17 Strange (Yet Intriguing) Coffee Experiences That You MUST Try

Have you ever given much thought to how other people drink coffee? Not just your significant other; but how other cultures and countries enjoy their morning cup-of-joe?

Even though you can grab a cup of coffee wherever you travel, it doesn’t necessarily mean that all coffee drinking experiences are the same.

In fact, there are many different, and somewhat peculiar ways to enjoy this delicious black brew.

From drinking coffee made from feces to enjoying a brew designed to make you invincible, here are 17 delicious or strange coffee experiences from around the world.

1. Vietnamese Iced Coffee

Ca Phe Da or Café Da is a traditional Vietnamese iced coffee drink that combines sweetened and condensed milk with a dark roasted coffee.

The coffee is brewed using a small, metal, French drip filter and is poured directly over the ice and sweetened condensed milk. The drink is usually made with equal parts milk to coffee, so it makes it a very delicious and sweet treat.

2. Kopai Luwak

Drinking coffee made from feces is certainly one way to wake yourself up. The Asian Palm Civet (1) is an Indonesian feline that uses its five senses to pick out the ripest and sweetest coffee cherries and eats them.

Once digested, the coffee cherries are picked out of the feces and roasted resulting in a unique and super fruity coffee flavor.

Care to learn more about poop coffee? Check this complete article.

3. Kopi Gu Yu

This coffee is roasted, brewed, and consumed with butter! In Asian countries like Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia, the people believe that the butter helps to create a dynamic and rich flavor in the coffee.

This coffee is usually poured over condensed milk on the bottom of the mug and a slab of butter on top.

4. Scandinavian Egg Coffee

A surprisingly common way to make coffee by Lutheran Families in Norway and Scandinavia combines a fresh egg with coffee grounds to help create a cup with no bitterness and acidity.

Popular in the mid-west of the United States, it’s also known as “Church Basement Coffee” as it can be used to make large volumes of coffee for large groups. Based on taste tests (2), however, it may not be the best tasting coffee you’ve ever tried; with reminiscent flavors of sloppy kisses from older, chain smoking aunts.

5. Irish Coffee

This coffee cocktail was originally invented in the early 1940’s in Ireland to help warm American travelers holed up in cold Irish town’s.

Irish coffee combines whiskey, brown sugar, black coffee, and tops it all off with a generous dollop of cream. There are many variations to the cocktail, but the original is still one of the most delicious and sweet adult coffee drinks that you can enjoy.

Looking for more coffee cocktails? We got an amazing list here.

6. Elephant Dung Coffee

Similar to the Kopi Luwak coffee, but produced on a much larger scale, this coffee comes from the dung of elephants in Thailand. Because elephants are herbivores, producers of Black Ivory Coffee, argue that there is less acidity in the digestion process, and the resulting feces/coffee is immaculate and super flavorful.

Think notes of chocolate, fruit, and all joking aside, nutty flavors.

IMPORTANT: We don’t support the production of Kopi Luwak for animal cruelty issues, and neither should you. Please read this information to find out why (3).

7. Coffee with Pennies and Moonshine

A Nordic coffee cocktail, Karsk, has been popular since 1800’s by rural folk in Norway. Also known as Russian Coffee, this drink is 1 part coffee to 2+ parts of moonshine.

The original recipe asked that you put a penny at the bottom of your cup, fill it with a third of coffee, and then add moonshine or vodka until you could see the penny again.

8. Tim Tam Slam

Tim Tam’s are delicious chocolate bar’s available in many countries, made up of chocolate and caramel flavors.

It’s a great snack to enjoy with a fresh cup of coffee, but if you’re wanting to take your coffee snack game up a notch try the Tim Tam Slam. Instead of eating your chocolate alongside your coffee, one will poke a hole through the middle of the chocolate bar and use it as a straw slurping up your black brew.

Just make sure to be careful and burn yourself with hot coffee and melting chocolate.

9. Flaming Waterfall of Coffee

Famous in Puerto Panasco, Mexico, this highly visual coffee preparation is a delight both for the eye and the taste buds.

By mixing tequila and Kahlua with your coffee and adding a flame, the coffee maker sloshes the drink from cup to cup making a beautiful flaming waterfall.

Once sufficiently mixed, the drink is poured, still flaming, into your mug and finished off with a dollop of heavy cream and a cherry.

Check out this beautiful flaming waterfall in action.

Learn more homemade coffee liqueurs here. We also have a delicious coffee tequila recipe you can try at home.

10. Coffee Enemas

A little extreme even for the most pretentious coffee snob, this type of caffeine consumption is done to help cleanse the rectum and large intestines. Yes, the coffee is consumed through YOUR ARSE via a large funnel inserted into…well you get the point. Lukewarm or hot coffee is then flushed into your bowels and intestine system.

Research suggests that it has a “detoxifying” element and help prevent cancer and improve metabolism.

However, it should be noted that there is no scientific evidence or medical support. In fact, some argue that it has negative side effects (4) including infections, salmonella, burning colons, or heart failure.

If you’re adventurous you can always try Pure Coffee, the premiere choice for coffee enemas.

11. Cheese Flavored Coffee

A Swedish delicacy, Kaffeost, is coffee flavored with Leipäjuusto bread cheese. This thick and squeaky cheese has a salty flavor and thick texture.

Many Finnish people will serve this cheese with their coffee or drop chunks of it into their mugs allowing it to release the fats, oils, and salts into the coffee turning it into a savory drink.

12. BulletProof Coffee

Bulletproof Coffee claims to be an innovative and easy enhancement tool increasing physical health, intelligence, and physical performance.

A combination of coffee, grass-fed cow butter, and brain octane oil, this coffee is a thick and potent mixture of fats and nutrients designed to move you to peak physical performance.

The coffee mixture is unlike your regular morning joe and has a thick and viscous texture.

13. Durian Coffee Packets

Durian Coffee may be one of the most unique offerings on this list.

What makes this pre-packaged coffee interesting is the addition of Durian Fruit preserves. The Durian melon is an Indonesian fruit note-worthy for its rather foul stench. Although the flesh of the fruit is sweet, the aroma is that of dirty gym socks and stale trash.

The coffee itself smells like rotten onions and tastes like stale, rotting fruit.

14. Espresso Tonic

Espresso combined with a tonic can make for a great hot summer drink. By combining a floral and “not too citrusy tonic (5)” with sparkling water and espresso, you develop a sweet, tangy, effervescent and rich “mock-tail” that is certainly a unique coffee experience.

15. Café Cubano

A very popular morning drink in Cuba and Florida, Cuban Coffee or Café Cubano is a very potent and concentrated coffee beverage. Combining equal parts sugar and espresso, the drink usually measures no more than 2oz and has a very thick and viscous texture.

Cafe Cubano is usually served in small, thimble sized paper cups and in Miami, you can see people waiting in long lines for their morning “jolt.”

16. Black Pepper Coffee

This drink is a local favorite in Senegal, Africa. Black pepper coffee or Café touba combines black pepper and sugar with a rich black coffee to create a very deep and earthy flavor experience.

The purported origin story is that the drink was originally developed by a religious leader for the Mouride Brotherhood to help devotees stay awake through long prayer ceremonies. The African black pepper used is also supposed to have stomach calming qualities.

17. Nitro Cold Brew

Nitro Cold Brew is a relatively new coffee trend that is definitely gaining traction with many coffee retailers.

Similar to beers like Guinness, Nitro cold brew introduces nitrogen and carbon into cold brewed coffee via a keg system resulting in the coffee having a foamy, cascading head. This also helps to open up some different flavor compounds and gives the body of the coffee a much thicker feel.​ Interested in making nitro cold brew? Here are the steps!

For as many coffee drinkers there are in the world, there are just as many fun, interesting, and somewhat queasy ways to drink coffee. Hopefully this list helped show you some of the more colorful coffee experiences there are in the world and inspire you to take some adventures with your coffee routine.

More weird and unorthodox coffee drinks here.

What kind of strange, gross, and wonderful coffee experiences have you had?