How do you take your coffee?

Coffee drinkers who get their jolt drinking on the run from a paper cup are missing out on a ritual steeped in history and buzzing with character.Long before Starbucks took over the world, coffee drinkers from Africa to Europe to South America were getting together over coffee to gossip, plot revolutions and distill the meaning of life.They still do. They are often smoky, noisy, boisterous places where friends, colleagues and compatriots gather to talk, argue, hang out and unwind or rev up, depending on the time of day. Where a cup of coffee comes in a real cup without a plastic cover, and the rich, almost-burnt smell of just-roasted coffee beans hangs in the air.The Italian wayEspresso is the elemental Italian drink made to order in large, gleaming commercial machines that use pressure to force boiling water through the coffee grounds.The result: a demitasse cup of coffee that is hot, strong, dark, richly flavoured and lightly textured. Look for a delicate caramel-coloured crema on top, the fine layer of foam that is the mark of a perfect cup of espresso.The customs: Back in Italy, there are strict social conventions governing coffee consumption, according to manager Marco Paranzino, whose father owns Cafe Milano in St. Leonard."In Italy, you have latte or cappuccino in the morning with a biscotti or a cornetto (a croissant)," he said. "But if you ask for anything other than espresso in the afternoon or evening, they laugh at you.The Arabic wayThe thick, inky drink favoured in Turkey and the Middle East is how coffee was probably originally drunk, centuries ago, the beans roasted over a charcoal fire then ground in a stone mortar into a fine power, and heated over an open flame.Arabic coffee is always brewed to order in small, uncovered aluminum or enamelware pots with long handles. Cold water is mixed with very finely ground dark-roasted coffee, and sugar if desired, and heated until just before it begins to boil. It has to be smooth, with a thick layer on top.It is consumed while still very hot, in tiny porcelain cups - but only after the grounds have settled to the bottom of the cup. The best is "mazbout" or medium, as you'd say in Arabic: with equal proportions coffee and sugar. Never, but never, does it take milk.The customs: The traditional rules of etiquette for serving Arabic coffee at home require the host to personally hand around the cups, with the eldest or most important person in the room served first.Traditionally, the amount of sugar added to coffee should match the solemnity of the occasion. In times of death or other sorrows, coffee is drunk without sugar. By extension, coffee is rarely served at weddings; only tea or the sweet drink called sharbot.The Greek wayTraditional Greek coffee is made in a small brass or tin pot called a brikli. Finely ground coffee is combined with sugar and water, boiled 30 seconds and stirred continuously. The barista brews it over a Coleman burner because an open flame is deemed essential to preparing the quintessential Greek coffee. A single shot is served thick, black and piping hot in small demitasse porcelain cups accompanied by a tall glass of cold water.There are dozens of ways to prepare Greek coffee, each with its own name, depending on the proportions of sugar and coffee, how long it was boiled and in what quantities it is served. For instance, you can ask for gliko, (sweet) metrio, (medium-sweet) or sketo (unsweetened). Me gala comes with milk; horis gala without.There's another Greek coffee that's all the rage, especially among younger coffee drinkers. It's called frappe. It's made in a shaker from freeze-dried instant coffee crystals, shaken up with just a little water until foamy then inverted into a tall clear glass and topped with water. Sweetened evaporated milk called nu-nu, or 10-per-cent cream, is slowly added to create a series of layers. It's served cold, over ice, or warm.Greek frappe is sipped through a straw, which also serves to stir up the sugar that settles at the bottom of the glass. And with it, insists Papatsakonas, you have to nibble on loukoumades, honey balls fried in olive oil sprinkled with almonds and cinnamon. The bitter and sweet flavours really balance each other.The customs: Don't let them clear away the dishes too quickly. Greeks read their fortunes in the thick brown sludge that remains at the bottom of their cups. Turn the empty cup over on to a napkin, let it drain and then study the patterns left behind on the sides of the cup. The shape of a bird means big news is coming soon; letters of the Greek alphabet point to different fates. The Vietnamese wayVietnamese coffee is a treat for those who love their coffee strong and sweet. It is made in individual cups with a thick layer of sweetened condensed milk at the bottom, using strong darkroast coffee. A small stainless steel filter is stacked atop an eight-ounce cup. Boiling water drips through very, very slowly, seeping through the grounds and into your cup. When the dripping stops, the filter is removed and the coffee and milk are stirred and poured into a tall glass filled with ice.The taste is rich, caramel-flavoured and slightly smoky.The customs: Most people associate Asian restaurants with pots of green tea. But Vietnam is now the world's second-largest exporter of coffee, after Brazil. The French introduced coffee to Vietnam's central highlands region during colonial times in the late 1800s. It grows in the mountains of Vietnam, Cambodia and southern Laos. Mostly the beans are robusta, the cheaper variety. It's no wonder, then, that the Vietnamese mix it with the sweet richness of sweetened condensed milk.The sweet, caramelly flavoured Vietnamese coffee, cafe suada, is very popular. Before try it - relax: Vietnamese coffee is a leisurely affair. It can take up to 10 minutes for the hot water to drip through the filter.