Have you ever heard about Asian Coffee? You might think it is an Asian recipe…quite straightforward…but reality is it’s a Spanish recipe! Read on to learn more!
Each part of the world has its own coffee… but Asian coffee comes from Spain!
So where was the Asian coffee recipe born? Asian coffee finds its origin in the town of Cartagena in Spain. If you ever visit the area you’ll notice that this way of doing coffee is still super popular today!
The recipe
The recipe of Asian Coffee is easy to make. Below you can find the steps you need to know, we indicated the fraction of the drink corresponding to each ingredient:
- 1/3 of the drink will be made up of condensed milk: pour some in cone-shaped glass.
- 1/6 of the drink will be made up of Cognac+Licor43: add it to the drink. Of course, if you like your Asian coffee to have a little more of a kick you can indulge a little bit with these ingredients! Also, a popular variation is made by using brandy instead of Cognac and Licor 43.
- 1/3 of the drink will be made up of espresso: pour it in the glass
- Finish it up with milk foam and you can also add cinnamon powder or sticks, a lemon twist and some coffee beans on top
You can enjoy this with a straw if you’d like. If you are wondering if you should mix the ingredients together or not: it’s up to you! Some people prefer to taste each single ingredients, others like it more when stirred.
Asian Coffee: Cartagena’s symbol
As mentioned, this specific preparation is typical of Cartagena in Spain, where it still is considered the main element of the traditional breakfast: Asian coffee, ham and toasts.
But who invented Asian Coffee? We have two main versions here:
- Some attribute its invention to Spainard Pedro Conesa Ortega, the owner of Bar Pedron of the neighbourhood of El Abujion in Cartagena. The Asian coffee would have been served here for the first time! Apparently, the coffee machine stopped making a proper coffee at Bar Pedron one day, it started tasting kind of burnt. Ortega’s wife knew the machine was quite worn-out, but she didn’t want to replace it yet. To cover the bitterness, she decided to add condensed milk and some liqueur to the regular coffee.
- Some say this is a recipe from the harbour area of the city, where all the bars served coffee to the Asian men coming from the sea, who would ask the addition of condensed milk and brandy to their coffee
We’ll never know the real story, but what we know is that every component blends perfectly in the recipe…yes, even the lemon twist!
And you know, Italians use lemon in coffee too! And it’s not only delicious, it also has curative powers if you have an headache…do you want to know more? Find out on our article here.
