the world.
1. Café Touba
Origins: Senegal
If you ever find yourself in the Senegal capital of Dakar, this uniquely spiced coffee is worth a try. What makes it so special is the mixing of Guinea pepper, which is a West African specialty spice, along with cloves, sugar, and coffee beans before they are roasted. The blend is a deep-bodied coffee with a bitter-spicy kick to it.
2. Mazagran Coffee
Origins: Algeria/Portugal
Mazagran is a memorable coffee mix that uses an unlikely ingredient to blend into a classic coffee brew. With roots from Algeria (hence, the name) dating back to the French invasion, this iced coffee drink has somehow become very popular in Portugal, although it can still be found in some parts of Austria and France. The drink incorporates lemon juice into the coffee brew, which morphs the beverage into a light, refreshing drink that is perfect to beat hot weather.
3. Cà phê đá
Origins: Vietnam
One of the biggest coffee producers in the world, it’s no wonder Vietnam has made a big splash in coffee culture. Cà phê đá is a popular coffee drink made by French-pressing the brew through what’s called a phin and sweetening it with condensed milk, before pouring it over ice. The hot version of this concoction has morphed into other creative (and tasty) variations like yoghurt coffee (sữa chua cà phê), which adds tangy yoghurt to the mix, and egg coffee (cà phê trung), which blends egg yolks into a warm brew.
4. Kaffeost
Origins: Finland
A lot of people love coffee and they also love cheese. But what about combining the two? Kaffeost, which translates as “coffee cheese,” does just that by pouring a nice brew over specialty cheese. The special cheese used is called juustoleipä or “bread cheese” and it is made by curdling milk and then baking, grilling or roasting the curds, resulting in a mildly-dense slab of cheese. When the hot coffee hits the cheese in the cup, it transforms the cheese into a silky and smooth texture that adds an interesting dimension to the coffee flavor.
5. Yuanyang
Origins: Hong Kong
This coffee drink is what I’d imagine a sweet treaty would be like between coffee lovers and tea drinkers. Just like Hong Kong itself, the local coffee drink yuanyang is all about fusion, combining tasty coffee with sweet milk tea (which is basically milk and black tea). Yuanyang can be enjoyed either hot or cold, but is best served side-by-side with buttery toast.
6. Affogato
Origins: Italy
Affogato, which literally translates as “drowned,” lives up to its namesake as it is made by drowning Italian ice cream or gelato with a pouring of hot espresso. The mix between coffee and ice cream is so delightful that the Germans have their own popular hybrid called eiskaffee. The brilliant combo has, however, led to much debate about the true classification of this type of drink: Is it still considered coffee? Or has it crossed over into a dessert? Maybe it’s both, you decide.
7. Civet Coffee
Origins: Indonesia
The famous kopi luwak, known globally as civet coffee, has gained a lot of notoriety. That’s because the coffee beans used in this drink are harvested from animal dung. That’s right—wild civets or luwak love eating quality coffee berries, which results in coffee beans that come out in its droppings. The beans are cleaned, roasted, ground and brewed to produce the world’s most expensive cup of coffee (price estimates are between $100 to $500 USD per pound). However, this brew has started to lose some steam among anti-animal cruelty advocates due to the growing civet farms that have resulted from the coffee demand.
Does your country have a special way of drinking coffee? Share them in the comments below!
