12 Coffee Drinks Around The World That’ll Put Your American Cup A Joe To Shame

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Depending on what your exposure is to coffee, you might be using a French press every morning or you might just drink the free stuff at your office. It’s more common in America to look at coffee as an energy source rather than a meticulously crafted beverage, but the industry is expanding more every day. U.S. coffee roasters like Counter Culture, Blue Bottle and Stumptown have upped the ante here, but there’s no denying that other countries and cultures have mastered their coffee drinks in brilliant, time-honored ways. Here are 12 coffee drinks around the world that’ll put your American cup a joe to shame.

1. Flat White, Australia

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While the flat white has made its way onto coffee menus across the U.S., its origins are rooted in Australia. A flat white is made by pouring microfoam (steamed milk consisting of tiny bubbles) over a single or double shot of espresso.

2. Long Black, Australia And New Zealand 

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A long black is a style of coffee found in Australia and New Zealand. It’s made by pouring a double-shot of espresso or ristretto — a short shot of espresso coffee made with the normal amount of ground coffee, but extracted with about half the amount of water — over hot water.

3. Türk Kahvesi, Turkey

This Turkish coffee is prepared unfiltered. Coffee beans are roasted, finely ground and simmered in a pot. Sometimes sugar is added and the coffee is served in a cup where the grounds can settle. Türk Kahvesi is on the bitter side and is usually accompanied by some kind of sweets.

4. Kaffe, Netherlands

Kaffe or Dutch coffee, also known as bakkie troost, comes black and usually with a cookie.

5. Café au Lait, France

The French coffee drink, café au lait, is filtered coffee with warmed milk. Sometimes there’s a little foam on top, but the main gist of a café au lait is to balance out the strong coffee with a generous amount of creamy warmed milk.

6. Café Cubano, Cuba

A café Cubano is a type of espresso that originated in Cuba after espresso machines were introduced from Italy. The drink is an espresso shot that’s sweetened with demerara sugar during the brewing process. It’s usually made using darker roasts that are typically Italian or Spanish.

7. Gahwa, Saudi Arabia

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In Arab cultures like Saudi Arabia, Gahwa is a cardamom-spiced coffee drink that tends to be on the bitter side. To combat the bitterness it’s served with dried dates. The strong coffee drink comes from Bedouin hospitality traditions.

8. Irish Coffee, Ireland

Irish coffee is more of a cocktail. It’s made with hot coffee, Irish whiskey, sugar (brown sugar works best), stirred and then topped with thick cream. Sip on the coffee through the cream and the whole experience is like a spiked, coffee milkshake.

9. Café de Olla, Mexico

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The traditional way to prepare coffee in Mexico is a café de olla. It’s usually made in clay pots with piloncillo (a Mexican raw sugar shaped into hard cones) and cinnamon sticks.

10. Buna, Ethiopia

Ethiopia is globally known as the birthplace of coffee and it’s particularly famous for buna, a coffee-making ceremony that includes roasting, grinding and brewing beans alongside a community-oriented tradition. The process can take up to two hours.  The beans are roasted right before consumption, then ground and prepared to make what Ethiopians call espresso. Some use sugar while the more traditional approach would be to add salt or butter.

11. Frappé, Greece

Greek frappé coffee is a foam-covered iced coffee drink made with instant coffee, water and sugar. It’s known as one of the most popular drinks in Greece and Cyprus and you can find it at most cafes over there. The frappé was discovered accidentally by a Nescafe representative in 1957.

12. Mazagran, Portugal 

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While there are a few varieties of Mazagran throughout Portugal, Austria and parts of France, Portuguese Mazagran is probably the most common preparation. It’s a mixture of sweetened coffee, espresso and lemon. Sometimes people call it coffee lemonade and garnish it with a few lemon slices.