Brazilian coffee
Coffee is almost as synonymous with Brazil as football is.
The South American country is the world’s largest producer of coffee, and has been one of the leading lights in the cultivation of java for the best part of 150 years. As the myth goes, Francisco de Melio Palheta smuggled in a handful of coffee beans once upon a time and from there Brazil’s coffee empire grew and grew.
But whilst they export vast quantities of beans which then wind up in our lattes, cappuccinos and espressos, the nation has a rich coffee culture itself and one that deserves exploring if you happen to find yourself in cities of Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and Belo Horizonte.
The coffee based drink of choice in Brazil is the ‘cafezihno’, or little coffee as it would be called in the English language.
Some prefer this drink with milk, but the vast majority prefer it short, sharp and as dark in colour as the Seleção’s third-kit. However, in what might come as a surprise to many, the cafezihno comes quite sweet; requests for pure espresso tend to be met with looks of confusion.
However if you fancy something a little more ‘westernised’ and something that your taste buds might immediately find more appealing than the intense cafezihno, the media is the beverage for you.
More akin to a latte, the media contains more milk than coffee.