Coffee Culture Around the World

Coffee comes with serious etiquette, including serving the oldest in the group first.

Saudi coffee (called “kahwa”) is dark, horrendously bitter, and flavored with cardamom. The coffee is usually served with sweet dates to cut the flavor.

Turkish coffee is actually treated like a dessert rather than a morning energizer.

Usually served after dinner with some kind of chewy candy, Turk Kahvesi is brewed in a copper pot and is absurdly hot. It is brewed according to an old proverb: “As black as hell, as strong as death, and as sweet as love.”

Over several hours, the coffee, which is called “buna” in Ethiopia is brewed in special carafes then poured from on high over cups without spilling a drop. Traditionally, the coffee is flavored with butter and salt.

The pouring ceremony is only done by the lady of the household.

There is something in Indonesia called “kopi luwak.” The kopi beans must first pass through the digestive tract of a civet. The beans are harvested from the civet’s droppings then roasted.

It is absurdly overpriced in Indonesia, but tourists and locals love drinking it up.

The demand for coffee in Denmark is so high, that you can find packed cafes with people all sitting steaming cups of “Kaffee”.