23 Ways The World Drinks Coffee Slideshow

The humorist Dave Barry once said, "It is inhumane, in my opinion, to force people who have a genuine medical need for coffee to wait in line behind people who apparently view it as some kind of recreational activity." Love it or hate it, almost from the moment humankind discovered coffee's great taste and many benefits, we have doggedly pursued the pleasure of its company. 

It's our regular breakfast companion and somehow tastes great with everything from eggs and bacon to flaky croissants, is the perfect pick-me-up during the day, helps us focus when we are working on a brain-twisting task, and can be a comforting drink when we feel down. Entire ceremonies have grown around its preparation. Obsessed devotees spend their lives in search of the perfect cup and, after petroleum, and coffee is the most widely traded commodity in the world.

Coffee and its culture have slowly seeped into even the most stalwart tea drinking nations and we can use coffee culture as a window into different corners of the world. Coffee and how it fits into the fabric of a country's social and dining traditions can tell us a lot about its people; it's as if coffee has become a passport to different cuisines, so why not join us as we journey around the world one cup at a time.

As a commonwealth nation that is part of the realm of the Queen of England, Australia has long traditions of tea drinking, but its people have also become huge fans of coffee. Australians and New Zealanders are absolutely obsessed with a drink they call a flat white. Often mistakenly compared to a latte, a proper flat white is distinguished by a dusky orange swirl of frothed velvety milk micro-foam, the result of that foam merging with an espresso shot's crema. The soft, creamy texture is what makes this drink a palate-pleaser but getting it just right takes a skilled barista.

A relatively conservative country like Chile is the last place you would expect to find a risqué coffee tradition, but visitors to the capitol of Santiago can get an eye-full if they play their cards right. Just look for one of well-known chains like Café Caribe or Café do Brasil and you can witness the tradition called café con piernas, Spanish for "coffee with legs." In most cases, it's young, attractive women dressed in mini-skirts and high heels pouring coffee for a mostly male clientele. The women stand behind counters on raised catwalks that give guests a better view of the women's "assets" while they pour hot, strong, cups of espresso. In the 1990s things got even more titillating when some of the women were required to wear revealing lingerie and even bikinis, but in most cases mini-skirts prevail today.

In Ethiopia, where coffee comes from in the first place, both the coffee itself (called buna) and the coffee ceremony (jebena buna), reflect the people's pride in their history and coffee culture. But it's not for those in a hurry. This ceremony, which can last as long as two hours, involves putting black-roasted, coarsely ground coffee beans into a jebena, a clay pot with a long neck; adding water; then bringing the coffee to a boil three times over hot coals. Once the coffee is boiling hot, guests are served three cups of coffee in succession: first, the arbol, strong and rich with full body and earthy aromas; next, the tona, made with the same coffee grounds and is weaker and less flavorful; finally, the bereka, the weakest, regarded as one for the road and the signal of the end of the coffee drinking. All are served with plenty of sugar.

Although the Germans are better known for beer and wine, coffee in Germany has been an important part of the daily routine since the 1600s when it was the sole privilege of the wealthy and elite. Johann Sebastian Bach was such a coffee fan that he once wrote, "I need to have coffee, coffee; if you want to give me a treat — pour me a cup of coffee."  We can thank the Germans for ritual coffee breaks with sweets and the word Kaffeeklatsch, but more surprising is the fact that Germans now drink more coffee than they do beer, wine, or water — especially in drinks like Eiskaffee.

Coffee has a long history in Hungary, thanks to the invasion of the Ottomans in the sixteenth century. Often called fekete leves, black soup — "black" not for its color but because the Ottomans had the habit of serving coffee when taxes are due to be paid — coffee is Hungary's national drink. It's usually a very strong brew, like espresso, with lots of caffeine. Once the Ottomans were kicked out of the country, a long tradition of elegant coffeehouses took hold and introduced an era of elegant coffee drinks and elaborate desserts, and these coffeehouses became gathering places for writers, intellectuals, and every strata of society.

In Europe, Italy is where it all began, back in the 1600s. Depending on the city, each region has its own regional coffee drinks, in addition to the most common ones found from one end of the boot to the other. In Naples, order a caffè sospeso, "suspended coffee" — not a preparation but the Neapolitan tradition, which has since spread of many other countrries, of paying it forward, buying two coffees, drinking one, and leaving the other for a less fortunate stranger to enjoy for free. In Trentinom which lies close to Austria, sample a cappuccino viennese, a frothy cup of coffee flavored with cinnamon and chocolate. And thank the island of Sicily, whose cuisine and culture were influenced by the Phoenicians and Greeks when you order a caffè d'u parrinu, which is an Arabic-style of thick coffee flavored with cocoa, cinnamon, and cloves.

Long before there were coffeehouses in Vienna and Italy, a cup of kahawa was a morning ritual in Kenya. It's thought that a thousand years ago coffee was fermented to make an alcoholic drink, but scholars believe it was the Ethiopians who first began cultivating coffee in the region of Kaffa. Quaint legends about shepherd discovering the coffee plant aside, Kenyan coffee is superior and is part of a simple breakfast, what is called chakula cha asubuhi. The first meal of the day is usually a maandazi with a cup of kahawa or sometimes a chapati dunked in kahawa. Tea is still the predominant hot drink, but many young Kenyans are switching to coffee due to lifestyle branding and the perception that hanging out in fancy coffee shops is hip. They tend to still drink their coffee strong with few additions and look for a good cappuccino or a good espresso.

In Morocco, coffee culture wears the mask of two distinct cultures: the Arabic East and the European West. Considered the national drink of Morocco, coffee here is highly aromatic, drunk all day long, and traditionally prepared in a dallah over an open fire with coffee ground in a mortar and pestle. It is sometimes pre-sweetened with sugar, but not always. Special spice blends added before brewing can include from ten to 20 spices; and this slow-brewing coffee is cooked until thick, rich, and black, into what is called café cassis, "blackcurrant coffee." Most Moroccans now use electric coffee grinders to shorten the time, but tradition dictates the use of sugar.

When in Portugal, it's easy to get addicted to the delicious food — and the coffee. Visitors to Lisbon succumb to the ritual of breaking for a bica easily, and this odd word, which is not Portuguese, is used to indicate a short espresso. Agreement about the origins of the word is impossible to find; some say it stands for bebe isto com açucar, Portuguese for "drink this with sugar, " an obvious reference to the Portuguese sweet tooth. In Porto, however, instead of a bica , an espresso is a cimbalino. This name comes from the first espresso machines brought into the country from the La Cimbali company. If must have a bit of milk with your bica or your cimbalino, try a cortado.

Influenced by neighboring cultures and cuisines in China and Southeast Asia, Singapore has its own distinct coffee culture called kopitiam, which began in the 1700s with the arrival of immigrants from Asia and Europe. Kopitiam is a portmanteau of the Malay word for coffee, kopi, which is coffee, and the Hokkein word for shop, tiam. When you order a kopi-c, you will be served a thick, sweet cup of drip -style filtered coffee whose beans have been roasted in margarine. Made primarily with the robusta beans that do well in Southeast Asia, this coffee, similar to Vietnamese coffee, is served with plenty of sugar and evaporated milk.

The Swedes, like their Finnish and Norwegian counterparts, are big fans of coffee, but especially the tradition known as fika. The word means "break" in Swedish and it's both a noun and a verb describing a Swedish institution. This social convention is a fully developed, more significant version of the coffee break and the Swedes fika at least once per day. It's a tradition where families, friends, or co-workers take a break to meet, socialize, catch up, drink some coffee, and indulge in a spread of sweet treats like cookies and cakes. While the coffee is important, fika is really more about socializing and connecting. Classic black drip coffee is the Swedish standard, but French presses are also popular, as is kokkaffe, or boiled coffee. Most often order a simple espresso or kaffe latte in cafés, but the café culture hasn't taken on as in other countries in the EU.