Moroccan Spiced Coffee or Espresso

Although most would think mint tea is the most popular warm beverage in Morocco, the truth is that Moroccans love coffee, and its consumption is enshrined in their café culture and love for sipping this world-renowned drink. Shared with friends while playing board games or offered to visitors at home, coffee is a staple of Moroccan culture. Many recipes for spiced coffee draw from a culture known for wise use of spices and produce warming and delectable cups of coffee that you can easily reproduce at home. Our quick recipe for this spiced coffee mixes coffee beans, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, pepper, cloves, and nutmeg, all very easy-to-find spices that you might already have at home. The result is a fragrant coffee that you can serve at any time to accompany morning breakfast or to soothe you during the afternoon alongside a sweet pastry.

This Moroccan spiced coffee recipe is well suited for brewing in an automatic drip maker, stovetop Moka, or French coffee press. The aromatic spices add complex flavor without overwhelming your senses, but it is easily adaptable to your taste. For more pungency, add the optional ginger and black pepper, or for a milder flavor use the basic recipe. Once you get accustomed and fall in love with its flavor, it's very easy to adjust the amounts of spices and maybe experiment by adding other flavors that you enjoy—vanilla pods are also wonderful additions to the mix.

For this recipe, we recommend using whole beans because they keep their flavor and aroma for longer, and you can grind them as needed without the risk of them becoming dull. But in a pinch, use ground coffee, or for a quick cup, add the spices to taste to a tablespoon of instant coffee. You might need 2 tablespoons of the mixture per serving, but that also depends on how dark you like your coffee. For milder flavor, use the common and delicious arabica beans; for a strong beverage, use robusta beans, but be mindful to use dark roast because light roast robusta is indeed light. If you love coffee but can't drink it in the afternoon despite craving its flavor, go ahead and use your favorite decaf brand.