How Coffee Is Preferred Around the World
Coffee is one of the best loved drinks on the planet for us humans and there are many different ways to serve it. The favoured way to drink it often depends on the country you live in.
Before coffee came to the UK, it was being drunk in many other countries, all in a different way and combining it with different rituals. Coffee drinking was something to be done with friends, with people getting together to chat about things and put the world to rights. This of course has not stopped but there are now even more ways to take it, including from coffee vending machines.
In the Asian country of Vietnam, coffee is slightly smoky, strong, caremelly and sweet. It is served in individual cups with a thick layer of sweetened condensed milk at the bottom, and it is made with a strong dark roast coffee. A stainless steel filter with coffee grounds is put on top of the drinking vessel and boiling water passes slowly through to the milk – a process that can take up to 10 minutes to do so. When it has finished, the coffee and milk are stirred together and poured over ice in a glass.
The Arabic way is to take it fresh, thick and black. It is brewed only when required in small, uncovered pots with long handles. Cold water (and the required amount of sugar) is added to finely ground dark-roasted coffee, which is then heated to just below boiling point. A ‘Mazbout’ or medium coffee has equal coffee to sugar. Actually, the amount of sugar in the coffee should match the solemnity of the occasion, and as such at funerals it is drunk unsweetened. It is served in small cups and when the grounds have settled but it is still very hot, this is the right time to drink it. Traditionally, the host will personally hand around the cups, with the eldest or most important person in the room served first.
Italians are very well known for espresso. It is a short, strong coffee with a foam on top (known as the crema). Espresso is made by forcing hot water through coffee grounds. It is usually consumed in the afternoon and Italians savour the rich flavours and light texture. Mornings are for cappuccinos or lattes (espresso with hot milk added).
Greeks traditionally drink coffee that is made in a briki (a small metal pot). Cold water is added to the briki, along with coffee grounds and sugar if desired. When the mixture is heated over a low to medium heat the coffee slowly dissolves. Foam rises to the top before it boils and it is a good foam that they are after. The coffee is served strong and hot with the grounds in the bottom of the cup and the foam on the top. The foam is added first and the coffee gently poured into the cup afterwards. A glass of water is usually served with it. When the drink is finished, it is common for people to read their fortunes from the shape the grounds make when the cup has been tipped upside down.
In the UK we drink coffee in all sorts of ways – from instant at home to espresso from a coffee shop or something from a coffee vending machine if on the go.
Coffee is an interesting and popular drink that brings people together in noisy workplaces, hangouts or at home where people can chat, unwind or get into a heated debate depending on what time of day it is.
It lubricates social lives all over the globe, no matter how it is prepared and drunk.












