![\"\"](\"http:\/\/tstories.grwp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/coffee-time.jpg\")
When a Greek \u00a0goes abroad, leaves behind not only his home, his family, his friends and his habits but also one of the most important \u201caliments\u201d… the Greek coffee and the ultimate procedure of its enjoyment.<\/p>\nWhen a Greek \u00a0goes abroad, leaves behind not only his home, his family, his friends and his habits but also one of the most important \u201caliments\u201d… the Greek coffee and the ultimate procedure of its enjoyment.<\/p>\n
What do I mean? Keep reading\u2026<\/p>\n
I\u2019m a Greek who lives in Italy where there is no word for cafeteria but only bar, where when you order a coffee means that – without doubt \u2013 they will bring you an espresso, <\/b>also means that you must drink it quickly seated at the stools of the bar, pay 1 euro and get out of the bar fastly with the last sip of coffee still in your mouth.<\/p>\n
Obviously, when I first arrived in Italy, I found it hard enough to adapt the Italian habits due to their coffee philosophy. I was missing desperately the summer \u00a0frapp\u00e8 and \u00a0the French coffee during the winter, something that was really difficult to explain to the others around me! Saying to an Italian that you don\u2019t like the espresso is something like blasphemy<\/b>! So I tried to find a middle way and started drinking proudly cappuccino<\/b> -after of course trying the French coffee called Americano which is made with espresso mix diluted with water! Just sucks!<\/p>\n
Until one day\u2026one of my colleagues told me that the Italians only drink cappuccio<\/b> (diminutive of cappuccino) in the morning accompanied by a chocolate croissant, and that only the German tourists order cappuccino all day long. I was ashamed and determined to become an original Italian girl so I decided to drink espresso but with a shot of milk (macchiato).<\/p>\n
This summer, I also spotted at a bar the shakerato<\/b>, shacked cold espresso with ice cubes, which I thought – before I try it- that was the same favorite Greek style frappe! But no such luck … I cannot even describe my disappointment when I drank the first sip of that wannabe frappe! And what is more, they don\u2019t even bring you water to change your taste!<\/p>\n
Two years later, I can ensure you that I\u2019ve learned to drink the espresso up to 5 times a day, even if I still insist of making a hot Nescaf\u00e8 while working so as to accompany me during the day, or a cold \u00a0extra-large frappe when it\u2019s too hot outside… What I can\u2019t \u00a0get used to, is the habit of entering the bar only for 3 minutes, time to drink the hot espresso, say goodbye and leave.<\/p>\n
Indeed, when I go to the bar to order a coffee , I first blow it, then I stir it, talk to those around me and then I drink it. Damn! It\u2019s a ritual that can\u2019t be omitted! So when I’m with friends, I\u2019m the last one to drink the coffee and as a result everyone starts teasing me, while when I am with people who don\u2019t know me\u2026I have to explain to them that in Greece the coffee is always served in huge glasses and that\u2019s why it costs so much, that we sit in the cafeteria at least 2 hours a day, that the glass of water will always accompany our coffee and that a really good \u00a0coffee is the one we drink in company and sometimes playing backgammon too….<\/strong><\/p>\n So, I\u2019m absolutely convinced that the Greek frapp\u00e8, the coffee chats and the coffee relax, a Greek can\u2019t replace them with any espresso, cappuccino or caf\u00e9 latte … as well as a foreigner can never understand this precious process of the coffee enjoyment!<\/p>\n – A sweet \u00a0frapp\u00e8, please! …<\/p>\n This post is dedicated to my italian Master ex colleagues!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n *Frapp\u00e9 coffee<\/b>\u00a0(also\u00a0Greek frapp\u00e9<\/b>\u00a0or\u00a0Caf\u00e9 frapp\u00e9<\/b>)\u00a0is a\u00a0Greek<\/a>\u00a0foam<\/a>-covered\u00a0iced coffee<\/a>\u00a0drink made from\u00a0instant coffee<\/a>(generally,\u00a0spray-dried<\/a>).It is very popular in\u00a0Greece<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Cyprus<\/a>, especially during the summer, but has now spread to other countries. Accidentally invented in 1957 in the city of\u00a0Thessaloniki<\/a>, it is now the most popular coffee among Greek youth and foreign tourists. The frapp\u00e9 has become a hallmark of the post-war outdoor Greek\u00a0coffee culture<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When a Greek \u00a0goes abroad, leaves behind not only his home, his family, his friends and his habits but also one of the most important \u201caliments\u201d… the Greek coffee and the ultimate procedure of its enjoyment. What do I mean? […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[1142],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tstories.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/923"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tstories.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tstories.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tstories.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tstories.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=923"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/tstories.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/923\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18524,"href":"https:\/\/tstories.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/923\/revisions\/18524"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tstories.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=923"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tstories.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=923"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tstories.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=923"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}