When we think of Spanish coffee we tend to think of a steaming mug of coffee with rum or other alcohol and topped with whipped cream, but the Spanish influence on the coffee industry reaches much further than the bar in a ski lodge.

Spanish ships carried coffee plants and seeds to many remote areas of the world where coffee was not native but soon became central growing hubs. Descendants of Spanish conquistadors settled in Central and South America where they created huge plantations for growing Spanish coffee.

Coffee originally came to Spain with Turkish immigrants. Not much, if any, coffee was actually grown in Spain but they developed a method for roasting that produces very dark, almost black oily beans that make very strong coffee that is known as Spanish Roast, or Dark French Roast.

Spanish coffee growers in Latin America accounted for nearly half of all the coffee exported; however, most Spanish coffee served in Spain comes from Angola and Mozambique and is roasted dark to bring out the full flavor.

Coffeehouses in Spain are usually elaborate, elegant gathering places with high ceilings, ornate furniture and waiters in white shirts and black ties. The customers are appropriately dressed and the atmosphere is somewhat reserved. Spanish coffee houses are quite different from other regions of the world where a casual, informal environment would be expected.

Early Arabic coffee traders tended to gouge the Spanish coffee merchants on pricing and the result was the highest priced cup of coffee in Europe. Portugal, Spain’s neighbor, had colonies in several coffee growing regions in Africa and sold coffee to the Spain at more reasonable prices, however the quality was not as good and some importers chose to pay the higher prices for the Arabian coffee.

Whether the Spaniards were the first to add alcohol to coffee is unknown, but this practice is very common in Spanish coffee houses even in the morning hours so it is possible. The familiar drink on cold afternoons does have its origin in the rich and elegant coffeehouses of Spain.

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