Thursday, October 8, 2015

Ordering a Coffee in Israel

When an Iced Coffee is Made of Ice

Coffee is something both universal and uniquely different in most areas of the world.  Walking into a cafe in Europe, the US, or the Middle East and ordering a coffee will produce pretty different results. Israel is no exception.  In this post I want to share what I got when I ordered different types of coffee in Israel.
old jaffa coffee
An Israeli version of an ice coffee at a cafe in Old Jaffa.
I was in Israel in the summer and it was hot.  In Eilat where I spent most of my time the highs were usually in the 110s fahrenheit.  When the weather was touching the top end of the thermometer and I needed a caffeine boost, I reached for an ice coffee, which we know of in the US as extra strong coffee chilled in a refrigerator for several hours before being poured over a tall glass of ice.  In Israel an ice coffee resembles a frappachino.  It's a drink comprised of coffee, sugar, and ice blended together.  At a fast food place like Aroma, the iced coffees are quickly dispensed out of an icee machine.  At nicer restaurants they are served in a tall glass like a milkshake, with chocolate syrup coating the sides.  Yum!  One of these tasty treats like in the photo above I took in Jaffa cost me $2.50 USD in Jerusalem, definitely worth the cash but not an every day occurrence.  
A nespresso machine we borrowed while in Israel.  These machines are the keurig cups of Israel.  The preloaded pods allowed us to quickly make espresso at home.  
More commonly when I ordered a coffee in Israel I got a list of choices.  I could have an espresso, instant coffee (which is the norm for what most people drink at home), or a turkish coffee.  A turkish coffee is probably the least familiar of these options to those stateside.  Turkish coffee is made in little brass pots in which coffee grounds are slowly heated in the pot with water (traditionally outside with coals).  The liquid is then decanted off the grounds into cups.  Flavored with cardamon and sugar the trick with drinking turkish coffee is knowing when to stop.  One sip too many results in a mouthful of coffee grounds which settled on the bottom of the cup.  A super strong and small drink I think the trick to getting a good cup of turkish coffee is getting one of the first cups poured out of the pot.  Liquid closer to the bottom is typically overloaded with grounds.  
israel
Home made turkish coffee made by a Turkish acquaintance I enjoyed in Israel.  The coffee grounds slowly heat in water over coals.
Of course sometimes I just wanted a taste of home, with some good old drip coffee.  When I actually saw drip coffee on a menu in Tel Aviv when having shakshuka for breakfast, I couldn't help but order two cups.  What I got was an individual percolation cup with a pre-packed pod of coffee in it, over which hot water was poured and allowed to filter through.  It was delicious, not just because it was good coffee, but because it was familiar after a month abroad.  
My drip coffee drip, drip, dripping away into my cup at breakfast in Tel Aviv.
When drip coffee wasn't available and I still wanted that taste of home, I ordered an americano.  Americanos (made of espresso and hot water) were invented by US soldiers in Europe in World War II.  Wanting coffee like they had back home, but only finding espresso in Europe.  The G.I.s diluted espresso with hot water to their taste.  Now we can order an americano at any Starbucks, which I never understand the reason for at home since it was super similar to but cost way more than drip coffee.  In countries of strong European influence like Israel though it is often the best option for a taste of home.

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