10 Unique Coffee Drinks from Around the World

10 Unique Coffee Drinks from Around the World — and How to Make the Moment Yours

Walk into a café in Vienna, Rome or Hanoi and you will meet a completely different coffee culture. One city treats coffee as a short, intense ritual at the bar; another turns it into an afternoon dessert; a third serves it thick, unfiltered and full of history. In Europe alone, the way we drink coffee changes every few hundred kilometres.

Here are ten of the world's most distinctive coffee drinks — where they come from, how they are actually made, and what to expect from the first sip. Whether you are a home barista or just curious, you will find plenty of ideas to bring back to your own kitchen. And if you like your coffee to look as good as it tastes, we have saved a little inspiration for the end.

The Ten Coffees Worth Crossing the Street For

1 Turkish Coffee Turkey

Turkish coffee is one of the oldest brewing methods still in daily use, and in 2013 it became part of UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list. The secret is in the grind: the coffee is milled finer than espresso powder and brewed slowly in a small copper pot called a cezve (or ibrik), usually with sugar added before brewing. The pot is brought to a foaming point three times — never boiled — and the foam is shared between cups.

The result is thick, intense and unapologetically unfiltered, with a natural sweetness and a dense crema-like foam. Order it sade (no sugar), orta (medium) or sekerli (sweet). It is traditionally served with a glass of cold water and a piece of Turkish delight, and — if you are feeling traditional — you can finish by tipping the cup over and reading the grounds. Even the fortune-telling is part of the ritual.

2 Espresso Romano Italy

An espresso with a slice of lemon may sound like a tourist order, but it has a genuine history. Some trace it to soldiers during the Second World War, who used lemon peel to soften the taste of poor-quality coffee; others say the bright citrus simply flatters a well-roasted bean. Whatever the origin, the idea is sound: a few drops of lemon oil cut through the espresso's bitterness and lift its aroma.

In Italy you are more likely to see it served with a strip of lemon zest on the saucer than squeezed into the cup. Rub the peel around the rim, inhale, then drink. The combination is far more subtle than it sounds — and it is a wonderful palate-opener after a rich meal.

3 Café de Olla Mexico

Café de olla means "coffee from the pot" — and the pot matters. Traditionally it is brewed in a clay olla, which gives the drink its characteristic earthy warmth. Coarse coffee is simmered slowly with cinnamon and piloncillo, an unrefined cane sugar sold in dense cones, until the kitchen smells like a Mexican bakery.

Some households add orange peel, star anise or cloves. The finished cup is sweet, gently spiced and comforting — the kind of drink that appears at festivals, family gatherings and on cold mornings. It pairs beautifully with a piece of pan dulce.

4 Egg Coffee Vietnam

Egg coffee was born in 1946, when the owner of a small Hanoi café, Nguyen Van Giang, faced a milk shortage during the French colonial period. His solution: whisk egg yolk with sweetened condensed milk until it forms a thick, custard-like foam, and pour it over strong robusta coffee. It was an instant classic, and the Giang family café in Hanoi still serves it today.

The result drinks more like dessert than coffee — rich, velvety and sweet, with the yolk foam floating on top like a cloud. It is served both hot and iced, and in Hanoi the ritual is to spoon the creamy top before reaching the coffee beneath.

5 Irish Coffee Ireland

Irish coffee was invented in the 1940s at Foynes airport in County Limerick, when chef Joe Sheridan welcomed a group of American passengers with hot coffee, Irish whiskey and cream. The drink later crossed the Atlantic via San Francisco's Buena Vista Café, but its home rules are strict: good coffee, good whiskey, brown sugar, and a layer of lightly whipped cream that floats on top — never stirred in.

The magic is in the layers: hot, sweet, spirituous coffee first, then the cool cream as you drink through it. It is a fireside drink in the best sense, and the reason why so many cafés serve it all year round.

6 Flat White Australia / NZ

Australians and New Zealanders still argue about who invented the flat white — Melbourne and Wellington both claim it, and the debate is part of the fun. What is certain is that the drink conquered the world in the 1980s and 1990s, and today it is a staple of every serious café in London, Berlin and Paris.

A flat white is made with a double ristretto and a thin layer of velvety microfoam — milk steamed until it is glossy, with almost no foam bubbles. The result is a smaller, stronger, more coffee-forward drink than a latte, with a surface so smooth it is perfect for latte art.

7 Caffè Ginseng Italy

It may surprise you that ginseng coffee is genuinely Italian — although it arrived through Asian influence and grew popular in the 1980s. Instant espresso powder is blended with ginseng extract, milk and sugar, producing a sweet, nutty, slightly herbal drink with a creamy head.

You will find it in Italian coffee bars and, remarkably often, in vending machines across the country. It is marketed as an energy boost — ginseng plus caffeine — and it is a friendly, low-bitter option for people who find a plain espresso too sharp.

8 Affogato Italy

Affogato means "drowned" — and that is exactly what happens: a scoop of vanilla gelato is drowned in a shot of hot espresso. It is part dessert, part coffee, and entirely delicious, with the heat of the espresso melting the cold gelato into a soft, sweet sauce.

Purists order it with one scoop of vanilla and nothing else. Others add a splash of amaretto or a dusting of cocoa. Either way, it is best eaten immediately with a spoon, while the contrast between hot and cold is still alive.

9 Cuban Coffee Cuba

Café Cubano is espresso taken to its sweetest extreme. During the brew, demerara or brown sugar is whipped into the first dark drops to form espuma — a thick, caramel-coloured paste — which is then layered on top of the finished shot. The result is syrupy, intense and unapologetically sweet.

In Cuba it is served in small cups and knocked back in one or two sips, usually with a glass of water on the side. Thanks to the Cuban diaspora, Miami's cafés made it famous internationally — but the habit began firmly in Cuba itself.

10 Cafezinho Brazil

In Brazil, cafezinho ("little coffee") is less a drink than a reflex of hospitality. Visit any home or office, and a small cup of strong, sweet, black coffee will appear within minutes. It is usually made by simmering finely ground coffee with sugar in hot water — sometimes in a cloth filter — and served in small demitasse cups throughout the day.

The flavour is strong and slightly caramelised, with none of the bitterness you might expect from an unfiltered brew. Refusing a cafezinho is considered almost rude, which tells you everything about its place in Brazilian culture.

Ten Coffees at a Glance

The Final Touch: Putting Art on Your Coffee

Every drink on this list is defined by its ritual — the pot, the foam, the first sip. That is exactly the part that makes coffee feel personal. And increasingly, that personal touch has a new form: printing a photo, a logo or a message directly onto the crema or milk foam of your drink.

That is what Evebot printers do. The Evebot FC1 Full Color Coffee Printer uses edible ink to reproduce full-colour images — a selfie, a brand logo, a greeting — on the surface of your coffee, in a circular area up to 10 cm across. Upload the image by scanning the QR code on the printer's 7-inch touchscreen, and the printer handles the rest in about 40–50 seconds. It is a favourite in cafés, at events, and for anyone who wants a drink that starts a conversation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Every tradition on this list started with someone experimenting in a kitchen. If you would like to start your own — and put a face on it — take a look at the coffee printer collection at evebot-store.com.