Cyprus coffee

Cyprus coffee is very different to all the types of coffees you might be used to drinking in the rest of Europe. It is served black and short. Sugar must be requested when the coffee is ordered due to the coffee being unfiltered.

A very common sight in Cyprus is that of old men sitting outside their local "kafeneio" (coffee shop) drinking coffee and playing tavli (known as backgammon).

Cypriot coffee can be order "sketos", "metrios" or "glykos". Here is how to make it:

Using a cup of coffee as measure pour water into a small coffee pan. Bring the water to the boil.

For a "sketos" put one teaspoons of coffee into the boiling water and stir well, until it froths up.
For a "metrios" just add one spoon of sugar.
For a "glykos" just add two spoons of sugar.

Cypriot Coffee is always served with a glass of cold water.

Zivania
Zivania (also called "Zivana") is a traditional Cypriot spirit produced in the island, around the end of the 14th century. It is distilled from carefully hand-picked grapes.

Zivania is characterized by its exclusive aroma and taste. It is colorless and it has a pleasant alcoholic with light smell of raisins. The alcoholic content of Zivania is 45% by volume. It contains no sugars and has no acidity. You should always keep zivania at the freezer and served chilled with the local traditional "meze" or dried fruit and nuts.

From the middle of 2004, Zivania has been protected under the European Union regulations as a unique Cypriot product and as such cannot be produced in any other country and marketed under that name.

Commandaria
Commandaria is a sweet wine produced in Cyprus before 4000 years ago. Commandaria is the oldest "appellation d'origine" wine in the world. Commandaria used to be the favorite drink of the Greek Gods and mortals.

The King of France crowned Commandaria as the "Apostle of Wines" in 1223 after wine testing for more than 100 wines from all around the world. After that, Commandaria soon became famous all over Europe.

Commandaria gets its name from the Gran Commanderie, an area which is located west of Limassol - Cyprus. It was consumed locally but also was exported to many European Royal Courts.

The production recipe remains unaltered throughout all these years. Commandaria produced by local Cyprus black grapes and a fruity white grapes. The grapes are spread out in the sun for 2 weeks before pressed.