“In 1492 Columbus Sailed the Ocean Blue…” We all are familiar with this famous little rhyme that tells us of Columbus’s “discovery” of North America. Italian by birth Columbus was commissioned by the Queen of Spain to lead her country’s expedition to the “NEW WORLD”. And by accepting and successfully completing this mission Columbus established himself and Spain as the founders of the “New World”.

At this time Spain was one of the most dominant countries in the world and they were also leading the exploration game, especially in terms of going to and “conquering” the North/South Americas. During their discovery of and conquering of the “New World” the Spanish not only began to take over new country but they also discovered many different products, inventions, and foods created by the inhabitants of this quote-unquote new found world of theirs; which was of course already inhabited by Native South and North Americans. The Spanish did most of their exploring, destroying, pillaging, and discovering in the South American countries we know today. In a constant search for gold and silver they also stole and learned many different things from the original settlers of South America; the Incas and Mayas and their descendants. One of the things that the Spanish explorers took from their South American captives was the idea of COFFEE.

Spanish ships helped to move this product all over the world at the time and the Spanish coffee families in South America still tend to be some of the top coffee producers world wide. It is no wonder that today coffee is still one of the favourite drinks of the Spanish and the rest of the world. Coffee is greatly loved in Spain; with its popularity only second to drinks that contains alcohol. It is the mixture of these two amazing drinks that has resulted in what we refer to in Western Culture as SPANISH COFFEE. Spanish coffee, as we refer to it, usually involves a steaming mug of coffee that is also packed with rum or another form of alcohol. And the piece de resistance surrounding this drink is that it is almost always topped with a whipped cream of some sort. Your basic Spanish coffee is made up of those simple ingredients. Coffee (but it is better when actually Spanish coffee is used, which is very dark, rich, and thick); Alcohol (this can be rum, a type of liqueur, or whatever other form takes your fancy); and Whipped Cream (whether it is a type of thick cream or a more light, milky cream…whatever you prefer).

It is not known whether or not the Spaniards were the first ones to actually add alcohol to their coffee or not but it has been a very common Spanish tradition for centuries; including having this drink early in the morning hours. And this drink is even available from Spanish coffee houses and bars in the early hours too. However, it is known for sure that the tradition of having a nice “Spanish coffee” combining the Spanish coffee itself with a form of alcohol was popularized by the elegant and wealthy coffeehouses of Spain years ago. Over the years this tradition and great tasting drink idea has since spread around the world and gained the name of “Spanish Coffee”. Many enjoy this drink in the evening after dinner or on a cold day in the ski lodge, etc; while others even still need a little crisp drink like this to start their day.

There are many different recipes for Spanish Coffee but I have attached a few here:

RECIPE 1:

Spanish Coffee

Ingredients: sugar (for rimming the mug), 1 oz brandy, ¾ oz Cointreau (a premium spirit made from orange peels), 4 – 5 ounces of coffee, whipped cream, splash of coffee liqueur.

Instructions:
Rim a tall heavy glass mug or coffee mug with sugar. Add the 1 oz of Brand and ¾ oz of Cointreau. Then add the coffee. Top with whipped cream and a splash of coffee liqueur. ENJOY!

RECIPE 2:

Vanilla Bean Spanish Coffee

Ingredients: Vanilla bean, 2 cups of sugar, wedge of lime, 1.5 ounces of orange liqueur (Cointreau), ½ ounce of almond liqueur (Amaretto), 1 ounce coffee liqueur, 1 ounce cognac, 1.5 cups of coffee, whipped cream, chocolate shavings.

Instructions: A couple of days before you want to have the coffee you need to split the vanilla bean in half the long way and place it with the sugar in a sealed container. To make the coffee, warm up two brandy snifters. Then take the wedge of lime and run it around the edge of your glass or mug to wet the rim. Dip it in the vanilla sugar. Then pour the orange liqueur into the glass(es) and, one at a time, light it on fire while tilting the glass to caramelize the vanilla sugar covered rim. Then douse the flame with a little bit of coffee. Next in a copper saucepan pour the almond liqueur, cognac, and coffee liqueur to warm them up. To finish up, divide the liqueurs between the two snifters and then top these off with more coffee. Add whipped cream, chocolate shavings, and a straw and then enjoy!