Domestic coffee – what’s that?

When you come to Belgrade (or Serbia actually) and want to drink some coffee, you will find yourself in front of the choice of familiar things such as espresso, cappuccino (and other espresso-based coffees) which will probably be familiar to you. Even filter coffee is served here and there…

Nescafe (Instant coffee)

We also have something called “Nes coffee”, based on, you guessed it – Nescafe instant coffee. Although you might not get the exact brand (Nestle) while asking for “Nes coffee” (you might get or a local brand), it’s always instant coffee – you ask for “” you get instant coffee that might be Nescafe, but also it might not!

It’s similar to Greek Frappe, but we don’t mix it that much and don’t use condensed milk – it’s basically mixed instant coffee with water, milk and sugar. You can find “” at every coffee place, cafe or restaurant, as well at supermarkets. They also have “super-instant” 3in1 or 2in1 etc instant coffee with milk and sugar added to the mix.

Domestic coffee

On the other hand, there’s also something called “domaća ” (domestic coffee) that was known back in the day as “ ” (Turkish coffee). I suggest to try it out if you didn’t have a chance so far. Keep in mind that it’s really strong.

It’s the coffee you will find in every supermarket and that has a huge variety of brand-names. It’s also found in older restaurants and kafanas, but it’s slowly regaining it’s popularity in “new age” cafes as well.

It’s made from finely grounded coffee, even more than for the espresso. Almost looks like a black flour. The preparation steps are simple but need some practice.

1. You put the džezva (pot for making such coffee) on a stove and wait for the water to boil.
2. When it’s boiling, take the “džezva” off of the stove for a sec.
3. Then you put the coffee inside (usually one or two teaspoons per mug), mix it a bit and return to the stove.
4. Wait for it to boil again (but making sure it doesn’t go over, which it can and will easily do if you don’t watch it!!!).
5. Finally you take it from the stove and pour into a small mug (similar to size as the cappuccino one). As I said it’s strong but also it has “soc”, which is the coffee you have put inside the “džezva”. What you need to do now is to slowly pour the coffee into one mug, then the other, then again the first one, then the second. Why? Because this way both people drinking coffee will get the coffee itself but the “soc” (or ground coffee) as well.

The traditional way of serving such coffee, pictured above, can be found at a couple of places in town, but at home it’s usually served from “modern” džezva with a “normal” mug. Also you can find the whole package (džezva, mug, little pot for sugar etc) in souvenir shops, nice thing to take back home.

Let me know how it turned out for you!