Cypriot Kafés
March 13, 2018
coffee. coffee. coffee. cafe. kafés. I love coffee. I know some people try to cut back or think it’s bad for you, but it’s my favourite vice and I’m very ok with the effects it has on me, good and bad. I find it fascinating how different cultures approach coffee and how different methodologies have transferred between cultures.
Anyway, if you too love coffee, you might like this post where I rant about the coffee we found in Cyprus.
It doesn’t matter where I am my most favourite thing to do is find good coffee. I like to seek out local and preferably independent coffee roasters. Some places are more plentiful in the amount of small cafes and roasters that they have, but I really only need one place to satisfy my bean lust.
Beanhaus Cafe: In Paphos I was concerned that I wouldn’t be able to find a roaster who subscribes to the third wave coffee movement, but we found a perfect spot. Beanhaus was a bit of a hike from our apartment, but it was worth it every time. Beanhaus offers a variety of fresh roasted artisanal beans and excellent coffee made any way you like it. AND most importantly each cup comes with a delicious cookie.
Home: At home we make coffee every day. We usually use a French press, but I decided to try to make Cyprus coffee one day. I watched a couple youtubes and read all about it.
Unfortunately our apartment didn’t have the proper type of pot, but I made something that I think was Cyprus coffee. It was pretty delicious and very strong which is to my understanding a sign of good cup of Cypriot coffee.
After trying to make Cyprus coffee myself we went to a local cafe to see how they do it. They seemed to preserve the crema better than I did and used Arabic beans (a much darker roast than what I had) but I think that mine was pretty close to the real thing.
Lighthouse Beach Bar: One fun (annoying) thing about Cyprus is that ordering a cappuccino can mean different things at different cafes. At our local Lighthouse Beach Bar it meant coffee with a pile of fresh whip cream topped with chocolate! Yum! Definitely not what I expected but I am not one to complain about surprise whip cream.
More important than whip cream, the lighthouse cafe gave me my very first Freddo cappuccino! I am a changed woman. Freddo cappuccino or freddo espresso is a way of making an iced coffee by cold frothing the milk rather than steaming it for texture. It usually has a really cool separation between the milk and the coffee and can be served with or without sugar. My first freddo had sugar in it, it was like candy. Since then I always order it without the sugar.
Not this Fredo.
This is the Freddo. Freddo, you could never break my heart.
Vintage Art House Espresso Bar: I forgot to take a picture of my coffee at this cafe so I grabbed a pic of John’s beer 🙂 This hipster cafe in Paphos serves Beanhaus coffee in their cute little cafe that looks like an old house filled with antiques.
Kumda Kahve Cafe: When we went over to the Turkish side of Cyprus we of course had to go for Turkish coffee. At the place we ended up at Turkish coffee is served on this beautiful tray with cool designs. You get a glass of water, a little cup of mystery juice, Turkish delight, and of course the coffee. Turkish coffee is very much like Cyprus coffee which is also exactly like Greek coffee, but the Turkish people get props for presentation and bonus treats.
The Daily Roast: While in Nicosia we decided to find a local roaster to grab some beans. This particular spot also served delicious pies!
Back at Home: We decided to invest in a small coffee grinder from Beanhaus. There are a few out there, but we decided on this Porlex mini grinder from Japan. It’s very compact and easy to use. I particularly like the control we get on the coarseness.
~B~