How do the Colombian people like their coffee?
You can check the answer of the people under the question at Quora “how to make colombian coffee“
How do the Colombian people like their coffee?
You can check the answer of the people under the question at Quora “how to make colombian coffee“
Yes, of course we do. I love capuccino and I always drink it that way. As zoë says, the most usual are coffe with milk and only coffee, or “tinto” but other versions are getting more known by many people but Zoë is right, not for lower income citizens. But with the opening a few years of the Juan Valdez stores, the taste for coffee has become a bigger part of out lifes. Coffee has been always being important, but it was a thing you did at home, even having a place called Oma (as Zoë mentioned) that exists from decades now, but it wasn’t that usual. Well, let me rephrase that. It was common in some small cafeterias downtown where people gather around to talk, but it was not a part of the majority.
But with the arrival of Juan Valdez everything change and new ways of drinking coffee arrived with them. Now we have Starbucks too that is way too expensive for what they offer, but people like it anyway. Their muffins are fantastic as you might now, but the coffee is the same, you can get a cheaper one in Juan Valdez or at any small cafeteria, even cheaper.
It’s not drunk by all people but it’s start to being more known. We also have machines that you can use with small pods (surely you know what I mean), that you can make latte, mocha, marrakesh, and a lot of varied coffees.
Obviously everyone here is correct, but just to add one thing. I wound up taking coffee with me when I went to Colombia. You would think, as a major exporter, that it would be coffee central. But most of the best coffee gets shipped to the gringos, thought that is changing slowly.
I like my coffee iced, no milk and no sugar, or as I say ‘I like my coffee like I like my women. Cold and bitter.’ Iced coffee barely exists (at least in Medellin) and getting hot coffee without sugar was almost impossible.
As a substitute (if you don’t need the caffeine) Colombia has about 100 different versions of hot chocolate. Some sweeter than others, some with milk, some without milk. As an American I thought of ‘hot chocolate’ as something you drink on cold nights in the winter. But it turns out a big bowl of not-too-sweet hot chocolate goes great with a bowl of rice and beans and chicharones. Who knew? Give it a try when you’re there.
Black and warm. I don’t like drinking coffee from coffee shops. My favorite brands (Juan Valdez, Cafe del Quindio and OMA), have their own “cafeterias” and you can buy a cup but the coffee is just terrible 😅. I prefer my coffee home made, or from my mom or sister. This would be a fun fact since we are popular for our coffee but the baristas just don’t know how to prepare one. When I go to a place I’m not sure about the coffee I would get a cappuccino or something similar.
Although there are a few café chains like Starbucks (Juan Valdez and Oma are the most famous/popular, although I think there are now three branches of Starbucks too), where you can get all of the standard latte, cappuccino, etc drinks…. Most Colombians drink either “cafe con leche” which is usually instant coffee dissolved in hot milk, or “tinto” which is sweet black coffee (good luck getting it without the sugar!). The chains are usually for the upper classes (strato 4 /5 / 6) and foreigners. The cafes con leche and tintos are served in very small cups (make a circle with your thumb and forefinger – that’s about the size of the standard coffee cup).
Although the cafe con leche might not sound very nice, I actually miss it sometimes. It has all the caffeine of coffee, but all the comfort of a hot chocolate 😀 Perfect for walking down the Septima (main street in Bogotá) at 7 am in the cold!
Edited to add: unless you live in one of the richer parts of the city/society, its highly likely that you’ve never tried a latte, or even know what a mocha is.