In today's post, we take you on a ‘virtual journey’ through the flavours and aromas of Mexico, with Café de Olla, a traditional coffee-based drink that owes its distinctive taste to a touch of spice and the fact that it is prepared in a terracotta pot. Let's try making it together.
Café de olla is a truly comforting drink with an enveloping flavour, perfect for winter, ideal on cold evenings if coffee doesn't make it difficult for you to sleep.
The traditional recipe calls for a few essential ingredients, enough to create a unique taste and aroma.

To get a flavour as close as possible to the original drink, you should use a terracotta pot, but if you don't have one, a normal steel pan of the right size will do just fine.

Ingredients for café de olla

• Water
• Ground coffee (preferably from Mexico)
• Raw cane sugar (the original recipe calls for pilloncini, small cones of unrefined cane sugar, which are unfortunately not easy to find on the British market).
• Cinnamon sticks

Preparation

Pour the water into the pot and add the cinnamon sticks and cane sugar, bring to the boil and cook over medium heat until the sugar is completely dissolved in the water (about 5-7 minutes).

While the water is boiling, add the coffee powder and stir well before turning off the heat. The mixture should rest for at least 5 minutes before serving.
Filter it through a sieve when pouring it into each cup.

Some more recent variations on the traditional recipe include the addition of aniseed and orange zest.

Caffè de Olla is also very pleasant when “corrected” with the addition of a touch of coffee liqueur.

We personally recommend trying it accompanied by a taste of dark chocolate.