Ethiopia is considered the birthplace of coffee . Wild arabica varieties still grow here. It was from Ethiopia that the bitter black drink, which has invigorating properties, began its historical procession throughout the world. Nowadays, even residents of such "tea" countries as China and Japan are considered one of the largest consumers of elite coffee varieties.
Peter 1 brought coffee to Russia. I remember that in some film about Peter, the boyar's family, sitting at the dinner table, choked on coffee grounds, which they allegedly ate on the tsar’s spoons, apparently having no idea how to brew this drink properly. However, despite the almost violent introduction of the overseas product in the diet of the inhabitants of Russia by Peter the Great, he quickly “caught on” with us and became one of the most consumed and favorite drinks.
Over the centuries of the existence of this drink, significant changes have occurred in its methods of production, preparation and formulation. Real coffee lovers and gourmets still recognize only the traditional classical way of brewing it, but lovers have appeared who prefer coffee flavored with various spicy additives that soften its taste and saturate with fragrant spicy notes and aromas. The most famous spices that go well with the taste and smell of coffee are cinnamon and cardamom. Cinnamon bark, which grows in Ceylon and in China, is most often sold in ground form, it also happens in the form of thin tubes rolled up from the bark, and has an amazing, very fragrant smell. How to brew cinnamon coffee ? The easiest way is to brew espresso and add half a teaspoon of cinnamon to the finished drink. There are recipes for making a black drink with the addition of cinnamon sticks and cardamom. Coffee with cinnamon is also brewed with milk, so it turns into coffee latte.
To prepare a latte with cinnamon, first black coffee is brewed in the Turk in the classical way. Then milk is heated in a saucepan, sugar and cinnamon are added to it, everything is well mixed, brewed coffee is poured into hot milk ( instant coffee powder can be used). When the coffee-milk mixture begins to boil, it is removed from the heat, allowed to infuse for a minute and poured into cups.
By the way, it is known that cinnamon promotes the breakdown of fats, therefore coffee with cinnamon is not only a delicious invigorating drink, it is often used to reduce weight. For greater effect, add a little red pepper to black coffee with cinnamon.
Cardamom, like many oriental spices, has not only a very bright aroma, but also healing properties, it increases appetite and normalizes bowel function. They like to add cardamom to coffee in India and Arab countries, and saffron and rose water are also important ingredients for making coffee in these countries . Cardamom coffee is brewed in two main ways. At the first one at the end of brewing, add a few cardamom grains or finely ground powder to the boiling drink and let the coffee brew a little. In the second method, coffee is brewed in cardamom water, i.e. First, cardamom grains are boiled in water, then it is filtered and used in the resulting solution to brew coffee. There are recipes where cinnamon and cardamom are simultaneously added to coffee.
To prepare black coffee with cinnamon and cardamom, a Turku with water is put on fire when the water begins to boil, ground coffee is added to it, then two or three grains of cardamom and half a teaspoon of ground cinnamon or several pieces of bark. When a “living” cap of foam appears on the surface of the Turks, and it begins to rise, the Turk is removed from the fire and coffee is brewed for literally one minute, then it is poured into cups through a strainer and sugar is added to taste.