I completely admit that I am a coffee snob. There’s nothing better than that smooth cup of coffee. The type where you close your eyes and just enjoy it’s bold flavour and wonderful roasted smell. If you don’t understand the names between different styles of coffee, here is a handy chart below.

My favorite is the Latte. I prefer it with soy milk and I sweeten it with honey – a trick I picked up while travelling in Eastern Europe. Everywhere I go, I always try the coffee to see which place serves the best.

My favorite coffees have been from Budapest and Rome. In Budapest, my friend Ngoc and I hung out at a fantastic cafe called Centrál Kávéház located near the famous Váci utca (or Váci Street), a shopping street. If you ever find yourself in Budapest hankering for a good coffee, this is a great spot. I recommend the Weiner Melange (photo above), which is a Viennese coffee drink that is a blend of espresso with milk and cream. Add a little bit of honey and it’s the perfect consistency!

My favorite American coffees are from Blue Bottle Coffee (photos above) and Stumptown Coffee Roasters. Micro roasters have been on the rise for awhile now. I believe it’s going to change how we consume coffee as we understand what good coffee should actually taste like. Especially not that burnt flavor we all too often get if you just drink a cup at a bodega or diner. So what is Micro Roasting?

“Micro-roasted” refers to coffee roasting processes in which the green beans are roasted in small batches to exact specifications so that the roasting can be fine-tuned for the specific bean, from batch to batch.  The process is a craft tended by an artisan rather than a machine.

I think this is one of the only ways to go to ensure great coffee. Coffee beans are considered fresh for about a week after roasting. Hence why micro-roasting is a great way to maintain good taste without allowing a lot of beans to become spoiled. The easiest way to tell fresh coffee beans is to see if it foams up after you put it through a fine grind. This is when you are making fresh drip coffee. Take the beans, grind, and then pour the water through (of course, you should also have a dripper – such as the Bonmac Ceramic Dripper available via Blue Bottle)

My favorite coffee preparation is with a shot or two of espresso. My drink of choice are soy lattes. In New York City, my favorite stops are the Ace Hotel’s Stumptown Coffee Roasters, Cafe Pedlar and Blue Bottle Brooklyn.

Another famous locale for coffee is Puerto Rico. My friend mentioned to me recently that her co-workers who grew up in Puerto Rico still strain their coffee through cheesecloth. When I went to Puerto Rico last year, I couldn’t decide whether I enjoyed the coffee or not (the tiny cup above). I think I’m still a bigger fan of the European way.

So what is your favorite way to drink coffee?