Your Morning Vice – A Colada if You’re in Ecuador


Your Morning Vice – A Colada if You’re in Ecuador
By Veronica MacDonald Ditko
An Accidental Anthropologist

coffee3It is the thick of winter now, warm days are distant memory, and one of the most comforting things is a hot beverage cradled in your hands. Here in Jersey, coffee is pretty much a morning religion. You can make it yourself, go to Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts, or grab a brew at your local bagel shop. You have the tea people too, but I find most people who drink that either have acid stomachs or grew up in Britain or a former British colony like India.

I had heard of some exotic drinks across the world that people have in the morning to wake them up, but didn’t realize the extent. Just Google and see for yourself!

Remember Yerba Mate, the tea that became a bit of a craze a few years ago? It is Argentinean in origin and comes from a plant similar to the holly tree! Leaves and twigs are smoked to create the dried tea.

Chai tea has really come a long way in the US I was introduced to it by my friend Amanprit in college. Too bad I didn’t have the foresight then to realize most people would love it! A child of Indian immigrants, her variety was simply black tea, milk, cloves, and sugar. Boil it all together for a while and enjoy!

Sweet is also favored by Costa Rican farmers in the morning. Their “Agua dolce” is sugar dissolved in hot water.

A colada in Ecuador is not the pineapple and rum variety. It is a warm morning drink of oatmeal and fruit that has been strained so only the liquid remains.

Api morado and blanco, hot drinks in Bolivia that hail from the Incas, combine purple corn, pineapple, cinnamon, cloves and orange rind.

Coffees themselves vary widely across the world. While there are only a few regions that can grow the finicky coffee bean such as Columbia, Ethiopia, and Indonesia, the methods used to brew it range from strong-as-can-be Turkish coffee with spices to seriously diluted iced coffee in North Jersey in summertime. I had always loved the smell of coffee myself, and as a child my mother would let me dissolve a spoonful or two of Nestle’s dehydrated coffee crystals in a big glass of milk.

Let’s talk about some local heavyweights. Starbucks recently came out with a Blonde coffee. It is described as lightly roasted coffee, as opposed to their darker, richer roast. A friend of mine actually has a coffee bean roasting business. She told me two amazing things – raw coffee beans are actually green, and when roasted, they smell like popcorn.

Dunkin Donuts has been touting mint-flavored hot chocolate – another alternative for coffee haters.

I’m not aware of too many people who add liquor to their morning coffee – but I thought it was interesting that Icelanders add anise-flavored alcohol to coffee later in the day, and of course there is Irish coffee – a blend of Irish Cream whiskey and coffee that has become a staple of dessert menus.

But fear not Coffee-mate has you covered. You can have the Irish cream in the morning. Along with vanilla, caramel, mocha, cinnamon bun, white chocolate…Wait a second. Who needs coffee anyway? Why not just have dessert for breakfast!?

Veronica MacDonald Ditko is originally from the Jersey Shore, but married and settled in northern New Jersey. Her journalism career started a decade ago after studying Psychology and Anthropology in Massachusetts. She has written for several newspapers and magazines including The Daily Hampshire Gazette, The Springfield Union News and Sunday Republican, Happi, Chemical Week, The Hawthorne Press, The Jewish Standard, Suite101.com and more.