You can study the tourist guide as much as you like, you can make sure to avoid looking at a map when you’re on holiday and you can even perfect your pronunciation to avoid being labelled ‘tourist’ but it is always the little things that give you away.
In Spain, for instance, trying to ask for a restaurant that’s open for dinner before 9pm will immediately mark you out as a non-local. Who eats that early, well-meaning locals will ask themselves, as they direct you to the nearest expensive tourist-trap.
Surprisingly, there are a wide variety of ways in which you should, ahem, can drink coffee. and this varies from one country to another. In an age where there is a Starbucks on every corner in the civilised (?) world, and where coffee can become more and more overpriced and watered down than you thought possible, the traditional way of drinking this caffeinated goodness reminds us that it is more than a lifestyle beverage.
The infographic below was put together and is provided by the good people behind foodpackaginglabels.net. Take a look and see if the country you’re going to visit this summer is on there and check out what you should know to be able to drink coffee like a local.
Taking a whole hour to drink a cup of coffee sounds excessive but then we are fascinated with the Japanese tea rituals, so this is hardly unusual. I’m guessing that Ethiopians would find the Italian habit of taking 4 – 5 coffees a day exhausting!
Is your country shown here? How do you drink coffee in your part of the world?