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c Cafe Hopping

Story/ Eugene Kim

CAFFEINATED KYIV

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Ukraine has its history with coffee. A legend tells that around the same time coffee was becoming
about Yuriy Kulchytsky, a Cossack (member of a Cossack known in Ukraine. The coffee itself was probably
military unit) who volunteered to seek an outside help bought from travelling merchants across the country
for the city of Vienna which was besieged by Ottomans and cezve was adopted from Ottomans, and was the
in 1683. While finding his way through an enemy’s camp usual method to brew it. Centuries ago people used
he encountered Turkish soldiers who were singing and to add different herbs and spices to enhance the
dancing even though it was late night. Surprised by that flavor, no point to mention roasting profiles in those
he found out that it was due to a strange black liquid times. That traditional still keeps going through the
brewed from the unknown beans that gave people this ages as many people still have cezves from old times
endurance. On his way out of the enemy’s camp he took and their own family recipes for it. If you’ve visited
a bag of these beans and made his way to Lviv where he 2017 World Of Coffee in Budapest you could have
found Cossack help for a besieged city. After they re- heard Ukrainian champion Anna Podolyak’s story
turned to the city he brewed a drink for tired Cossacks about her cezve at the stage of WCIC (World Cezve/
and everyone were surprised about how much energy Ibrik Championship).
it gave them. The siege was fought off easily and Yuriy
Kulchitsky was given a right to open the first ever cof- How It All Started
fee shop in Vienna and later in Lviv.
We don’t know which part of this legend is true This story is not only about cezve. Coffee became
and what coffee was there in Osman bags, but it’s a fact a drink of many people in Ukraine, although we haven’t

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