Unlike any other beverage, COFFEE is a UNIVERSAL product – the "queen of drinks" that goes with anything!

Coffee can be consumed on every occasion along with any other product and is intended for just about everyone. Due to its specific qualities, it cannot be put in any category of beverages and represents a category of its own, a unique drink, admired in every culture in the world.

Coffee is characteristic for every culture in the world – each nation has its little secrets regarding coffee and numerous studies have been written on this black beverage. There is even a Coffee University established in Italy to spread the culture of coffee drinking and to cherish the tradition of Italian espresso throughout the world. In Serbia, preparing, serving and drinking coffee all have special significance, being part of our tradition and culture and an inevitable ritual for the majority of the population.

Coffee in Serbia

In this region, we mainly drink traditional black coffee, often referred to as the "Turkish coffee". Although it differs a great deal from the original Turkish coffee, i.e. from the method of brewing coffee used in Arabic countries, the name became common in our parts as well.

Guidelines for making the "genuine" traditional black coffee:

Only use fresh water for brewing the coffee
- Don’t use boiling water prior to brewing because the oxygen evaporates
- Only use freshly ground or properly stored coffee

When the water in the coffee pot boils, move the pot from the fire, add ground coffee and then put the pot back on the fire until the coffee "goes up" (starts producing thick foam). When the foam "closes up" (the grounds sink to the bottom of the pot and the entire water surface is covered in foam), take the pot away from the fire and gently stir the coffee in the pot. For the full expression of refined coffee qualities, leave coffee about one minute to "settle" and then pour it into your favourite cup.

Unfortunately, not many cafés exist nowadays where they serve this "home-made" black coffee. The famous "coffee set", consisting of a cup of coffee, 2 dl of mineral water and a cube of Rahat Locum (famous Turkish delight) is served only in few old taverns.

Coffee in the Orient

In many Arabic homes, serving coffee to a guest simply goes without saying and potential refusal the offered coffee drink can be misinterpreted as refusal of hospitality and a lack of respect for the host. The coffee is mostly not even offered but simply placed in front of a guest. In the Orient, coffee is made in a special manner and is much sweeter than the coffee we make here.

The coffee is brewed as follows: put water in a large pot to boil but don’t let it overboil. Distribute coffee granules and sugar evenly in small coffee pots. Put each pot on the fire to mildly roast coffee and sugar, add hot water and leave it until very thick foam (also known as "kajmak") lifts.
Coffee brewed in this manner is served in small cups, the so-called "fildzans", along with the famous Turkish delight Rahat Lokum on the side. For the coffee’s characteristic piquant flavour, Arabians often add spices such as ginger or cardamom.

Coffee in Italy

In Italy, the homeland of espresso, some taverns offer espresso coffee as main speciality prepared in different thirty ways! The most popular coffee in Venice is "espresso pizzicato", an espresso lightly sprinkled with whipped cream. A lot of people order an "egg-coffee", made by pouring the slightly extended espresso over the previously whisked egg yolk and sugar. If you go to Genoa, you will naturally be offered a "cappuccino alla genovese" with just a little bit of milk foam as opposed to Trieste cappuccino – an espresso shot with rich milk foam and topped with bitter cocoa powder. A summer hit in many Italian cafés is "espresso tiramisu", where they basically pour the espresso over ice cream. Naturally, ice cream flavours may vary. Let there be no misunderstanding, this is not the well-known "ice coffee" for it is served in espresso cups. Italians usually serve coffee with a tiny chocolate bar or a small cookie on the side. These miniature forms all point to Italian habit of drinking coffee very quickly. A rule of Italian coffee drinking etiquette stipulates drinking espresso in two sips only. Hence, don’t be stunned if a waiter in Italy cries at you "Faster, faster!"

Coffee in America

The trendiest coffee-shops in America have been serving filter coffee with various flavours for years now. A few years ago, Americans began adding different flavours to their favourite drink, such as hazelnut, vanilla, rum, etc. It evidently became the latest trend all over America. Unfortunately, Americans seem to neglect the famous cult of coffee drinking and to regard it merely as a beverage that will perk them up and keep them focused the entire day.

Coffee in Greece

In Greece, coffee comes in many diverse forms – Freddoccino, traditional Greek coffee very similar to ours, cappuccino as well as frappe made of enormous concentration of coffee with thick foam, sugar and with or without milk. Greeks drink it through a straw for as long as they can because you can’t imagine life in Greece without coffee.

When Greek people go for a cup of coffee, it never means a quick coffee, because for them, drinking coffee is a tradition and a kind of hobby. You will never hear a waiter ask you to pay the bill while you’re having a last sip of your coffee. In this country, you can sit idle over a cup of coffee staring at the open sea or at one spot for hours. This could perhaps explain the fact why the coffee in Greece is the most expensive coffee in Europe.