Coffee tasting in Uzhhorod: an unforgettable taste and a subtle aroma

Coffee, as Winston Churchill once said, is a very personal drink. Like cognac, it should not be drunk by the mugful. Espresso, flat white, mochaccino, macchiato, freddo, latte, americano, lungo, ristretto - there are so many types of coffee today that you simply cannot list them all. People experiment with this drink, constantly refine it and complement it with a variety of flavoursome and decorative touches - all of which creates a genuine cult of Transcarpathian coffee, considered the most delicious in all of Ukraine. And a coffee tasting in Uzhhorod is the best proof of it!

Transcarpathian historians suggest that coffee first appeared in the territory of Transcarpathia, when it was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, precisely thanks to the Turks. In those days such a drink was considered a real luxury that only wealthy people and noble families could afford. Ordinary peasants brewed coffee - from barley (it was much cheaper and more accessible). This lasted right up until the 1960s-70s.

The Transcarpathian coffee cult is a relatively new phenomenon. Coffee-drinking became a fashionable trend with the appearance of such legendary and once wildly popular Uzhhorod cafés as Zolotyi Klyuchyk (The Golden Key) and Bilochka (The Squirrel). After the collapse of the Soviet Union, coffee houses on the city streets were a great rarity, so people began to grind bean coffee in home coffee grinders. And only from the late 1990s did Transcarpathian coffee mania begin to revive. That was when the first shop selling coffee opened in Uzhhorod, where you could buy and try several of its varieties. Coffee tasting in Uzhhorod became an entirely fresh trend in the city’s life.

You can learn about the coffee past of ancient Ungvár during the very delicious and fragrant excursion around Uzhhorod

Coffee tasting in Uzhhorod: features and highlights

Transcarpathian coffee is strong, with a rich, velvety taste. Its distinctive quality lies in a special method of roasting the coffee beans. This is the so-called “medium” roast, which gives the coffee its special taste and incredible aroma. In Transcarpathia it is customary to drink a 40-50 ml portion of coffee at a time. Traditionally, people here start drinking coffee in the morning, as soon as they wake up or right before work. The Transcarpathians themselves even joke: they drink coffee not to wake up and perk up, but wake up solely for a cup of this fragrant drink.

Nowadays Transcarpathian coffee lovers prefer classic espresso or latte. Historians recount that in the not-so-distant past it was customary in Transcarpathia to drink coffee with wine, cognac and even butter. Today older residents still keep up this tradition, though it has undergone its own changes. Increasingly, various syrups (lavender, mint, walnut, vanilla, chocolate and so on) are offered with coffee, the drink is served with small tasty biscuits, and the foam is decorated with a variety of sprinkles or designs. So-called alternative coffee, which lets you savour every subtlety of flavour, is gaining ever greater popularity. Such coffee differs in its brewing method - pour-over, Chemex, AeroPress.

A Transcarpathian coffee tasting takes place in several stages. First of all, it is an introduction to the history of the café and Transcarpathian coffee traditions, to the main types of coffee, their origin, varieties, degree of roasting and grind, and, of course, the tasting itself. Coffee in Uzhhorod is always served with cold water - and not without reason. Experts recommend alternating coffee and water, since such a “ritual” creates a contrast and lets you experience the full palette of its exquisite taste.

A highlight of Uzhhorod today is said to be coffee with edible gold, prepared by the renowned confectioner and chocolatier Valentyn Shtefano, Bosnian coffee with Turkish delight, and genuine “kopi luwak” - a famous variety of coffee fermented in the stomachs of Malayan palm civets (the Asian palm civet) and one of the most expensive in the world.

Coffee tasting in Uzhhorod: coffee landmarks

Coffee houses in Uzhhorod are found at almost every turn, and each of them is cosy and unique in its own way. The city’s coffee hub is said to be the famous Hirchychne Zerno (Mustard Seed) lane, where the amazing aromas of coffee and pastries beckon you to step into nearly every café. Plenty of interesting coffee houses are located in the centre of Uzhhorod - they have an original interior, cosy terraces and offer very tasty coffee.

But in Uzhhorod people love not only to drink and taste coffee, but also to put it on display. Only here will you see monuments to the cezve (a Turkish coffee pot) and to the coffee lover, a coffee map and a real coffee bear cub. On the ancient little streets you can immerse yourself in the city’s coffee past, especially in the Pid Zamkom (Below the Castle) café-museum, which has gathered a truly amazing collection of old crockery and objects. In addition, Uzhhorod is home to a street mini-museum of coffee with exhibits from more than 20 countries around the world, created in September 2012. Here you will find not only a variety of coffee varieties from Guatemala, New Guinea, Bolivia, Mexico, Burgundy, Costa Rica, Tanzania, Peru, Kenya, India, Ethiopia, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, Brazil, Nicaragua, Indonesia and East Timor, but also coffee crockery, coffee chocolate, coffee beans and even coffee jam, or, as the Transcarpathians also call it, coffee lekvar.

And in the breaks between tastings it is so pleasant to stroll along the cosy old streets of Uzhhorod, to peek into its charming little courtyards and get acquainted with the amazing and lovely mini-monuments, which have long since become a hallmark of the city. A coffee tasting in Uzhhorod in the company of these miniatures will only add a special charm and a wonderful atmosphere to your journey in Transcarpathia.

You can treat yourself and your loved ones to unforgettable taste impressions and vivid new emotions on our excursion “Uzhhorod with the aroma of coffee and mini-sculptures”.