- 6/18/2025
What does a cup of coffee look like around the world? Epicurious brings together 10 chefs from 10 different countries to share their take on this universally loved drink. From a classic French press to a rich Turkish roast, explore how each culture reinvents the humble cup of coffee in their own mouthwatering way.
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00:01You're about to see 10 different chefs from 10 different countries making coffee.
00:12French people love coffee. We start drinking coffee at a young age.
00:16Like 13, 14, we start to drink coffee. It's in our DNA, in our tradition.
00:21In the French press, the coffee is fully steeped in the water,
00:25fully emerged in the water for a long period of time.
00:28This method of coffee to bring more oil and more body flavor from your coffee ground.
00:35Okay, so here we have a beautiful coffee ground that I just ground it a few minutes ago.
00:40Colombian coffee, that's my favorite.
00:42I don't grind it too fine, because if it's more fine, you may have some passing through the filter.
00:47So I'm just gonna add two spoons of the coffee, two big spoons. One, two.
00:53You have a filter at the bottom, so it keeps all the oil into the coffee instead of having a paper filter that will absorb the oil of the coffee.
01:03So it's a perfect procédé to keep full body flavor of your coffee.
01:08Now we want to have the water at 200 degrees Fahrenheit. That's the right temperature to extract the flavor.
01:14If you boil it, you're gonna disrupt the flavor of the coffee. That's it.
01:19So we're just gonna leave it like that for five or six minutes to extract the flavor of the coffee.
01:26So I'm making cafe au lait. So I'm just warming up the milk, but I'm just whisking a little bit gently because I want to have a little bit of foam on top of my coffee, almost like a cappuccino.
01:36So now it's been five minutes. We don't want to push it too fast because if you do, the coffee ground may come out the filter and you're gonna end up drinking coffee ground in your cup and that's not pleasant.
01:48So we're just gonna go slowly.
01:50I'm just scooping the foam because I like the foam, like the cappuccino.
02:04So what I use here is a French traditional bowl. It's very wide and it's deep because there's one thing that French people love to do, it's to dip it.
02:13You dip your croissant, you dip your pain au chocolat, your tartins, your baguette.
02:19You see, you dip it.
02:28Mmm, delicious.
02:30I'm gonna go straight to the point. We don't do coffee in Nigeria, we do Nescafe.
02:34It's really very popular. The best place to go to Nescafe is to go to the mall and they have this small kiosk where everybody sits like a big giant dining table.
02:43You all sit around in the morning. They make the Nescafe, the egg and the bread.
02:49So I'm going to show you how a good mallam make coffee in Nigeria.
02:52Okay, this is how we make the Nescafe. Maybe one or one and a half. Then sugar. I always think there's something special about the mallam coffee or Nescafe until I realize it just has too much sugar.
03:04Then we use carnation milk. Since most of us are lactose intolerant, we really don't know because we never have red milk until somebody like me gets to America and I start having milk.
03:15That's when my doctor told me I'm lactose intolerant.
03:19Okay, so I have to stir it a little. This is how the mallam do it and the purpose of this is to cool the tea down.
03:31So and you just do it like this. Forgive me guys, I'm not doing it right way. This is what I mean by that. You see this pour? It can be very long, like really, really long.
03:43And sometimes they do it like that. When you mix it around, you even allow the sugar, the mink, everything to blend very well together.
03:56Oh my God, you take me back to Nigeria. God damn it. Perfect. I'm not lying. This thing tastes very, very authentic mallam. I love it.
04:04I think of an American coffee as something where you'll walk into a place and you'll say, I'd like a cup of coffee.
04:10They'll pour coffee in a cup and you'll doctor it up how you like it. Okay, let's do it.
04:16I really like to use whole beans. This is mocha java. As it says, it's ripe blackberry, warm plum honey.
04:26And then you want to make sure that it's ground enough. I would describe this as a fine grind, but not super fine like an espresso.
04:35Because this espresso would need to be very fine to be compressed into that small amount of water that's going through it.
04:43The reason this needs to be not as fine as espresso is because the water is dripping through the filter and it's spraying almost.
04:51It's like a mist over the ground. So it's not being compressed. So you don't need to grind it as fine.
04:57My measurement here is I always like to do two tablespoons heaping for one cup.
05:04I made a cup earlier and I'm a little wired right now, but that looks good.
05:08That's one, two, three, and a little extra for good luck.
05:14Then we close this baby up and then we hit brew and start.
05:18How the drip coffee machine works is you pour the cold water in the water reservoir.
05:23And then there's a filter here where you put the coffee in and the water basically boils from the bottom up.
05:30And when it reaches the filter, then it sprays that water over the top of the coffee.
05:37It's really nice and dark. If it's too light in the pot, you know you made a weak cup of coffee.
05:46And I like a little half and half on mine, just a splash.
05:49Regular milk or, you know, full fat milk is nice, but it doesn't have that luxurious rich kind of creamy taste.
05:57That's good. Nothing beats that first taste.
06:02If you're an American and you grew up with this in your parents' house or in a diner or whatever,
06:08it's very nostalgic and it's very memorable and it's a very spiritual kind of experience.
06:15So Siphon style coffee is popular coffee style in Japan, especially in a kissaten,
06:21this kind of cafe all over Japan where you can just go in, order coffee, just relax and unwind yourself sometimes.
06:28Siphon coffee is partially ceremonial and tastes really good.
06:31The bean that I'm going to be using today is going to be 50% mariable.
06:35It's going to have a nice sour acidity and at the same time, very smooth and a little bit milky texture.
06:40It is absolutely important for you to grind a coffee precisely.
06:44Right now, I'm grinding for 15 grams for 250 milliliters of hot water coffee.
06:49If it's too much, you're going to have a bitterness, a sourness coming out a lot.
06:53But if it's too less, it's going to obviously taste a little watery.
06:56So we're going to grind this coffee to slightly coarse but still fine.
07:06This is the kind of consistency I'm looking for.
07:09I think it is right in the middle between espresso to French press.
07:12Not too fine, not too coarse.
07:14Just enough for water to pass through and brew it properly.
07:18Now, coffee is grounded.
07:19I'm going to set up the siphon.
07:21This is the top part of the siphon.
07:23This is a filter.
07:25And it's important to wet this so that the water is going to be going through and slightly
07:30even cooling down.
07:31And there's going to be a hook here.
07:33So I'll hook it onto this.
07:35This keeps it filtered in place and once the pressure comes up, this is going to be pulled.
07:40And the coffee is going to be going down.
07:42And this is where we put the beans.
07:47Now, we're going to measure water into this one.
07:51This is an electric heating siphon, which I like how it heats up better than the traditional alcohol lamp.
07:57To me, it heats up a little inconsistent.
08:00This is called vacuum brewing because at the bottom and the top, the top is going to have an open glassware.
08:07And the bottom is going to be sealed glassware.
08:10And now we're going to have a pressure differences on top and the bottom.
08:13So this is how you bring up the water to the top and then brew the coffee and strain it down again.
08:19So the center filter that I placed in top bowl, the cloth with the chain, that cloth part is actual filter.
08:26And so that it prevents from coffee ground to go inside the bottom.
08:29Now I'm going to set this.
08:32And as soon as I set this, the water is going to start coming up to the top.
08:36And I'm going to start mixing it.
08:38This is so that the coffee grounds are touching water evenly.
08:41After I mix it 20 seconds or so, I'm going to turn off the heat.
08:47I'm going to do final stir.
08:50And then it's going to naturally come down.
08:54So right now, the coffee is going down little by little.
08:57And this is the brewing process of a coffee that's finished.
09:06Aromatics are not properly going to be captivated by hot water if you are not doing it in a proper way.
09:13It's just the same as when you make drip coffee.
09:15You just dump water versus you slowly pour water into the coffee beans.
09:20It makes total differences on the coffee taste.
09:22It does the same thing for the siphon.
09:24I mean, the process itself is very soothing to see.
09:26So you can watch and relax.
09:28When you're going to the kisaten and the baristas making the street in front of you,
09:31you're going to have a very happy moment just watching this.
09:35I'm going to drink this siphon coffee in black without any milk or sugar.
09:40It's because I wanted to enjoy how the beans were produced and how it was roasted,
09:44how it was grounded, and to enjoy the maximum potential and aromatic in the flavor of the coffee itself.
09:49First, you enjoy the aroma that's coming from a cup.
09:52And then, after they enjoy the conversation with the friends or baristas,
09:56now we're going to have a sip.
09:57Itadakimasu.
10:02Oishii desu.
10:04In Algeria, they do, they obsess with coffee.
10:06They love coffee.
10:07They love sugar and coffee.
10:09So the way that we make our coffee, it's very special.
10:13It's super strong, super sweet.
10:15It's called Mazran.
10:16Mazran is a town in Algeria.
10:18It's actually the first iced coffee in the world.
10:21Yeah.
10:22Like the soldier used to make them back in the days in Algeria during,
10:26you know, the colonization.
10:27They used to do it iced so they can add some little rum into it.
10:31So how do we make it?
10:32So I use this coffee machine, very old school.
10:35You're adding water inside the bottom and that is just coffee filter.
10:40And you're adding the coffee inside.
10:42And of course, Algerian coffee, very important, very strong.
10:46So I'm going to add two spoon of coffee.
10:48It's not only strong, but it has a chocolate taste.
10:52It's very fine because it's for espresso.
10:54So then we're going to put the second part of the coffee.
10:57It's kind of old, but they make the best coffee.
11:00Like I still don't understand like all the new coffee machine.
11:04It's not for me.
11:05Medium low because otherwise it can go super fast and then it can overflow.
11:10So the steam forces the water through the coffee and then the coffee will start brewing.
11:15So you have like a little chimney inside that tells you when it's going to come up.
11:19Chimini is like the way that the water is going to escape.
11:22Chimini. Chimini.
11:24You hear it? Yeah, I hear it. I see it and it's coming up.
11:29I like to open it to cool it off because we're going to do it iced.
11:33So the next step, I like to always pour the hot coffee into a different mug.
11:39See the color? Like a chocolate color.
11:42Yes, very thick.
11:47So I'm going to do four ice tubes.
11:51I am going to add the sugar now because it's hot and it's almost like a syrup at the end.
11:58So I'm going to add two more ice tubes and I'm going to fresh some lemon juice.
12:04Lemon juice and coffee.
12:06That's the agenda way, you know.
12:08The lemon with the sugar, it will cut the amertum of the coffee.
12:12If you think about it.
12:13I like to add the lime and lemon.
12:19So I squeeze the lime and lemon and I'm adding some crushed ice.
12:24If you look at this, it almost feels like it's a coffee lemonade.
12:27So this is the Mazran iced coffee, Adrian iced coffee with the lemon wedge.
12:42They usually bring lemon wedge on the side in case if you want it more sour.
12:46It tastes so good.
12:49This is really the best iced coffee.
12:52The best iced coffee.
12:53I make it look so pretty and sexy.
12:55But yeah.
12:56There you go.
12:57Cheers, guys.
12:59The coffee I'm going to make, growing up, we called it Tic Tic Coffee.
13:03And the reason it's called Tic Tic Coffee in my household is because of the sound it makes when we're kind of making this coffee.
13:10A lot of kids kind of are given the responsibility of making it and probably is like an entryway into learning how to cook.
13:19All right.
13:20So I'm going to take the regular Nescafe coffee.
13:23I like my coffee strong, so I'm going to do like a couple of big heap spoons.
13:27The thing is that you cannot make this sugar less.
13:29So like for this one, you do need to add sugar to it.
13:32The sugar helps mix the emulsion, so it'll come together really nicely.
13:35So like just a little bit of water in here.
13:42So it's changing color.
13:44Instant coffee like melts really quickly.
13:52Oh my God.
13:53Look at that.
13:55It's like almost white in color.
13:57All right.
13:58That's good.
13:59I'm going to heat up the milk because we want to make it warm.
14:01I have about eight ounces in here.
14:03So I'm going to do slightly less because I want like a little bit of water in there because I like mine slightly lighter.
14:09So I'm going to pour a little bit in here and then pour that in the cup.
14:16So you'll see it like basically melts.
14:25I generally make it for two people.
14:27So I think coffee also always make two and then you enjoy them.
14:31Oh, so good.
14:34Like smoky and sweet and milky and tasty and light and hot.
14:42Growing up, green tea has always been a top drink option in Chinese culture for adults, not coffee.
14:50But growing up, we had these instant coffee.
14:53They are very delicious, but people really want to sometimes taste it for a sense of nostalgia.
15:00I think they are having a comeback.
15:02So this is also called three in one.
15:04So you can kind of guess there's coffee, there's creamer and then sugar in it.
15:09So you don't need anything else besides water.
15:11So it's super easy to make.
15:13Open the packet, pour it into a coffee mug and then pour some hot water and then stir.
15:19All right.
15:20I'm going to have a sip.
15:21It's very hot.
15:22Mmm.
15:23I actually haven't had this in a long time.
15:24It's really good.
15:25It's a bit sweet for me now, but treat it as a dessert drink after meals and it's perfect.
15:38Turkish coffee is so important in Turkish culture that it is pretty much in every part of life,
15:45from daily routines to wedding ceremonies.
15:48It's kind of the first coffee that came out to the Western world.
15:52Apparently, most of the people around the world didn't like coffee so much except for the Ottomans.
15:57Ottomans thought, oh, this is amazing.
15:58They figured out a way to use those bitter beans.
16:01They roasted them and they cooked it in a pan.
16:04Okay.
16:05So the Turkish coffee has to be medium roasted and finely ground coffee.
16:09It needs to be so fine.
16:10It feels almost like flour.
16:12It's probably as fine as it gets.
16:14It's hard to grind this fine in a home grinder.
16:16So people generally buy them grounded already.
16:19It's going to be one of the strongest coffees.
16:21That's why we want a medium roast.
16:23So when we are making Turkish coffee, first of all, we want to measure the water.
16:27And we use the Turkish coffee mug to measure our water,
16:30because this is going to give us an exact amount.
16:37Eight teaspoon full of coffee per mug.
16:40Maybe a little more, just to make my mom happy.
16:43At this point, you don't want to really stir it.
16:45Very light heat, you want to cook it slowly.
16:47So this is the biggest difference between Turkish coffee and every other coffee,
16:51that we're going to actually cook the coffee in this pot.
16:53We're trying to keep the grounds at the bottom,
16:55and that's why you want also very light heat.
16:57You don't want to burn the ground.
16:58But as it starts to boil, actually those grounds will disperse in the water nice and evenly.
17:03And then they will fall back down in the cup.
17:06So the trick of this is you want a little bit of coffee foam on top of the coffee.
17:11They say that's the skill of the coffee maker.
17:13That's why the brides-to-be are tested with their coffee making skills.
17:18Now my coffee is coming up to boil slowly.
17:21I'm going to pour a little bit on each cup.
17:23I'm trying to pour the foam in.
17:25I'm going to bring it back up to boil.
17:27Every time the coffee boils, it comes up.
17:30The foam comes up.
17:31And you never drink Turkish coffee alone.
17:33That's why I made two cups.
17:34Turkish coffee, just like espresso, should always serve with a cup of water.
17:38It's to cleanse your palate before you take a sip and also to ease your palate up a little bit after you finish drinking.
17:48It's a skill to drink Turkish coffee because the grounds are still in it.
17:53So that's why you should drink it slowly with slow sips and try to not get the coffee grounds in your mouth.
17:58But if you do, it's fine.
17:59It's just more flavor.
18:05I'm going to make a café de olla.
18:07This is a very traditional way to drink in Mexico.
18:11I'm from Oaxaca, so the way I'm used to drink the café de olla is with instant coffee, cinnamon, and piloncillo.
18:19Today we're going to make it in this stainless steel pot.
18:21And that's the modern way to make café de olla here.
18:24I'm going to turn on the stove on a medium-high heat and let it get hot.
18:30Now that the water is oily, I'm going to add the cinnamon.
18:33And I'm going to add the piloncillo to the water.
18:37It's unrefined sugar.
18:39It's sweet, but it also has a caramelized flavor.
18:43Okay, now that the piloncillo is all blended with the water,
18:47now I'm going to add the coffee and turn the heat a little bit lower.
18:50In Mexico, we produce a lot of coffee, but I don't know why we drink instant coffee in the majority,
18:56instead of the beans and grinding.
18:58It's very easy just to make and then serve.
19:01Why we like to drink it in a bowl instead of like a cup?
19:13It's because we like to dip the bread and eat it with the coffee.
19:17It reminds me very much at home, just in the mornings, walking into the kitchen and seeing the hot pot over there.
19:25And it's really nice.
19:27Coffee in Ecuador, instant coffee is the most popular coffee in Ecuador.
19:32But now, lately in the last few years, Ecuador has been rising in the coffee world.
19:36So we're getting a lot of coffee, starting to get exported into the States.
19:39We are able to grow one of the finest coffees in Ecuador. Why?
19:42Because we're right in the center of the world.
19:44That means that we have the sun the most throughout the year.
19:47So it allows us to grow more coffee throughout the whole seasons.
19:50Today, we're going to make a coffee that's from Loja.
19:52Loja is a highland of Ecuador. It's a medium blend.
19:56And that's what we're going to use to do my mom's recipe.
19:58What she did was she boiled water with some cinnamon sticks and some anise.
20:02And it would create a great aroma.
20:04It brings me back when I was little and I would have coffee.
20:08You know, I might have my first cup of Joe before I went to grade school.
20:10If you're Ecuadorian, you do have coffee when you're five and above.
20:14We're going to boil some water and then we're going to add some cinnamon sticks and some anise.
20:19Anise, we're going to drop about maybe four or five pieces.
20:23It doesn't have to be too much.
20:24And the cinnamon stick is from Ecuador.
20:26So it's a little different than what you pick up at your regular bodega.
20:29But it's also very strong.
20:31So something like this, we're just going to add maybe a little flake or a little particle.
20:35Not the whole thing.
20:36We're going to try to do sort of a medium grind.
20:43In this instance, I'm going to do a pour over coffee method.
20:46So this is something that I think people use in a lot of different countries.
20:49But there's something I did grow up with.
20:51It looks like a sock, but it's not a sock.
20:52What it allows you to do is just a regular basic method of pouring coffee.
20:55So what we're going to do is we're going to bring over the sock right over the mug.
20:59And we're going to drop the water in a circular motion slowly.
21:02You could even drop the sock inside the mug.
21:04I personally like coffee black with a little bit of sugar.
21:07As soon as you bring the mug towards your nose, you get a little bit of aromatics.
21:13You could smell the cinnamon sticks and also the anise.
21:16And with the coffee, it blends so nicely.
21:18And you don't need milk.
21:19Cheers.
21:20Or salut.
21:22Delicious.
21:23Delicious.
21:24Just like I remember.
21:25Delicious.
21:26That's good.
21:28I love it.
21:29Tastes like home.
21:30Bon appetit.
21:31Fortune telling.
21:32How did I forget this?
21:33It's the most important.
21:34My mom would kill me if she sees this video and I'm not mentioning.
21:47Once you're done drinking your coffee, you need to put the saucer upside down on top of
21:52your mug and then you shake your mug or swirl it.
21:55And with one motion, you flip it.
21:58And then someone with extreme skills is going to read your coffee grounds.
22:02And I see someone on a horse.
22:04And I see a woman at the crossroads.
22:06I see a man with a uniform.
22:08Oh, and then there's birds that are bringing news.
22:11I don't remember.
22:14This is exactly what my mom would have said.
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