Italians had to make do with less – or no – coffee during and after World War II, so they developed an alternative, orzo, roasted barley prepared in the same manner as coffee, in an espresso machine, known as Caffè d’orzo. Orzo means “barley” in Italian, and is also the origin of the small, grain-shaped pasta’s name. Similarly, in the US and elsewhere, chicory became popular as a coffee substitute in lean times, and is still popular in places like at Cafe du Monde in New Orleans. Though, of course, coffee roared back in Italy in the decades after the war, orzo is still hanging on, too, and you can find it in some traditional cafes throughout Italy. The barley imparts a lovely malted, roasty flavor, though no one would mistake it for coffee. I was looking for decaf options in Italy, and both M and I really enjoyed trying orzo with our morning pastries, usually cornetti (croissant-like pastries with various fillings). If you are particularly dedicated to orzo coffee, you can even by a special orzo maker, similar to a Bialetti Moka, an orziera.
One of the main things we miss since we move away from Chicago was its proliferation of amazing Mexican pandarias and their huge assortment of pan dulce – Mexican sweet breads and cookies. When we went to LA we knew we would be able to get our fix. One of our friends tipped us off to a place in particular – 
The call is coming from inside the house! This may be the first time that I have written a post about a place from inside the place itself, so here I am sitting in 
In Scandinavia 
Today is 
In Yemen, there are two famous spice blends called 
We are serious about our coffee (well at least one of the two of us is) so we were extremely excited to hear about the opening of Sawada Coffee (112 N Green St, Chicago, IL 60607). The small coffee bar, which is actually located inside of the BBQ spot Green Street Smoked Meats, is a collaboration between restaurateur 
The purported best coffee in the world is served at Coffee Collective (Vendersgade 6D 1363 Copenhagen K) which now has a mini empire of shops in Copenhagen. We visited the location in 
After coffee, we wandered around the Torvehallerne a bit more to check out the other stores, which included cafes, greengrocers and bakeries. We supplemented our coffee with cardamom and cinnamon rolls from Laura’s Bakery in the same market (20 K apiece), which were quite good. We were pretty excited to see that they are actually called “Cinnabuns” in Danish, too. We took our breakfast to eat on the wooden tables flanking the market, and as you can see from the photo below there are truly bikes everywhere!
There are Austrian cafes dotting Lisbon, including one of our Lisbon favorites, 
In my years of coffee drinking, it is rare that I come across a wholly new espresso drink, however when I heard of a 
I decided to go to the pioneer of flat white coffee while in London, the aptly named Flat White cafe in Soho (17 Berwick St, London W1F 0PT). The menu is very simple, consisting of only a few coffee drinks and a pastry or two with a special focus on the eponymous drink. There were expats behind the counter and filling the shop, one particularly pleased grandmum expressed her pleasure at being able to get a proper flat white. The cafe is quite small, and many just pop in for a flat white to-go cup. I placed my order and waited at a small table inside.
We wrote several years ago about the iconic Swedish coffee and snack break – 
Together with Fika (review coming soon), 
While we consumed macarons and mimolette gleefully in France, we never really sought out French coffee… and I guess we weren’t the only ones. Turns out France has never been big on coffee, cafe culture yes, but the actual coffee, not so much. We greatly enjoyed Roads and Kingdoms’ essay, “
We were in Miami for a friend’s wedding and we had a fabulous time taking in the local cuisine. One thing L especially loved was the coffee culture in Miami, where delicious espresso was found on every corner. Our Miami-native friend Fredo assured us that Miami’s coffee culture was the greatest in the US, so we were pretty excited to get drinking. Fredo was definitely right, people in Miami are truly passionate about coffee, and we got a ton of suggestions for where to get the best coffee from our Miami-local friends. However, no matter where you go, there are a few major types of Cuban coffee that you will commonly find offered:
A recent episode of one of our favorite podcasts, 
Eating The World 