You can't come to Armenia without appreciating its strong coffee culture. On the brink of the middle east, the coffee culture is something that has stemmed from the Persian era, much enjoyed and frequently brewed despite the tough climate it offers during the height of summer. Armenians down coffee like it's water. In fact, despite the many drinking fountains scattered throughout the country, I'm still convinced the average Armenian drinks a single glass of water per day based on what I've witnessed. They'd rather brew endless little cups of coffee throughout the day, sipping it even late at night. I've had many little cups of coffee event over midnight here. And the Armenians just hop into bed and drop off to sleep immediately still. I should also say that cafe culture is quite strong as it develops here, but it's not where you get the authentic coffee experience.
If you are a fan of coffee, then Armenia's own brands are something you have to check out, alongside the brewing method of either using a jazzve, or in my case today a large percolator. The first method is to just brew it openly either with some sugar or on its own over a stove until it begins to bubble and thicken at the top. In some instances, in this part of the world is can be done over hot sand. The percolator method is to have a reservoir of water at the bottom, place the coffee above it, and then as the water heats up it is pushed into the coffee, mixing the two together before leaving the brew in a compartment at the top, ready to pour. I quite like this method, it's a bit more manual but it's a bit more engaging as a result.
It takes a few minutes depending on how hot the stove is, and naturally you don't want to have it too hot as to burn the coffee in the process. As the water boils, you can hear the bubbling of the water and coffee as it enters the top part of the percolator, to which once that bubbling sound stops you know it's done and can remove it from the heat. Also check out this tiny cup I have. Many of the Armenians will drink coffee from these cups, which are essentially like having a tiny shot glass of coffee. This is what I meant by they drink these throughout the day, not major cups of coffee like the west would drink at a cafe. A little more of an espresso type drink. I didn't really like this at first, I like a huge cup of strong coffee with nothing added. Though recently I've taken an appreciation to this method given it does regulate that intake of caffeine.
The Kaffa brand offers a selection of different types of coffee. Some of them being a mixture of Arabica and Robusta, or specifically just one of the two. With a roast metre that depicts the general strength of the coffee. I find that much of the Armenian coffee brands are quite strong to begin with, and outside of these I tend to prefer a bit of an Ethiopian blend given the more bitter taste. But with the strong sun coming through the windows, that heat of the day rising in the morning, a regular black coffee without much bitterness is a great start. It's a solid option for home coffee. It doesn't have that usual nonsense written on it regarding its "fruity flavours" or anything like that. There's no "hints or "notes" of anything. This is pure black coffee.
And for the price of around 1 GBP, it's well worth it.
