EUROPEAN COFFEE CUSTOMS
France
Café is a French word that means “coffeehouse.”
To be sure, if it weren’t for the practically invariable high roast and the sometimes disturbing chicory addition, coffee in France would be an unqualified delight—at least, that’s how it seems to American eyes. In France, it is very rare, if ever, to encounter coffee that has been poorly brewed—it is never boiled.
France is the second largest consumer of coffee in the world, behind the United States, with over 2 million bags consumed yearly. East Indies coffee, Mocha coffee, Haitian coffee, Central American coffee, Colombian coffee, and Brazilian coffee are just a few of the variations available.
Despite the fact that France has a large number of commercial and retail coffee roasters, home roasting continues to be popular, especially in the rural districts. Even in the current department shops of major cities, the little sheet-iron cylinder roasters, which are hand-turned over an iron box containing the charcoal fire, remain in high demand.
On a sunny day in every hamlet or city in France, it is usual to see a homeowner rotating his roaster on the curb in front of his home, and this is especially true in the countryside. Emmet G. Beeson, writing in the Tea and Coffee Trade Journal, provides us with the following vignette on rural coffee roasting in the southern French countryside:
In a specific village in the south of France, I came across an elderly gentleman wearing a suit that was a bit more substantial than the typical house ensemble, and operating a machine with a capacity of around ten pounds. Instead of using a cylinder to roast his coffee, he had perched a hollow round ball made of sheet iron on a sheet-iron frame, which he had constructed himself.
There was a little slide in the center of the ball, which could be opened with the use of a metal tool at the top. He had started a charcoal fire in the sheet-iron structure he had built for himself. His roaster was directly in front of a homemade cooling pan, the sides of which were constructed of wood and the bottom of which was covered with a fine grade of wire screening.
When we arrived, the elderly gentleman had taken his position on the curb, and a large black cat had taken advantage of the warmth provided by the charcoal fire and was curled up, sleeping happily in the pan closest to the fire. The elderly gentleman paid no notice to the cat, but continued to rotate his ball of coffee while smoking away pensively on his cigarette in a contemplative manner.
As soon as his coffee had become blackened and burned, which it had become, he stopped rotating the ball, opened the slide in the top, and turned it over, and the hot, burned coffee rolled out, landing on the sleeping cat, who leaped out of the pan and scurried up the street and into a hole under an old building, much to his delight and amusement.
I later discovered that this elderly gentleman made a living by traveling about the town and collecting coffee from various residences along the road, which he then roasted for a few cents per kilogram.
It is possible that almost all of the coffee is ground at home, which is not a negative practice for the user, but it may be a financial difficulty for the dealer, who may add some grade grinders into his blends without causing any major damage to the final product.
Strong-Arm coffee mills are utilized in the shops, and they come from a long line of milling families with a rich background. In order to elicit a growl from the grocer in France, purchase a kilo of coffee and request that he grind it.
Packaged coffee and proprietary brands have not taken hold in France to the extent that they have in the United States, despite the fact that there are currently two firms in Paris that have begun in this business and are advertising extensively on billboards, in streetcars, and in the subway system.
The majority of coffee, on the other hand, is still sold in bulk. France’s butter, egg, and cheese shops do a brisk business in coffee, as does the country’s cheese shops. Prior to World War II and the subsequent spike in prices, there were a number of extremely big corporations engaged in premium commerce in coffee, tea, spices, and other commodities.
They are still in business and conduct a good trade, but the firm has suffered greatly as a result of the high costs of coffee and premiums in recent years. They operate in the same way as some of our American firms do, using the wagon route and solicitor approach. It has been more than thirty years since one very big Paris-based corporation began doing business in this field, with branches and wagons in every town, village, and hamlet across France.
Some believe that the high price of wine is causing a significant increase in the use of coffee in France; others believe that coffee is just becoming more popular with the general public. Among the common people, a bowl or cup of café au lait, or half a cup or bowl of strong black coffee with chicory, half a cup of hot milk, and a yard of bread constitutes a French breakfast. In order to soak up as much liquid as possible, the workingman flips his loaf of bread on its side and places it into his bowl of coffee.
Then he continues to ingest this combination via his nose and into his system. The amount of noise he makes throughout the procedure demonstrates his approbation of the situation.
Breakfast in the upper grades is the same as in the lower levels: café au lait, buns with butter, and perhaps fresh fruit. The drip technique, also known as real percolator method, or filtering are used to make the brew.
The milk is poured into the cup from a pot held in one hand, while the coffee is poured into the cup from a pot held in the other, resulting in a simultaneous combination of the two liquids. The proportions may range from half-and-half to one part coffee and three parts milk, depending on preference. Occasionally, the service is provided by pouring a little amount of coffee into the cup, followed by the same amount of milk, and continuing in this manner until the cup is completely filled.
Despite the fact that coffee is never taken with any meal other than breakfast, it is always provided en demi-tasse after the midday and evening meals.
At home, the customary thing to do after lunch or supper is to go to the salon and have a demi-tasse, a glass of liqueur, and a pack of smokes in front of the fireplace. Frenchmen prefer their after-dinner coffee to be unusually thick and black, and they always have their liqueur with them, regardless of whether they have had a cocktail as an appetizer, an entire bottle of red wine with their main course and another bottle of white wine with their salad and dessert courses before they sit down to their coffee.
As soon as the demi-tasse arrives, he must be offered his cordial in the form of cognac, benedictine, or crème de menthe, depending on the occasion. He cannot imagine a guy who does not drink a little amount of alcohol with his after-dinner coffee, which he believes is beneficial to digestion.
Making coffee in France has always been and will continue to be done using the drip and filter processes. The major hotels and cafés, as well as the average homemaker, nearly totally adhere to these procedures. To offer exceptional coffee when guests arrive, Mr. Beeson says he has seen a chef drip the coffee by pouring it over tightly packed, finely powdered beans one spoonful of hot water at a time, and letting the water to percolate through to extract every speck of oil from the coffee beans.
When they make four or five demi-tasses, they use more ground coffee in quantity than they use liquid in the cup, and it might take them an hour to complete the task. It goes without saying that when it is ready to be consumed, it tastes more like molasses than coffee.
In certain regions of France, it is common practice to preserve the coffee grounds for a second or even third infusion, however this is not considered good practice.
Von Liebig’s conception of proper coffee preparation (which may be found in the later section on Germany’s coffee rituals) has been adapted to French practice in certain situations in the following ways:
” Used coffee grounds should be placed in the bottom chamber of a drip coffee maker. Place freshly ground coffee in the top chamber of the espresso machine. Pour in a pot of boiling water. The notion is that the old coffee provides the body and strength, while the new coffee provides the aromatic qualities.
In Paris and other major cities around France, coffee is served in practically every café, whether it is basic or with milk, and almost usually with liqueur. In France, the coffee house is often referred to as the wine house, while the wine house is sometimes referred to as the coffee house. They are inextricably linked.
Coffee may be obtained at any time of day or night at any of these places, no matter how little or huge they are. The owner of a very big café in Paris claims that his coffee sales during the day are nearly as high as his wine sales during the evening.
In the afternoon, a little cup or glass of café black or café nature signifies a break from the office. It is twice the typical quantity of coffee trickled through a percolator or filtering equipment, with the whole process taking eight to 10 minutes to complete.
Some people believe that café noir is made out of equal parts coffee and brandy, with sugar and vanilla added to taste. It is called café gloria when a cup of café noir is blended with an equal amount of cognac and nothing else. Café Mazagran is also quite popular throughout the warmer months. In the same manner as for café noir, the coffee foundation is prepared, and it is served in a tall glass filled with water to dilute it to one’s preference.
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kaffee is an abbreviation (coffee tree: kaffeebaum)
The kaffeeklatsch, or afternoon coffee event, originated in Germany and is still in use today. Despite the passage of time, Sunday afternoons are still reserved for the German family’s gathering around the coffee table. Every summer, when the weather allows, the family will take a trip into the suburbs and stop at a garden where coffee is served in pots by the cupful.
The coffee, the cups, the spoons, and, in normal times, the sugar (two pieces each cup) are all provided by the establishment’s proprietors. The cake is provided by the patrons. After putting one piece of sugar into each cup, they carry the remaining pieces home to the “canary bird,” which is a sugar bowl located in the pantry.
Some housekeepers adhere to Baron Von Liebig’s technique of brewing coffee, in which three-fourths of the amount to be used is first boiled for ten or fifteen minutes, and the remaining is added for a six-minute steeping or infusion, as a religious practice. Von Liebig advocated for covering the bean with sugar, which he believed would increase its flavor. When settling and clarifying a beverage in certain households, fats, eggs, or eggshells are utilized.
In comparison to many other European nations, German coffee is better cooked (roasted) and more carefully made. Although there has been an incredible growth in the usage of coffee replacements in recent years, particularly during World War II and afterwards, a German cup of coffee is no longer the sheer joy that it once was in this country.
Some gardens provide cheaper coffee, which is clearly marked with enormous signs at the entry that read: “Families are welcome to prepare their own coffee in this location.” In such a garden, the patron just purchases hot water from the owner, and he or she is responsible for providing the ground coffee and the cake.
The band is playing in the background, and children are playing beneath the shade of the trees as he waits for his coffee to boil. Brewing takes place in French or Vienna drip pots.
Cafes can be found in almost every city in Germany. They are large, open spaces where people gather around small tables to drink coffee, “with or without,” turned or unturned, steaming or iced, sweetened or unsweetened, depending on the sugar supply; nibble on a piece of cake or pastry, chosen from a glass pyramid; talk, flirt, yawn, read, and smoke.
Indeed, cafés serve as public reading rooms for the community. For the convenience of their customers, several establishments maintain hundreds of daily and weekly newspapers and periodicals on hand. Customers who merely purchase one cup of coffee are free to remain seated in their I seat for hours and read one newspaper after another.
Although infusion, true percolation (drip), and filtering processes are popular in the United Kingdom and other parts of the British Isles, brewing coffee is still the preferred method in the country.
The earthenware jug, with or without the cotton bag that transforms it into a coffee biggin, is a popular accessory. For usage when there is no bag, it is recommended that the jug be warmed up beforehand. One ounce (three dessert spoonfuls) of freshly ground coffee is added to the pot for every pint of liquor. Three-fourths of the total quantity of water necessary is poured over it, which is newly boiling.
A wooden spoon is used to swirl the remaining water into the pot before returning it to the “hob” to infuse and let it to sit for three to five minutes. The ultimate settling is sometimes stirred once more by some.
The roasting, handling, and brewing of coffee are the three most significant flaws in the English process, according to American standards. It has been said that the beans are not adequately boiled in the first place, and that they are too frequently stale before being ground before being pulverized.
A light roast or cinnamon roast is preferred by the English, whereas the greatest American method is to roast it at a high level or in the city. On the South Downs, a dark shade of brown is preferred, whereas a lighter shade is preferred in Lancashire, the West Riding of Yorkshire, and the southernmost part of Scotland, respectively. To be successful in this business, a mature chestnut brown is required in the majority of cases. Gas and coke machines are used for wholesale roasting, whilst tiny innerheated gas machines are used mostly by retail roasters.
Before the national character of the beverage is uniformly improved, the British customer will need extensive teaching. However, although the coffee may be more thoroughly roasted and “cooked” than in the past, it is still left unsold for an excessive amount of time after roasting, or it is ground for an excessive amount of time before being used. This is being rectified, however, and consumers all over the world are being advised to purchase their coffee that has been freshly roasted as well as having it ground just before serving.
The popularity of some canned “coffees,” which were really combinations of ground coffee and chicory and were known for a period as “French” coffee, is another aspect that has definitely contributed to England’s poor reputation among coffee enthusiasts. Possibly because they were simple to handle, they gained popularity. Packaged coffees have not evolved in the same way that they have in the United States; but, there is a more or less restricted market for them in England, and there are numerous decent brands of perfectly pure coffee on the market today.
Demi-tasse is a popular after-lunch, after-dinner, and even throughout the day, particularly in urban areas, where it can be found everywhere. There are cafés in London that specialize in it, and it is widely available across the world.
While it is common in the household to steep the coffee, at hotels and restaurants, a percolating equipment, an extractor, or a steam machine is used to prepare the beverage.
Visitors from the United States have complained that the coffee in England is too thick and syrupy for their taste bud’s enjoyment. Coffee is served in clay stoneware or silver pots in eateries, either “white” (with milk) or “black.” “Hot milk with a dash of coffee” is a common item on the menu of chain restaurants.
Because it surely leads to the misuse of over-infusion, the steeping technique, which is so popular in England, may be to blame for some of the disparaging remarks made about English coffee. The end result, after all, is as awful as boiling.
Tea drinking is well entrenched in the culture of the United Kingdom, and it is exceedingly unlikely that this national practice, imprinted through centuries of consumption at breakfast and at tea time in the afternoon, will ever be altered, despite widespread support for it.
During the seventeenth and eighteenth century, the London coffee houses gave birth to a new sort of coffee house whose primary focus was on food rather than alcohol. They too started to change as a result of the shifting effects of a society that needed contemporary hotels, expensive tea lounges, clever restaurants, chain stores, tea rooms, and cafés with and without coffee, among other amenities. For a period of time, a specific style of “coffee shop,” with rough boards booths, sanded floors, and “private chambers,” frequented by lower class workingmen, could be found in England; but, due of their questionable nature, they were closed down by the authorities.
EUROPEAN COFFEE CUSTOMS
Italy
caffe (coffee) in Italian
In Italy, coffee is roasted in a variety of settings, including wholesale and retail stores, as well as in the house. Machines from France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Italy are utilized. The complete city roast, often known as an Italian roast, is the most popular. Cafés are available, just as they are in other continental nations, and the drinks are made in the French style. Rapid filtration devices, which were initially created by the French and Italians, are now widely utilized in restaurants and hotels. Percolators and filtration devices are used in the house to purify water.
The De Mattia Brothers have developed a roasting procedure that preserves the fragrance of the coffee beans. When it comes to roasting and chilling, the Italians are very concerned about the temperature of the food. There is a significant amount of glazing, as well as several coffee additions.
The Italians, like the French, make a big deal out of their morning cup of café au lait. The café noir is offered at the end of the meal.
Greece
kaféo in Greek
Nonalcoholic beverages such as coffee are the most often consumed and most widely utilized in Greece. Its annual per capita usage in the country is around two pounds, with two-thirds of the supply coming from Austria and France and the majority of the remaining third coming straight from Brazil.
Coffee is roasted to a dark roast, known as a city roast, and is nearly completely consumed in powdered form. It is mostly prepared for consumption in the manner of the Turkish demi-tasse cup. Even in the preparation of basic table or morning coffee, finely ground coffee is utilized. The cylindrical brass handgrinders, which are made in Constantinople, are the most often seen in private residences. While a big iron pestle, carried by a muscular man, is used in many of Greece’s coffee establishments to smash the grains in a heavy stone or marble mortar, a little brass pestle and mortar, likewise produced in Turkey, is used in the poorest households across the nation.
Edmond François Valentin About writes in his book The Greeks of the Present Day that “the coffee that is sipped in all the Greek households somewhat astonishes the tourists who have not visited Turkey or Algeria.” He is correct. One is taken aback when they discover food in a cup in which they had anticipated drinking. But after a while, you get acclimated to this coffeebroth and eventually discover that it is more flavourful, lighter, more scented, and most importantly, more healthful, than the coffee extract that you consume in France.
Afterwards, About provides the following recipe from his servant Petros, who claims to be “the first guy in Athens to drink coffee”:
The grain is roasted without being burned, and it is then reduced to an impalpable powder, either in a mortar and pestle or in a fine-mesh mill with extremely fine grains. The water is brought to a boil, then removed from the heat to add a spoonful of coffee and a spoonful of pounded sugar for each cup that will be made; the mixture is carefully mixed, then the coffee pot is returned to the heat until the contents appear to be about to boil over; it is removed from the heat, then turned back on; and finally, it is quickly poured into the cups.
Some coffee enthusiasts have this preparation cooked as many as five times, according to their preferences. Petros has a rule that he will not place his coffee on the fire more than three times in a row. He takes great care while filling the cups to ensure that the colorful froth that rises over the coffee pot is evenly distributed; this is known as the kaimaki of the coffee. A cup that does not include kaimaki is disgraceful.
When the coffee is poured out, you have the option of drinking it hot and dirty or cold and clear, as you like. Athletes who are true amateurs consume it immediately. Those who let the sediment to settle down do not do it out of scorn; instead, they gather it with their little finger and gently consume it later.
Coffee made in this manner may be consumed without discomfort ten times a day, however five cups of French coffee could not be had without consequence every day. This is due to the fact that the coffee used by the Turks and the Greeks is a diluted tonic, but our coffee is a potent tonic
The Netherlands is a country in Europe.
koffie (coffee) in Dutch (coffee tree: koffieboonen)
The French café is a lovely component of city life in the Netherlands, particularly in the bigger towns. Unlike other countries, the Dutch roast coffee correctly and prepare it appropriately. On a silver, nickel, or brass tray, the service is served in individual pots or demi-tasses, and each pot or demi-tasse is accompanied by a miniature pitcher holding just enough cream (usually whipped), a small dish the size of an individual butter plate that holds three squares of sugar, and a long, thin glass of water.
This is a global service; a glass of water is always served with the cup of coffee.
It is the only guaranteed method of getting a sip of water in the United States. Following a meal, it is customary in the Netherlands to retire to an open-air café or indoor coffee house for an after-dinner cup of coffee. One seldom has his or her morning cup of coffee in the same location as his or her evening meal. There are a plethora of these cafés, some of which are exquisitely designed and decorated. In Holland, the French drip technique is the preferred method of brewing coffee for most people.
Russia
kophe (in Russian)
When coffee is available, Russians prefer to drink tea, which is made in the Turkish style by the majority of the population. Usually, the coffee serves simply as a “substitute” for more expensive beverages. Known as “café à la Russe,” the aristocratic version of this beverage is strong, black coffee with a hint of lemon. Alternatively, a big punch bowl may be filled with coffee and topped with a layer of finely chopped apples and pears; then cognac is poured over the top and a match is used to burn the mixture down.
Austria
kaffee is an abbreviation for coffee (coffee tree: kaffeebaum)
Vienna coffee machines are used to prepare coffee in Austria in the French manner, generally using the drip technique or a pumping percolator device, also known as a Vienna coffee machine. The eateries make use of a large-scale urn that is equipped with a metal sieve and a cloth bag combo. A screw mechanism lifts the metal sieve after the ground coffee has been infused for about six minutes, the pressure of which forces the liquid through the fabric bag that contains the ground coffee.
Vienna’s cafés are world-renowned, but the Second World War has tarnished their luster.
It used to be stated that their general quality and reasonable costs could not be matched by anybody else in the industry. From half-past eight until ten o’clock in the morning, big groups of people would congregate in them for a cup of coffee or tea, a bun and butter, and other little refreshments. Mélangé refers to coffee that has been blended with milk; “brown” coffee refers to coffee that has been darkened; and schwarzer refers to coffee that has been brewed without milk. Coffee, tea, liqueurs, ice, bottled beer, ham, eggs, and other delicacies are available at all of the establishments. Then there are the coffee shops, which are a one-of-a-kind institution.
If you want to make Vienna coffee, the liquor is normally prepared in a pumping percolator or by the drip procedure. In usual circumstances, it is served with two parts coffee to one part hot milk, and it is topped with freshly whipped cream. The dazzling crown of delectable whipped cream, however, was replaced by condensed milk, and saccharine was substituted for sugar during the World Wars of 1914–18 and the immediate postwar years.
Spain
café (in Spanish)
The French-style café is very popular in Spain. In Madrid, some of the most delicious cafés can be found in the area surrounding the Puerto del Sol, where coffee and chocolate are the most popular beverages. The coffee is prepared using the drip method and served in the traditional French manner.
Norway and Sweden are two of the most populous countries in the world.
kaffe (coffee) in Norwegian and Swedish
The roasting, grinding, preparing, and serving of coffee in Norway and Sweden are all influenced by French and German traditions. Generally speaking, less chicory is utilized, and a greater amount of whipped cream is used in the preparation. The boiling technique is popular in Norway, where it has a large following. It is necessary to use a large (open) copper kettle. This container is filled with water, and the coffee is thrown in and cooked in the water.
On a wooden plate placed on a table in the poorer-class rural dwellings, the copper kettle is taken out and laid on top of it. The coffee is served in cups right from the kettle. It is not brewed in advance. For those of a higher social level, they pour their coffee from the kettle into silver coffee pots in the kitchen, which are then taken to their dining room tables for serving.
The only item that comes close to coffee houses are the “coffee rooms” that may be found throughout Christiania. These are modest, one-room establishments where simple items, such as porridge, may be ordered in conjunction with the coffee. They are inexpensive, and they are mostly frequented by students from lower socioeconomic classes who utilize them as study spaces as they sip their coffee and do their homework.
