One of the great adventures of international travel is ordering coffee; you just don’t know what you might get. Americano may be the closest to what we are familiar with, but asking for just coffee, who knows?
On a small-group tour in Rome with a local guide, we were walking through a large shopping mall when we came across an Illy coffee bar. We asked if we had time for a cup, and we had a small Illy espresso, and it was fabulous. Italian coffee lived up to its hype.
In 2004, we traveled by train to Grenoble, France. There, we ordered coffee: Rich, an Americano, and me, I tried something different. It was truly one of the most memorable cups yet. It was in a parfait-type glass, with a shot of espresso at the bottom and the top filled with whipped cream.
In 2019, we traveled to Costa Rica and with a private guide, we visited Cafe’ Don Cornelio Coffee farm, hosted by his daughter. We walked among her coffee plants, and we saw the size of the picking baskets, the drying, the roasting, and the eventual brewing of the fresh beans. We learned about blight that can destroy plants, and about machine harvesting vs hand harvesting only the ripest red coffee cherries.
Driving through the countryside, we saw workers hand-picking coffee beans on steep slopes. We saw women with their babies on their backs, coffee baskets on the front, picking coffee cherries by hand. To this day, I take care to never waste a bean that falls from the 2-lb bags we so conveniently buy at Costco.
Majestic Cafe
In Porto, Portugal, we had a free day to explore and made our way to the famous Majestic Cafe, which opened in 1929. We had to wait in line to get a table, but once inside, we were surrounded by elaborate art deco glasswork, leather-tooled benches, and scrolled woodwork. We were seated near the bar, where we watched a variety of drinks prepared and picked up by the waiters. Again, I was game to try something different, and I asked the waiter for “one of those.” Lost in translation, I wasn’t sure exactly what it was called, but it had cream on the bottom, coffee in the middle, and whipped cream on top. More like hot ice cream than coffee, and oh-so-pretty.
Weasel processing!
Vietnam is famous for its dark, rich coffee mixed with sweetened condensed milk. We tried it, and it was intense. We were exploring an art gallery in Vietnam, and there was a coffee bar inside that offered Weasel coffee. Ground and brewed from the beans a weasel ate, passed through, and then roasted for its exotic flavors. It was hard to define its definite charm, but for a laugh, we brought home a small bag of pre-ground coffee with the idea of sharing it with friends, but we’ve never had the courage.
Along the way we experienced the artistic foam movement and I discovered a fondness for cappuccinos!
Everywhere we travel, we try the coffee. A universal drink varied in so many ways and yet joins us all together.
Everywhere we travel, we try the coffee. A universal drink varied in so many ways and yet joins us all together.