Let’s Enjoy Some Bosnian Coffee

Coffee (in Bosnian kafa) is one of the most popular non-alcoholic beverages globally, prized for its aroma and caffeine content.

It is hard to imagine Bosnian person to start its day without a coffee and not have at least a few more during a day. Bosnia and Herzegovina, with even a little bit more than 3 million people currently living in the country, is ranked 11th place globally in coffee consumption.

We even have different names for coffee depending on the time of the day or circumstances in which coffee is being served. The first morning coffee is called razgalica (from Bosnian word razgaliti meaning cheer up). Razgovoruša  (from Bosnian word razgovor meaning talk) is being drunk during the day encouraging conversation.  Dočekuša (from Bosnian word dočekati) is drunk when welcoming a guest and sikteruša (from Bosnian word sikter meaning go away) is being served as a subtle hint that it’s time to end up the socializing and that the guests should leave.

Coffee cultivation began in the Middle East and, by the 15th century, coffee houses were common throughout Turkey, Persia, Syria, and Arabia. Bosnia and particularly the city of Sarajevo were one of the first European cities to have such a place. 

Bosnian coffee is strong, with a bold, dark flvour. It’s is traditionally made in a džezva, a small copper pot, which conducts heat well, with a high neck and a long handle.  The most important part of Bosnian coffee is the foam which is distributed evenly to everyone being served with a coffee. If there is no foam on the top of the coffee, something is wrong with the preparation e.g. not enough coffee was added or coffee beams are of low on quality.

Bosnian coffee differs from Turkish one being made by adding sugar to the water and coffee, while the Bosnian version is without sugar. The Bosnian custom allows you to choose amount of sugar to be added.

Coffee drinking it is also a ritual in itself. People usually add some sugar to their coffee to reduce the bitterness but Bosnians don’t just drop a sugar in. They take a sugar cube, dip small part of it into the coffee and then let the wet part dissolve in their mouth. Then they take a sip of coffee and when the coffee and sugar meet in the mouth there is no bitterness. Instead of a sugar cube, one can take a bite of the rahat lokum or some of Bosnian deserts.