Here is an awesome way to take in new cultures from around the world. Have a cup of coffee at the local plaza, piazza or platz and soak in the local culture like never before.<\/p>\n
This rich, dark, bittersweet nectar has a long history that has become inextricably linked with various cultures. It\u2019s so popular that it\u2019s the second most exported commodity in the world after crude oil. Here\u2019s a look at what you\u2019re likely to experience when going for a cup of coffee around the world!<\/p>\n
As the story goes, a goatherd (a person who tends goats) in Ethiopia discovered that his goats \u201cdanced\u201d every time they ate the berries of a certain plant. Seeing this, he built up the courage to finally try some and to his surprise was hit by the stimulating effects of the berries.<\/p>\n
He rushed to tell a monk from a nearby monastery about it, but the disapproving monk threw them in a fire from which rose an alluring aroma.<\/p>\n
The roasted berries were quickly removed from the fire, ground and steeped in the water giving us the first cup of coffee. The beans then made their way from Ethiopia to Yemen, Mecca and the rest of the Arab world.<\/p>\n
Fun Fact:<\/strong> In the 1600s, Arabian coffee traders rendered coffee beans infertile by roasting them\u00a0before exporting to other countries in order to preserve their monopoly. This is before an Indian pilgrim smuggled a few fertile seeds out of the region causing the spread of coffee cultivation in India and the rest of the world.<\/em><\/p>\n So passionate were the Italians about coffee that they went to great lengths to create the deeply full-bodied espresso. Their aim was to create a concentrated yet filtered essence of the caffeine-rich seeds but this simple fact is why it\u2019s so interesting that you should never ask for an \u201cespresso\u201d in Italy. You simply ask for \u201cun caff\u00e8\u201d, because it\u2019s just like going to Mexico and asking for Mexican food: espresso-like Mexican food is the default.<\/p>\n Also, while in other countries, you may enter a coffee shop, find a seat or a table at the corner and enjoy your brew, this is something that you just don\u2019t do in Italy. If you do want to sit, you\u2019ll have to pay extra.\u00a0Espresso (which, by the way, means pressed or forced out) is express (to go).<\/p>\n One more thing to remember is that you don\u2019t have a caff\u00e8 macchiato or cappuccino after 11 am unless you want to get strange looks.<\/p>\n Fun Fact<\/strong>: The \u201cCappuccino\u201d was named for its similarity to the brown robes worn by the Capuchin monks.<\/em><\/p>\n The French, Kings, and Queens of gastronomy and creators of the ‘French Press’, are acquisitive\u00a0at making coffee. I know\u2026 shocking, right? But that\u2019s just the way it is. Like the Italians, the French tend to reserve their Caf\u00e8 au Lait (coffee with milk) for breakfast with the most commonly ordered drink being the caf\u00e8 (espresso).<\/p>\n This espresso falls on the bitter side and is likely a consequence of their colonial exploits. During that period the French received the more bitter Robusta variety of coffee, duty-free from their colonial territories and this rendered the milder Arabica, more expensive.<\/p>\n Till today, 50% of the coffee consumed in France is of the Robusta variety. Despite the harshness of their coffee, the French love a good sit down to catch up with friends and enjoy good conversation. Where the Italians prefer standing space at \u201cil bar\u201d, the French are likely to have a few seats almost spilling onto the road as people kick back to enjoy a caf\u00e9.<\/p>\n Fun Fact:<\/strong> There\u2019s a caf\u00e9 called La Petite Syrah where you get discounts for being polite!<\/em> Saying \u201cUn caf\u00e9\u201d gets you a coffee for \u20ac7 ($7.81), \u201cUn caf\u00e9, s\u2019il vous plait\u201d gets you a coffee for \u20ac4.25 ($4.74) and \u201cBonjour, un caf\u00e9, s\u2019il vous plait\u201d gets you one for \u20ac1.40 ($1.56). I guess it pays to be polite, eh?<\/em><\/p>\n You\u2019d think that with the proximity and relationship created by common ancestral language that the cultures of the French, Italian and Spanish would be closer but that\u2019s not quite the case. The Spanish will drink a Caf\u00e8 con Leche (espresso with milk) at just about any time of the day, unlike the Italians and French who prefer to leave that in the breakfast realm.<\/p>\n The Spanish also have a variety of coffee drinks some with minor differences that alter the flavor of the simple espresso. Where the Caf\u00e9 con Leche is equal parts espresso and milk, the Caf\u00e9 Cortado is espresso with a dash of milk and the Caf\u00e9 Bombon is an espresso with condensed milk (yum).<\/p>\n On the other hand, you have the Caf\u00e9 Manchado which is milk with a splash of coffee. To see for yourself how these small changes make a big difference you should try making one or two of them. Some other fun combos are the Carajillo which is an espresso with a drop of brandy, whiskey or rum and the Trifasico which is just the Carajillo mixed with a little bit of milk.<\/p>\n Fun Fact:\u00a0<\/strong>Drinking caffeine can increase your metabolism 3 to 11%. It\u2019s one of the few chemicals that can actually help with fat burning.<\/em><\/p>\n As the home of 40% of coffee consumed globally, you\u2019d be crazy to think they don\u2019t drink a heck of a lot of coffee. In fact, they drink so much coffee they can\u2019t afford to use the really high-quality stuff allocated for export. I mean, it\u2019s still really good coffee but you catch my drift.<\/p>\n Over there, they have their own version of the espresso which is a really sweet and piping hot drink called a Cafezinho. The reason Cafezinhos are so sweet is because lots of sugar has to be added to offset the naturally bitter coffee grown in the lower altitude Brazil. You can usually get your Cafezinho free at a gas station or a restaurant.<\/p>\n Fun Fact:<\/strong> The second-largest producer of the Arabica coffee in the world is Vietnam with 16% of global production. Brazil, however, is the ‘Usain Bolt’ of the coffee production, ranked No. 1 for\u00a0over 150 years!<\/em><\/p>\n Germans are (much) better known for their fantastic beer and automobile traditions but you\u2019d never believe how big a hand they\u2019ve played in coffee consumption. Drip coffee was invented in 1908 by a German Melitta Bentz, a housewife from Dresden, who got tired of the grounds at the bottom of her coffee and decided to use blotting paper from her son’s school exercise book to create a grounds-free, less bitter coffee.<\/p>\n Her compatriot, Gottlob Widmann, followed that up by inventing the electrical drip brewer in 1954. That\u2019s as far as coffee \u201cculture\u201d goes in Germany. Until this day, the drip brew is still the preferred way to drink coffee and the Germans are pretty reluctant to try anything else.<\/p>\n Fun Fact:<\/strong>\u00a0The buzz you feel after drinking coffee is actually from ingesting tiny 0.0016-inch crystals of caffeine. So small, yet so energizing!<\/em><\/p>\n Surprisingly, coffee is gaining a foothold in the ancestral home of all things tea. Coffee is still being far from a daily activity for a few reasons, there\u2019s the fact that there\u2019s still resistance from the people who have had tea flowing in their veins from centuries. It\u2019s also seen as a luxury and something for the \u201ccool kids\u201d due to its association with Korean pop culture.<\/p>\n At this point, it costs as much as the broadband internet for a month or a whole take-out meal, and that\u2019s something that the average Chinese can hardly afford to turn into a regular routine. However, you can expect coffee to permeate the country as it gains a stronger and stronger hold in China.<\/p>\n Fun Fact:\u00a0<\/strong>It only takes ten minutes to start feeling the effects of caffeine after you take a sip of coffee<\/em><\/p>\n Much like China, coffee drinking is a fairly recent occurrence in Russia but in the last two decades or so it has begun to receive some level of acceptance.<\/p>\n Unlike most western cultures where a coffee lasts for a few minutes and the waitresses give you death stares for staying too long after your drink is done, the Russians believe in a concept called \u201canti-cafes\u201d. The idea here is that rather than paying for food or drinks, patrons of the \u201canti-cafes\u201d pay for minutes or for hours and enjoy the food and drinks free of charge.<\/p>\n That\u2019s a strange concept for most but the Russians love a good chat over tea, over alcoholic beverages and apparently over coffee too.<\/p>\n Fun Fact:<\/strong>\u00a0All of the coffee grown on the planet is from an area called \u201cThe Coffee Belt.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Traditionally, the Emirati (native residents of the UAE) tend to be spicier in their approach to coffee, often grinding their light-colored roast with cardamom, saffron, cloves, and oud (scented wood-flakes) to give it an extra layer of flavor. Their spicy, bitter coffee will likely be accompanied by dates to counter the bitterness.<\/p>\n Today, however, coffee chains like Starbucks and Costa have captured the hearts of the younger generation and dominate the scene.<\/p>\n\ud83c\uddee\ud83c\uddf9 Italy<\/h2>\n
\ud83c\uddeb\ud83c\uddf7 France<\/h2>\n
\ud83c\uddea\ud83c\uddf8 Spain<\/h2>\n
\ud83c\udde7\ud83c\uddf7 Brazil<\/h2>\n
\ud83c\udde9\ud83c\uddea Germany<\/h2>\n
\ud83c\udde8\ud83c\uddf3 China<\/h2>\n
\ud83c\uddf7\ud83c\uddfa Russia<\/h2>\n
\ud83c\udde6\ud83c\uddea UAE<\/h2>\n