Coffee is a popular drink that people all over the world love. Folks in different places make coffee in creative ways. They use interesting ingredients and cool methods to brew it. Beyond regular coffees like lattes, cappuccinos, etc., there are exciting kinds to try.
Some coffees taste a little spicy, fruity, or chocolatey. Others were made in traditional ways from long ago. If you're up for an adventure, there's a whole world of new coffees to explore. You can find new flavours, smells, and old customs.
So, brew up a fresh pot, keep an open mind, and get ready to try various kinds of coffee from around the world.
Kopi Luwak
Kopi luwak may sound gross, but it's a unique coffee with an interesting origin story. It all starts with civet cats in Indonesia. These cat-like creatures eat only the ripest, tastiest coffee cherries. As the cherries pass through their digestive system, enzymes interact with the beans, transforming their flavour.
Image credit: Freepik
The civets then discard the beans in their droppings, which farmers collect, clean and roast into a one-of-a-kind brew called the kopi luwak. While wild civets once chose the cherries themselves on coffee plantations, today's kopi luwak may come from civets that are fed a special diet on farms.
Turkish Coffee That Predicts Futures
In Turkey, there's a cool tradition of telling the future from coffee grounds. After you finish a cup of Turkish coffee, which is made by boiling super-finely ground coffee beans, there are these awesome shapes left at the bottom of the cup after drinking the coffee. People in Turkey think these coffee "sediments" can show the future, with the symbols giving clues about what's coming next.
Image credit: Freepik
The fortune teller, called a "falcı," looks at the shapes and reads your destiny, using their skills with this ancient practice to make predictions for you. Pretty wild! By checking out your coffee grounds, the falcı can give you a glimpse into your fate and advice about what's ahead. This tradition turns everyday things like coffee into a way to see your future.
Butter Coffee
Bulletproof coffee is a unique beverage that has gained popularity in recent years. It is made by blending regular coffee with grass-fed butter or ghee and MCT oil, resulting in a high-fat, high-calorie drink. The concept behind bulletproof coffee is that fats provide sustained energy and improve cognitive function, helping you start your day focused and energized.
Image credit: Freepik
While it may sound unconventional, proponents of bulletproof coffee claim the healthy fats help curb hunger, support ketosis, and provide a creamy, rich mouthfeel. The coffee itself also provides the energising effects of caffeine. With its high fat content, bulletproof coffee has significantly more calories than regular black coffee; some compare it to a meal replacement.
The unique combination of ingredients is intended to help kickstart your day by fueling both the body and mind. Whether or not the touted benefits live up to the hype, bulletproof coffee has earned a dedicated following amongst fans of high-fat diets.
Charcoal Coffee
Kopi Joss is a unique Indonesian coffee drink prepared using a special brewing technique. The name "Kopi Joss" means "burning coffee" in Indonesian, referring to the addition of hot, burning charcoal during the brewing process.
To make Kopi Joss, the coffee grounds are first brewed normally in a cezve or pot. Then, a piece of lit charcoal made from coconut shell is quickly submerged into the brewed coffee. The charcoal is left to burn for a few minutes, imparting a subtle smoky flavour and keeping the coffee piping hot.
Image credit: Freepik
Egg Coffee
The decadent Vietnamese drink known as egg coffee has a fascinating history behind its rich and sweet flavour. When Vietnam was under French colonial rule in the late 1800s, dairy milk was scarce and expensive. Resourceful Vietnamese cooks creatively substituted beaten chicken eggs to produce a creamy, custard-like texture. The egg yolks lend a luxuriously thick and velvety mouthfeel, almost like a liquid dessert. Traditionally served piping hot over dark, strong coffee, the drink is sweetened with condensed milk.
Also read: Coffee, Coffee, Which Coffee Do You Want?
Monkey Spit Coffee
You may be surprised to learn that some of the world's most unique coffee comes from Taiwan. There, troops of clever Formosan macaque monkeys have developed a taste for the bright red coffee berries that grow on bushes along the mountainsides. The monkeys eat their fill of the sweet flesh before spitting out the seeds. Local farmers then collect these seeds and process them into coffee beans with a distinct vanilla-like flavour.