Anahit serving soorch – strong Armenian coffee – and little sweet things.
We weren’t expected, just invited in for soorch and a bite when we were spotted wandering around the ruins of the old monastery.
Two of the little mugs were labelled “Niscafé” – which may well be how they write Nescafé in Armenia (although of course it’s not in the Armenian script), or maybe a trademark-avoiding copy, I don’t know. But certainly what was served out owed nothing to Nescafé (thank goodness). Even after filtering out the coarser grounds, which happened before the reheating, the cups were 1/3 full of the finest grounds.
Strong stuff. A thimbleful and you’re climbing the walls. Anahit and her two friends took it in their stride.
Apparently it was Armenians who first introduced coffee into Europe: see The first European coffee-shops were established by Armenians. I cannot vouch for the accuracy of that article, but it may well be true.
Armenia, April 2011.
©Clive K Semmens 2011