Mocktails and cool drinks

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CajuínaClarified cashew apple juice

Teresina, the capital of Piauí, treats cajuína as a matter of local pride, and the drink's traditional craft is officially recognised as part of Brazilian cultural heritage. It is cashew-apple juice that has been clarified until crystal clear, bottled and cooked in a water bath until the natural fruit sugars caramelise and turn it amber-gold. No sugar is added. Served ice-cold, it tastes of baked apple and honey with a hint of cashew, smooth and non-alcoholic. Small producers clarify the juice with gelatin or cashew-tree resin; this vegan home version clears it by settling and filtering instead, which takes patience. Real cajuína is shelf-stable thanks to commercial sterilising; this home batch must be kept in the fridge and drunk within a week. Skipping the slow filtering is the usual error, and cloudy juice turns murky brown instead of gold. Chef's tip: let the juice settle in the fridge overnight before filtering and pour off the clear top, leaving the sediment behind.

150 min

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Suco de maracujáPassion fruit juice

Brazilian lunch counters, the pratos feitos joints known as PFs, list suco de maracujá on every chalkboard, and many people order it for its famously calming effect after a long morning. Yellow passion fruit is blended briefly with cold water, strained and sweetened, which gives a vivid, perfumed, very tart drink that goes with rice, beans and a grilled steak just as well as with a beach snack. Use wrinkled, heavy fruit for the most juice, or frozen unsweetened pulp from Latin shops. Over-blending is the slip people make: crushed seeds turn the juice gritty and bitter. Chef's tip: blend the pulp with only a little of the water first, in a couple of short pulses, strain, then add the rest of the water and the sugar.

10 min

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Suco de cupuaçuCupuaçu juice

Cupuaçu is a big, brown, furry-skinned fruit from the cacao family, and in Belém and Manaus its white pulp shows up in ice cream, sweets and above all juice, sold in every lanchonete and at the Ver-o-Peso market. The pulp is thick, creamy and intensely aromatic, with a flavour somewhere between pineapple, banana and chocolate, and very tart, so it is blended with water and sugar into a frothy, almost milkshake-like juice. Look for frozen cupuaçu pulp in Brazilian and Latin shops. Many cafés blend it with milk instead of water; that version is no longer vegan or dairy free. Too little blending is the usual problem, because the fibrous pulp stays stringy. Chef's tip: blend the pulp from frozen, in chunks, with the sugar and a little water first until smooth, then add the rest of the water.

10 min

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Suco de cajuCashew apple juice

Everyone in Ceará and Rio Grande do Norte has a cashew tree nearby, and in the season, roughly September to December, the fleshy yellow and red cashew apples hang heavily above the nuts. Their juice is the region's everyday drink: pale, cloudy, sweet-tart and faintly astringent, it leaves a slight dryness in the mouth that people love with fried fish or a plate of baião de dois. Fresh cashew apples rarely travel, so outside Brazil use frozen cashew-apple pulp (polpa de caju) from Brazilian shops. This is the fruit, not the nut, but anyone with a cashew allergy should still avoid it. Over-sweetening to hide the astringency is a common mistake, as the juice turns syrupy. Chef's tip: a few drops of lime and plenty of ice soften the dryness far better than extra sugar.

10 min

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Caldo de canaSugarcane juice

Ice-cold sugarcane juice pressed while you wait is the drink of Brazilian street fairs, poured into tall glasses at the pastel stall so you can wash down a hot, crisp pastel. São Paulo's feiras livres made the pairing famous, and in the Northeast the same juice is called garapa. It is pale green, very sweet, grassy and refreshing, sharpened with lime. Without a cane press, you can make it at home by blending peeled cane with a little water and straining it; buy fresh sugarcane sticks in Asian, Caribbean or Latin shops. It oxidises and darkens fast, so drink it immediately. Using cane that is not fully peeled is a common error, and the woody green rind makes the juice bitter. Chef's tip: chill the cane before peeling and blend it with ice cubes as well as water, so the juice comes out cold without being diluted later.

15 min

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CafezinhoSmall strong sweet coffee

A tiny cup of black coffee is the first thing a Brazilian host offers, in a São Paulo office, a Minas farmhouse or a Recife shop, and saying no is almost impolite. Cafezinho is filtered rather than espresso: finely ground coffee goes into a cloth filter (coador de pano) and hot water runs through it, giving a strong, smooth, slightly thick brew served in small cups. Traditionally the sugar is dissolved in the water before brewing, so it arrives already sweet; leave it out if you prefer. A paper filter in a cone works if you have no cloth. Boiling the water with the coffee is the mistake to avoid, as it scorches the grounds and the cup turns bitter. Chef's tip: take the pan off the heat when the first bubbles break the surface and wait 30 seconds; water just off the boil, around 92–95 °C, gives the sweetest cup.

10 min

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Guaraná raladoGrated guaraná drink

Long before fizzy guaraná, people in Mato Grosso started the day with this: a hard, dark stick of roasted guaraná seed paste grated into a glass of cold water with sugar and stirred well. Cuiabá's older generation still drink it at breakfast or in the heat of the afternoon, and market stalls sell the sticks along with the traditional grater, the dried tongue of the pirarucu fish (a fine microplane works just as well). It tastes bitter-earthy, a little like cocoa without the fat, and the caffeine is strong. Because guaraná contains more caffeine than coffee, keep to one glass a day, and avoid it for children, during pregnancy or if you are sensitive to caffeine. The usual error is grating far too much, which makes it bitter and overpowering; a level teaspoon per glass is plenty. Chef's tip: let it stand for a minute after stirring so the powder hydrates, then stir again before drinking.

5 min

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Irish coffee

Irish coffee was first served in the 1940s at Foynes on the Shannon estuary, to cold passengers stepping off the flying boats from America, and it is now poured in hotel bars across Ireland after a long dinner. Hot black coffee is sweetened with brown sugar and laced with Irish whiskey, then topped with a layer of lightly whipped cream that you drink the coffee through. This drink contains alcohol; for an alcohol-free version, leave out the whiskey and add a few drops of vanilla. Chef's tip: whip the cream only until it just thickens, so it floats in a soft layer rather than sinking or sitting in stiff blobs.

10 min

Irish Drinks

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KalimotxoRed wine and cola

Kalimotxo contains alcohol (red wine), so the classic version is for adults only; an alcohol-free version is given below. The story goes that it was mixed in 1972 at a fiesta in Algorta, near Bilbao, when the wine bought for the stall turned out to be poor and cola was added to save it. Today it is the drink of every Basque summer fiesta, from Bilbao's Aste Nagusia to village squares, poured into big plastic cups. A common mistake is mixing warm wine and flat cola, which tastes heavy and sweet: both should be fridge-cold and the cola freshly opened. Chef's tip: pour the cola slowly down the side of the glass so it keeps its fizz.

5 min

Spanish Drinks

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Shai bil maramiyaSage tea

Offer a guest tea in a Palestinian home and it will most likely come in small glasses, sweet, strong and fragrant with maramiya, the soft-leaved sage that grows on every terrace and is said to settle the stomach after a heavy meal. In winter the leaves are dried; in spring they are picked fresh. Common mistake: boiling the sage with the tea, which brings out a medicinal bitterness; it goes in after the heat is off. Chef's tip: bruise the sage leaves between your fingers before dropping them in, and let them steep only 2–3 minutes.

8 min

Palestinian Drinks

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KharroubCarob drink

Through Ramadan, street vendors in Jerusalem's Old City and in Nablus walk the alleys with brass urns of kharroub on their backs, clacking cups to announce the cold carob drink that breaks the fast. Made by soaking crushed carob pods (or more easily from carob molasses), it is dark, chocolatey-caramel in taste, lightly sweet and very refreshing over ice. Common mistake: boiling the pods hard, which makes the drink bitter and cloudy; soak and simmer gently. Chef's tip: a few drops of orange-blossom water just before serving lifts the earthy carob flavour.

25 min

Palestinian Drinks

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Palm Springs date shake

The Coachella Valley around Palm Springs and Indio grows most of America's dates, and roadside date farms along the desert highway have sold this shake to thirsty drivers since the 1930s. Soft Medjool dates are blended with vanilla ice cream and milk into a thick, caramel-flavoured shake. Chef's tip: soak the chopped dates in a little warm milk for 10 minutes first, so they blend completely smooth instead of leaving chewy bits in the straw.

10 min

American Drinks

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Southern sweet tea

Sweet tea is the house wine of the South, poured by the jug at every barbecue joint, meat-and-three and Sunday lunch from South Carolina to Texas. Strong black tea is sweetened while hot so the sugar dissolves completely, then cooled and poured over plenty of ice with lemon. A pinch of bicarbonate is an old trick that softens bitterness and keeps it clear. Chef's tip: let the tea cool to room temperature before chilling; putting it straight in the fridge hot makes it go cloudy.

15 min

American Drinks

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Tsai tou vounouMountain tea with honey and lemon

Bunches of dried sideritis, the woolly-leaved herb Greeks call mountain tea, hang in village kitchens from Mount Olympus to Taygetos, and a pot is brewed at the first sniffle of winter or after a long walk. The tea is pale gold with a gentle lemony, earthy, slightly floral taste, and it is drunk with honey, a slice of lemon and sometimes a cinnamon stick. Common mistake: brewing it like black tea with boiling water for a minute; it needs a gentle simmer to draw out flavour. Chef's tip: break the dried stems into the pot along with the flowers; the flower heads hold most of the aroma, the stems add body.

10 min

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Chocolate egg cream

The egg cream contains neither egg nor cream: it is the old soda-fountain drink of Brooklyn and the Lower East Side, made of cold milk, chocolate syrup and a hard jet of seltzer that whips up a tall white foam. It was sold for pennies at candy stores and corner luncheonettes, and New Yorkers still argue about the right order to pour. Chef's tip: everything, glass included, must be ice-cold, or the foam collapses.

10 min

American Drinks

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LemonanaFrozen mint lemonade

From café terraces in Ramallah and Jaffa to juice bars along Hamra Street in Beirut, summer means tall glasses of lemonana: lemons and fistfuls of fresh mint blended with ice into a sharp, sweet, electric-green slush. It is the drink handed to you after a walk through the market at noon, and it cools a mezze lunch like nothing else. Everything goes in a blender, but the mint must be fresh and plentiful. The common mistake is blending the mint for too long, which bruises it and turns the drink murky and grassy. Chef's tip: make a lemon-sugar syrup first and chill it; dissolved sugar sweetens evenly and lets you blend for only a few seconds.

20 min

Palestinian Drinks

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Erk sousLiquorice root drink

In the lanes of old Damascus and Aleppo, the erk sous seller is heard before he is seen, clacking brass cups as he walks with a great curved jug strapped to his back. His drink is liquorice root, slowly dripped through with cold water, dark, earthy, faintly bitter and naturally sweet, poured with a flourish over the shoulder during Ramadan iftars and hot afternoons. At home a sieve and a cloth do the job. The mistake people make is pouring boiling water over the root, which pulls out harsh bitterness; cold water and patience give a smooth, foamy drink. Liquorice root raises blood pressure if you drink a lot of it, so keep to a glass or two a day and skip it if you are pregnant or have high blood pressure. Chef's tip: a pinch of bicarbonate of soda in the damp root gives the drink its traditional thick, frothy head.

15 min

Syrian Drinks

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VyssinadaSour cherry drink

Before fizzy drinks arrived, a tall glass of vyssinada was what you ordered in a Volos or Larissa kafeneio on an August afternoon: sour cherry syrup topped with iced water, sweet and sharp and bright red. Families in Thessaly still make a cordial from the summer cherry crop and keep the bottles in the fridge for weeks. Common mistake: squashing the cherries too hard through the sieve, which clouds the syrup — let the juice drip. Chef's tip: top with sparkling water and a squeeze of lemon for a lighter, livelier glass.

40 min

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Qamar al-dinApricot drink

Damascus is famous for its apricots, and much of the summer harvest is pressed into thin orange sheets of apricot leather called qamar al-din. In Ramadan, almost every Syrian home soaks a sheet overnight and blends it into a thick, velvety drink to break the fast — it is sweet, slightly tart and full of energy after a long day. Serve it chilled, sometimes with a few soaked pine nuts on top. Common mistake: blending without soaking long enough; the leather needs time to soften or the drink is gritty. Chef's tip: add a splash of orange blossom water and a squeeze of lemon to wake up the apricot flavour.

10 min

Syrian Drinks

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Tamar hindiTamarind drink

During Ramadan in Damascus, street sellers in bright waistcoats pour tamar hindi from tall brass jugs on their backs, clinking cups to call buyers before iftar. The drink is a deep brown infusion of tamarind, sweetened and sharpened with lemon and a touch of rose or orange blossom, served ice cold to quench a day's thirst. It is fruity, tangy and refreshing, and made in a big batch to keep in the fridge. Common mistake: boiling the tamarind hard — gentle soaking gives a clean taste, while boiling makes it muddy. Chef's tip: strain twice, the second time through a cloth, for a clear, glossy drink.

15 min

Syrian Drinks

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Türk kahvesiTurkish coffee

A cup of Türk kahvesi is how Turks welcome guests, end a long meal and, in the old custom, test a suitor: the prospective bride makes his cup and may slip salt into it. Powder-fine coffee is brewed slowly with cold water and sugar to taste in a small long-handled pot (cezve), until a thick foam rises, then poured unfiltered so the grounds settle in the cup. Serve with a glass of water first and a piece of lokum. Order it sade (plain), orta (medium) or şekerli (sweet) and add the sugar before brewing, never after. The usual mistake is letting it boil, which collapses the foam and makes it bitter. Chef's tip: use cold water and a low heat; the slower it rises, the thicker the foam.

7 min

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MırraBitter cardamom coffee

In the courtyard houses of Mardin and the guest rooms of Şanlıurfa, mırra is poured from a long-spouted pot into tiny handleless cups, just a mouthful each, as a sign of welcome. It is made by boiling dark-roasted coffee for a long time until it becomes thick, bitter and concentrated, then boiling it again and again. Tradition says you never put the cup down empty unless you mean to marry the host's family, so hand it back with a small shake. It is never sweetened: serve it with dates or a sweet. Common mistake: using finely ground Turkish coffee; it turns muddy, so use medium-ground dark roast. Chef's tip: the second boil is where the flavour comes from, so don't rush it.

65 min

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TascalateToasted corn and cacao drink

Tascalate is the drink of the Chiapas central valley, sold in Chiapa de Corzo and Tuxtla in tall glasses at markets and given to guests at fiestas. A powder of toasted tortillas, cacao, pine nuts, sugar, cinnamon and a little achiote is whisked into cold water or milk, so it is orange-brown, thick and nutty with a sweet chocolate finish. The powder keeps for weeks, so make a jar. Made with water it is vegan. Chef's tip: toast the tortillas until they snap cleanly; any softness leaves the powder clumpy.

22 min

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Pozol de cacaoCold corn and cacao drink

In the heat of Villahermosa and the Chiapas lowlands, farmers carry a ball of corn dough in a banana leaf and mix it with water in a jícara (a gourd bowl) at midday: that is pozol, a cold, thick, filling drink that has been made since Maya times. The cacao version is the favourite, sold from big clay pots at market stalls with ice, sometimes slightly fermented so it turns pleasantly sour. This home version uses masa harina and cocoa nibs, so it is ready in minutes; leave it to ferment if you want the tang. Chef's tip: stir it every time before pouring, as the corn settles to the bottom fast.

23 min

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Torito de cacahuatePeanut drink

Torito is the party drink of the port of Veracruz and the Sotavento, poured at weddings, saints' days and the Tlacotalpan Candelaria fair: a thick, cold, milkshake-like blend of peanuts, condensed and evaporated milk and cinnamon. The traditional version is spiked with aguardiente, the local cane spirit. This recipe is the alcohol-free version, so children can drink it too; adults who want the original add a measure of cane spirit to each glass. It contains peanuts, so check for allergies. Chef's tip: toast the peanuts until just golden before blending; raw ones taste flat and beany.

15 min

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Café de ollaSpiced clay-pot coffee

In ranch kitchens and roadside fondas across central Mexico, coffee is not dripped but boiled in a tall clay pot (olla de barro) with a cone of piloncillo and a stick of soft Mexican cinnamon, then strained into clay mugs. It is sweet, spiced and earthy, and is served with pan dulce at breakfast, on cold evenings, and to visitors on Day of the Dead. A saucepan works fine if you have no olla. Chef's tip: turn the heat off before adding the coffee and let it steep rather than boil, or it turns bitter.

15 min

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Agua de chía con limónLime and chia water

In the markets of Michoacán, especially in Uruapan and Morelia, the glass barrels of agua fresca often include one cloudy, speckled with tiny seeds: agua de chía, limeade with soaked chia seeds that swell into soft little pearls. Chia has been grown in central Mexico since long before the Spanish, and the drink is light, sharp and very refreshing, with a gentle texture from the seeds. It is drunk with lunch or on hot afternoons. Chef's tip: stir the seeds into the water twice in the first ten minutes; otherwise they clump into jelly-like lumps.

10 min

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Chocolate de aguaHot chocolate made with water

Walk down Calle Mina in Oaxaca City and the air smells of cacao, cinnamon and almonds, roasted and ground into chocolate in front of you at the mills. Most Oaxacans drink it made with water, not milk, so the taste of the cacao comes through clean and slightly bitter, with a thick head of foam raised with a wooden molinillo. It is drunk for breakfast with pan de yema and at every wedding and Day of the Dead altar. The tablets already hold sugar and cinnamon; we give a version with dark chocolate too. Chef's tip: the foam is the point, so whisk hard just before pouring and serve in wide cups.

12 min

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BarraquitoLayered coffee with condensed milk

Order a barraquito in any café in Santa Cruz de Tenerife or La Laguna and it comes in a small glass showing neat stripes: sweet condensed milk at the bottom, then espresso, then foamed milk, perfumed with lemon peel and cinnamon. The bar classic adds a measure of a vanilla-citrus Spanish liqueur between the layers, which makes it contain alcohol; this recipe leaves it optional, and without it the drink is often called a zaperoco or barraquito sin licor. Chef's tip: pour each layer slowly over the back of a spoon, so the layers sit on top of each other instead of mixing.

10 min

Spanish Drinks

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SoumadaAlmond syrup drink

On Crete and several Aegean islands, a glass of cloudy-white soumada is offered to guests at weddings and on hot summer afternoons. It begins as a thick almond syrup kept in the fridge, which is stirred into iced water to make a cool, gently sweet drink that tastes of marzipan and orange blossom. Some islanders add a few bitter almonds for an edge; they are not safe to eat in quantity, so this version uses a drop of almond extract instead. Common mistake: boiling the syrup hard after the almond milk goes in, which makes it cloudy and grainy rather than smooth. Chef's tip: squeeze the almond pulp in a muslin bag with real force; the last drops are the richest.

45 min

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Panaché (Moroccan mixed fruit milkshake)

Juice bars from Tangier to Agadir list a 'panaché' on the board, which in Morocco means a thick milkshake blended from whatever mix of fruit is in season, most often banana, apple, avocado and orange, served in a tall glass and sometimes topped with chopped dried fruit and nuts. Avocado is used as a sweet fruit here, and it makes the drink extra creamy. It is a favourite after school, as a quick breakfast or after an afternoon in the medina. Make it just before drinking: the orange juice can make the milk turn slightly grainy and the avocado darkens if it stands, which is the usual mistake. Chef's tip: use a ripe, soft avocado and a banana with brown freckles for natural sweetness, so you need very little sugar.

10 min

Moroccan Drinks

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Jugo de borojóBorojó fruit milk shake

Borojó is the pride of the Chocó: a heavy brown fruit with a dense, sticky pulp and a sour, almost tamarind-like flavour. In Quibdó it is sold as pulp at the market and blended into thick shakes at juice stalls, and it carries a folk reputation as a restorative, sometimes jokingly called juice of love. Blended with cold milk and sugar it becomes creamy, tangy and filling, more a small meal than a drink. Outside Colombia, look for frozen borojó pulp in Latin American shops; there is no real substitute, though a mix of tamarind paste and banana gives a rough idea. Using too much pulp is easy to do, and the shake turns into a paste that will not go through a straw, so start with the amount below and thicken to taste. Chef's tip: blend the pulp with a little milk first to loosen it, then add the rest; borojó is so dense it can stall a blender.

10 min

Colombian Drinks

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Darjeeling first flush tea

Darjeeling's first flush is picked in March and April on estates clinging to the hills above the town, and in Darjeeling's tea rooms it is served plain: pale gold, flowery and slightly astringent, with a 'muscatel' note in the later second flush. It is the opposite of a strong breakfast tea, so it is never boiled, stewed or given milk. Hill families drink it from morning till dusk, and it is a souvenir every visitor buys from Chowrasta. Chef's tip: use water just off the boil (about 90°C) and time the brew; overheated or overbrewed first flush turns bitter and loses its scent.

6 min

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AloudaChilled milk drink with basil seeds

Alouda is the cold, sweet milk drink sold from stalls in the Port Louis central market and at beaches all over Mauritius, especially on hot afternoons. Vanilla- or rose-scented milk is poured over soaked tookmaria (sweet basil) seeds and cubes of agar jelly, and often topped with a scoop of ice cream. It is a cousin of the Indian falooda. Because the jelly is set with agar agar, it is vegetarian. Chef's tip: soak the basil seeds for a full 20 minutes until each one has a thick, clear coat; dry seeds stick in the throat.

35 min

Mauritian Drinks

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Atol de eloteWarm fresh corn drink

When the new maize comes in, Central Americans drink their corn: atol de elote is fresh sweetcorn blended, strained and cooked with milk and cinnamon into a thick, pale-yellow drink, sipped from a cup or a gourd. In El Salvador it's sold at roadside stands with tamales de elote; in Guatemala it warms chilly highland evenings. Taste is like sweet corn custard you can drink. Chef's tip: strain the blended corn through a fine sieve and press hard; the skins make the drink gritty.

35 minCentral American Drinks

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Mote con huesilloPeach and wheat drink

Mote con huesillo is Chile's summer refresher, sold in tall glasses from street carts on Santiago's Cerro San Cristóbal and at beaches up and down the coast. Huesillos are whole sun-dried peaches, soaked and simmered in a cinnamon caramel syrup; mote is husked wheat cooked until chewy. You drink the cold amber nectar and eat the wheat and peach with a long spoon. Chef's tip: soak the peaches overnight and cook them in their soaking water; that water carries much of the peach flavour.

65 min

Chilean Drinks

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Ranon'apangoToasted rice water

Ranon'apango is the everyday drink of Madagascar: after rice is cooked, the crust at the bottom of the pot is left to toast until golden, then water is boiled with it to make a pale amber, nutty, slightly smoky drink. It is served warm or cold in jugs alongside meals in homes and hotelys, and is a safe way to drink boiled water. Chef's tip: toast the crust until golden-brown, not black; burnt rice makes the drink bitter.

30 min

Malagasy Drinks

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MageuFermented maize drink

Mageu (also amahewu or mahewu) is a thin, sour, nourishing drink of fermented maize porridge, made in homes across Zimbabwe, South Africa, Zambia and Botswana and drunk by farm workers, schoolchildren and anyone needing a filling lift on a hot afternoon. A little wheat flour or a spoonful of the last batch starts the fermentation overnight. Commercial cartons are sold everywhere, but home-made tastes fresher. Chef's tip: let the porridge cool to lukewarm before adding the starter; too hot and it kills the fermentation.

25 minSouthern African Drinks

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Jus de bouyeBaobab fruit drink

Bouye is the Wolof name for the powdery white pulp of the baobab fruit, and jus de bouye is the thick, creamy-tart drink sold in reused bottles from coolers all over Dakar and served at every family celebration. It tastes like sherbet with a hint of pear. Most cooks now use baobab powder, which is sold in health shops as well as African grocers. Sweetened condensed milk is optional but common. Chef's tip: whisk the powder into a little water first to make a smooth paste; poured straight into a jug it forms lumps that never dissolve.

10 min

Senegalese Drinks

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Flat white

Sydney and Wellington both claim the flat white, first poured in their cafés in the mid-1980s, and today it's the everyday coffee across Australia and New Zealand, from Melbourne's laneway cafés to a beach kiosk in Raglan. It's smaller and stronger than a latte: a double shot of espresso topped with milk steamed to a smooth, glossy microfoam with only a thin layer of froth on top, so the coffee stays at the front. It's velvety, rich and sweet-tasting without sugar. For a vegan version, use a barista-style oat milk. Chef's tip: stretch the milk only for the first few seconds, then sink the wand and let it spin; you want paint-like milk, not a hat of stiff foam.

5 min

Australian Drinks

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MaubySpiced bark drink

Mauby is one of the oldest drinks of the Eastern Caribbean, and in Barbados it's sold ice-cold from vendors in Bridgetown and made at home on hot afternoons. It's brewed from the bark of the mauby tree, simmered with cinnamon, clove, star anise, bay and orange peel, then sweetened and diluted. The first sip is surprising: bitter like strong tea or tonic, then sweet, spicy and refreshing, with a liquorice note. Bark is sold in Caribbean shops and online. Chef's tip: brew a strong concentrate and dilute it to taste; mauby lovers like it bitter, newcomers should start with more water and more sugar.

25 min

Bajan Drinks

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CoquitoCoconut rum drink

Coquito is Puerto Rico's Christmas in a glass: bottles of it are made in early December, given to neighbours and poured at every parranda, the late-night singing visits from house to house, until the Fiesta de San Sebastián in Old San Juan in January. This version contains alcohol: it blends coconut milk, sweet cream of coconut and condensed and evaporated milk with Puerto Rican white rum, cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla. It's thick, cold and sweet, with the warmth of rum behind the spice. For children and anyone avoiding alcohol, make it without the rum as described in the steps. Chef's tip: let it rest in the fridge overnight; the spices bloom and the rum mellows, and it tastes far rounder on the second day.

10 min

Puerto Rican Drinks

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KvassFermented rye bread drink

Before the cola era, kvass was Russia's everyday thirst-quencher, sold every summer from yellow barrel trailers on Moscow street corners and poured into glass mugs. At home it is brewed from dried rye bread, sugar and a pinch of yeast, fermented for a day or two until it tastes malty, a little sour and gently fizzy, and only about 1% alcohol. It is drunk ice cold and is also the broth for okroshka. Chef's tip: toast the bread until really dark, almost burnt at the edges; that is where kvass gets its deep colour and its toasted, malty taste.

50 min

Russian Drinks

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KompotFruit and berry drink

Kompot is the drink of Russian summers: a big pan of water with whatever the garden or market offers, apples, cherries, redcurrants, strawberries, plums, simmered for a few minutes, lightly sweetened and served cold from the fridge. It is what children drink with lunch at school canteens and summer camps from Moscow to Novosibirsk, and dacha cellars are lined with three-litre jars of it bottled for winter. The fruit at the bottom of the glass is everyone's favourite part. Chef's tip: switch off the heat as soon as it boils and let the fruit steep as it cools; long boiling makes it taste stewed and dull.

20 min

Russian Drinks

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Rose and basil sherbet

Şərbət is poured at the start of every Azerbaijani wedding, and the rose kind, scented with rosewater from the Absheron rose gardens, is the most loved; in Baku it is set out in crystal jugs for Novruz guests and at Ramadan iftar. This version adds two kinds of basil (reyhan): purple basil leaves steeped in the syrup for a clove-like scent, and soaked basil seeds that swell into soft, jelly-coated pearls. Lemon keeps it from tasting like perfume. Serve very cold, with ice, alongside sweets or a rich plov. Chef's tip: soak the basil seeds in plenty of water, at least 20 times their volume; crowded seeds clump into a single lump.

20 min

Azerbaijani Drinks

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Azerbaijani black tea

In Azerbaijan tea comes before, during and after everything, served in small pear-shaped armudu glasses in teahouses (çayxana) from Baku's boulevard to the hill towns of Lankaran, where most of the country's tea is grown. It is strong, clear and red-brown, often brewed with a sprig of mountain thyme (kəklikotu) or a crushed cardamom pod, and served with lemon, sugar cubes and little dishes of jam: cherry, quince, white cherry or even walnut. People sip the tea through a sugar cube held in the mouth or with a spoonful of jam, never stirring jam into the glass. It is also the drink that settles a match: tea served sweet at a matchmaking visit means yes. Chef's tip: warm the pot and glasses with boiling water first; tea brewed in a cold pot never reaches full colour.

12 min

Azerbaijani Drinks

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Kok choyGreen tea

In an Uzbek chaikhana, from Tashkent's shady teahouses to the courtyards of Khiva, the first thing to arrive is a teapot of kok choy, green tea, with small bowls (piala) and a plate of raisins, almonds and sweets. The host performs qaytarish: pours a bowl, tips it back into the pot, and repeats three times to blend the brew, then serves each guest a bowl only half full, a sign they should stay and be topped up. Green tea is drunk with plov to cut the oil, and all through hot summer days. Chef's tip: use water just off the boil (about 90°C) and warm the pot first; boiling water straight from the kettle makes Chinese green tea taste harsh.

8 min

Uzbek Drinks

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Karak chaiSpiced evaporated milk tea

Every neighbourhood in Doha, Dubai and Kuwait City has a cafeteria with a hatch on the street, where karak is handed through car windows in paper cups at all hours. Brought to the Gulf by South Asian workers and now firmly local, it is black tea boiled hard with sugar and cardamom, then simmered again with evaporated milk until it is strong, sweet and the colour of toffee; a few strands of saffron mark the Gulf version. Chef's tip: pour the tea from a height between two pans a few times; the froth and slight cooling give the silky karak texture.

15 minGulf Arabian Drinks

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Arabic coffeeCardamom coffee

Pale, fragrant and nothing like espresso, qahwa is the coffee of Gulf hospitality: poured from a brass dallah into tiny handleless cups in majlis sitting rooms from Kuwait to Oman, always beside a bowl of dates. The beans are only lightly roasted, so the drink is golden-brown and herbal, dominated by cardamom with a little saffron and clove. Guests take a few sips at a time, and a small shake of the empty cup tells the host you've had enough. Chef's tip: grind the cardamom just before brewing; pre-ground cardamom has lost most of the perfume that makes qahwa.

15 minGulf Arabian Drinks

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Hong Kong milk tea

Hong Kong milk tea is the daily fuel of the city's cha chaan teng, poured hot in thick cups at breakfast and over ice in the humid afternoons. Tea masters brew a blend of strong black teas, strain it again and again through a long cotton bag (the stained 'silk stocking'), and mix it with evaporated milk for a smooth, almost velvety drink. Chef's tip: let the tea simmer for a few minutes rather than just steeping it; Hong Kong milk tea is meant to be strong and slightly astringent, or the milk drowns it.

15 min

Hong Kong Drinks

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Kazakh milk teaBlack tea with hot milk

Kazakhs drink more tea per person than almost anyone, and at home it is always sut shai: strong black tea, often brewed from Kenyan or Indian leaves, poured into a wide cup (kese) with hot milk or a spoon of cream. The host keeps the cups barely half full and refills them again and again, and a guest turns the cup upside down when they've had enough. In winter in Astana a pinch of salt or a knob of butter may go in. It accompanies baursak, shelpek and every meal. Chef's tip: heat the milk until it just steams and add it to the cup first; scalded, boiled milk gives the tea a cooked taste.

10 min

Kazakh Drinks

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Fresh hot soy milk

On cold Da Lat nights, the steam rising from soy milk stalls is part of the scenery around the central market: big pots of freshly made sữa đậu nành, ladled hot into glasses and sipped with grilled rice paper or a warm bánh bao. Made at home, it tastes nutty and clean, nothing like the cartons, and a knot of pandan leaf gives it the gentle vanilla-like scent that Vietnamese sellers favour. Chef's tip: rub the soaked beans between your palms and float off the skins; peeled beans give a smoother, sweeter milk.

50 min

Vietnamese Drinks

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Hallabong adeSparkling tangerine drink

Hallabong (한라봉) is Jeju's pride: a large, sweet, easy-peel tangerine with a knob on top that is said to look like Hallasan, the island's volcano. Every café on Jeju sells hallabong ade (한라봉에이드), a tall glass of hallabong syrup topped up with sparkling water and ice, often with the fruit sliced into it. Koreans make the syrup, hallabong-cheong, by layering the sliced fruit with sugar in jars; this quick version is ready in 10 minutes. Outside Korea, use dekopon, sumo or any very sweet mandarin. Chef's tip: add a squeeze of lemon to the syrup; hallabong is so sweet that the drink tastes flat without a little extra acid.

15 min

Korean Drinks

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Batido de mangoMango milkshake

Batidos are the thick fruit milkshakes blended to order at Cuban cafeterías and roadside stands in summer, made with whatever tropical fruit is ripe: mamey, papaya, guanábana and, most of all, mango. Unlike a lassi there is no yogurt, just ripe mango, cold milk, a little sugar and plenty of ice, whizzed until frothy. Kids love it as an afternoon treat. Chef's tip: freeze the mango chunks first and you will need less ice, so the batido tastes of fruit rather than water.

5 min

Cuban Drinks

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Café cubanoSweet Cuban espresso

Café cubano, or cafecito, is the tiny, intensely sweet coffee poured into thimble-sized cups at every ventanita (walk-up window) in Miami and in homes across Cuba, often shared around the office at 3 o'clock. The secret is the espumita: the first few drops of coffee beaten hard with sugar into a pale caramel-coloured cream that floats on top. You need a stovetop moka pot. Chef's tip: catch only the very first, strongest drops for the foam; if you add too much coffee the sugar won't whip up.

7 min

Cuban Drinks

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GalãoMilky espresso

Ask for a galão in a Lisbon café and it arrives in a tall glass, not a cup: one short espresso (a bica, in the capital's slang) topped up with about three times as much hot, frothy milk, so it is pale, mild and creamy. It is the breakfast and mid-morning drink of the city, ordered at the counter with a pastel de nata or a tosta mista, and the glass is held by the rim because it gets hot. A galão escuro has less milk, a galão claro more. Chef's tip: heat the milk only until it steams and the jug is too hot to hold for more than a moment, about 65 °C; boiled milk tastes flat and loses its sweetness.

5 min

Portuguese Drinks

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DooghSalted yogurt drink

Doogh is the salty, fizzy yogurt drink served in tall glasses with lunch across Iran, and above all with kebab and rice at the chelow-kababi restaurants of Tehran. Bottled sparkling doogh from the mineral springs of Abali, in the mountains east of the capital, is the famous one; at home it is mixed from yogurt, cold water and soda water with crumbled dried mint, and sometimes wild pennyroyal (kakuti) or rose petals. Its bubbles and mint set it apart from plainer, still yogurt drinks. It is cooling and good with rich, herby food. Chef's tip: add the sparkling water last and stir gently, or the fizz disappears before it reaches the glass.

5 min

Persian Drinks

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UzvarDried fruit drink

Uzvar is the dark, smoky-sweet drink brewed from dried apples, pears and plums that closes the Holy Supper on Ukrainian Christmas Eve, Sviat Vechir, where it is one of the twelve meatless dishes alongside kutia. In villages across Podillia and the Carpathians the fruit is dried in the oven or over smoke in autumn, which gives uzvar its distinctive campfire note; market stalls sell ready-mixed bags in December. It is drunk warm in winter and chilled in summer, and is naturally vegan when sweetened with sugar instead of honey. Chef's tip: simmer gently, then let it steep for several hours; common mistake is boiling it hard, which turns the fruit to mush and the drink cloudy.

30 min

Ukrainian Drinks

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Rooh Afza sherbetRose syrup drink

During Ramadan almost every household in Pakistan breaks the fast at sunset with a jug of this bright red sherbet on the table, from Karachi apartments to village courtyards in Punjab. It is made with the herbal rose syrup sold as Rooh Afza (any rose sherbet syrup works), stirred into ice-cold water with a squeeze of lemon and a spoonful of swollen basil seeds (tukh malanga) that are said to cool the body after a long, hot day without water. Some families make it with cold milk instead, which turns it pink and creamy. The mistake people make is adding the basil seeds dry; they clump into hard lumps, so soak them first. Chef's tip: chill the water and syrup well before mixing so you need less ice and the sherbet does not taste watered down.

5 min

Pakistani Drinks

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Kashmiri chaiPink salted milk tea

Kashmiri chai, called pink tea or gulabi chai across Pakistan, came down from Kashmir to become the winter drink of Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad: it is ladled out at weddings, sold from steaming pots at tea stalls on cold nights and served with nankhatai biscuits at family gatherings. The colour is real chemistry, not food colouring: green tea leaves are boiled hard with a pinch of baking soda until the brew turns deep red, then whisked and splashed to get air into it, and finally cooked with milk until it blushes pink. It is lightly salted in the old Kashmiri way and sweetened in the city way; add as much sugar as you like. The mistake people make is using black tea; only green tea leaves turn pink. Chef's tip: pour in ice-cold water as soon as the brew is reduced, and beat it hard; the shock and the air are what lock in the bright colour.

40 min

Pakistani Drinks

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Ceylon teaSpiced milk tea

In the misty tea country around Nuwara Eliya, Hatton and Ella, and in every roadside tea kade across Sri Lanka, tea is made strong, sweetened generously and often whitened with milk, then poured from a height between two jugs so it cools a little and wears a frothy cap. Families drink it first thing, again at 'tea time' around four, and with every short eats snack in between. Unlike Indian masala chai there are no spices: the flavour comes from bright, brisk high-grown Ceylon black tea, often a BOP or BOPF grade. If you'd rather have it plain, kahata thé is the same tea with no milk and a bite of jaggery. The common mistake is stewing the leaves too long, which turns it bitter and tannic; three to four minutes is plenty. Chef's tip: pour from jug to jug four or five times; the 'pulled' tea is smoother and creamier.

5 min

Sri Lankan Drinks

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Chocolat chaudThick hot chocolate

Paris's grand tearooms have served chocolat chaud since the 1800s, and it is nothing like a powdered cocoa drink: dark chocolate is melted into hot milk and cream until it is thick, glossy and rich enough to coat the cup. Parisians drink it in small cups on cold afternoons, often with a pot of whipped cream on the side and a pastry. It is also a winter treat at home after a walk. Use chocolate you'd enjoy eating. Chef's tip: keep the heat low and whisk; letting it boil is the common mistake and the chocolate can turn grainy and catch on the bottom.

10 min

French Drinks

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FrappéShaken iced coffee

The frappé was invented by accident at the Thessaloniki International Fair in 1957, when a coffee rep shook instant coffee with cold water because there was no hot water to hand. Within a few years it was the drink of every Greek café and beach bar, sipped slowly through a straw for an hour or more. Instant coffee, sugar and a little water are shaken or frothed into a thick, light-brown foam, then topped up with cold water, ice and, if you like, milk. Order it sketos (no sugar), metrios (medium) or glykos (sweet). Chef's tip: use only a splash of water for the first shake; adding all the water at once is the common mistake and you get thin coffee with no foam.

5 min

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LuladaLulo and lime drink

Lulada is the drink of Cali and the Valle del Cauca, sold in tall glasses from street stalls and juice shops on hot afternoons. Lulo (naranjilla) is a small orange fruit with a green, sour, citrus-like pulp; for lulada it is chopped and crushed by hand rather than blended, then mixed with lime, sugar, cold water and ice, so you drink it with a spoon as much as a straw. Look for frozen lulo pulp or whole fruit in Latin American shops. Chef's tip: crush the lulo with a fork or muddler; blending smashes the seeds and makes the drink bitter.

10 min

Colombian Drinks

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Turkish tea (çay)Strong black tea

Nowhere in Turkey is far from a glass of çay. Tea from the slopes of Rize on the Black Sea coast is brewed in a stacked double teapot, the çaydanlık, and poured into small tulip-shaped glasses all day long: at breakfast with simit and cheese, in shops when you haggle, after every meal. The strong brew sits in the top pot and each glass is diluted to taste with hot water from the bottom, so one person drinks it dark (koyu) and another light (açık). It should be clear, the colour of a ruby or rabbit's blood (tavşan kanı), never cloudy. Serve it with sugar cubes on the side, not milk. Chef's tip: steam the dry leaves in the top pot for a few minutes before adding any water; the warm leaves open up and give a rounder, deeper colour.

17 min

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AyranSalted yogurt drink

Ayran is what Turks drink with lunch: a chilled, foamy blend of yogurt, water and a pinch of salt, poured from copper jugs alongside cheese pide, börek, lentil soup and bean stews. In the Susurluk area of Balıkesir it is whisked so hard that it arrives under a thick head of foam, and roadside cafés all over Anatolia serve it in tin cups on hot summer days. It is tangy, refreshing and cooling with spicy food. Make it just before you sit down and drink it ice-cold. Chef's tip: whisk the yogurt alone with the salt until smooth before adding any water, and you'll get a silky drink with no lumps.

5 min

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JallabDate and grape molasses drink

During Ramadan in Beirut and Sidon, street sellers ladle jallab from big glass jars at sunset, and families keep a bottle of the dark syrup in the fridge all summer. Made from date and grape molasses with a hint of rose water, it tastes of caramel and dried fruit, and it is served over crushed ice with a spoon for the pine nuts and golden raisins floating on top. Bottled jallab gets its smoky edge from incense smoke; this home version skips that and is made straight from the two molasses. Chef's tip: soak the raisins in the drink for five minutes before serving so they plump up and sink less.

5 min

Lebanese Drinks

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Sol kadhiKokum and coconut milk drink

Sol kadhi is the pale pink drink served at the end of every meal along the Konkan coast, from Malvan to Ratnagiri. Fresh coconut milk is mixed with the deep purple soaking water of kokum, a sour fruit that grows in the coastal hills, and seasoned with a little garlic, green chilli and salt. It's cool, tangy and gently creamy, and it soothes the stomach after a spicy Malvani thali. Drink it from a small glass or pour it over rice as the last course. Chef's tip: make it with fresh coconut if you can; the milk you squeeze yourself is lighter and sweeter than tinned and gives the classic blush-pink colour.

25 min

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Indori shikanjiThick chilled milk drink

Anyone who orders shikanji in Indore expecting lemonade gets a surprise: here it is a spoonably thick drink of slow-reduced milk, saffron and cardamom, with a gentle tang from thick yogurt and plenty of chopped dry fruit. It is a late-night treat at Sarafa and Chhappan Dukan, poured from steel jugs into glasses after a round of savoury snacks. Think of it as somewhere between a lassi and a cold rabri. Chef's tip: the milk must be completely cold before the yogurt goes in, or the drink splits into grainy curds.

45 min

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Bubble tea with brown sugar pearlsMilk tea with tapioca pearls

Pearl milk tea (zhen zhu nai cha) was born in Taichung, Taiwan, in the 1980s and has since spread to tea shops in every Chinese city. Strong black tea is shaken with milk and ice over dark, chewy tapioca pearls soaked in brown sugar syrup. Store-bought quick-cook pearls make it easy at home; kids love the big straws. Chef's tip: cook the pearls right before serving; after a couple of hours they go hard, and they can't be revived in the fridge.

30 min

Chinese Drinks

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Buna (Ethiopian coffee ceremony)Roasted and brewed Ethiopian coffee

Coffee was born in Ethiopia's south-western forests around Kaffa and Jimma, and buna is still a ceremony as much as a drink: in homes from Jimma to Addis Ababa, a woman of the house roasts green beans in a pan over charcoal, carries the smoking pan around so guests can breathe in the aroma, grinds them, and brews the coffee in a clay pot called a jebena. It is served in small handleless cups with sugar (or salt or butter in the countryside), alongside popcorn or dabo kolo, and poured three times: abol, tona and baraka. The ceremony takes the best part of an hour and is about conversation. Chef's tip: let the jebena stand for a few minutes before pouring so the grounds settle, and pour in one steady stream without stopping.

30 min

Ethiopian Drinks

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Moroccan mint tea (atay)Green tea with mint

Atay is Morocco's gesture of welcome, poured for guests in homes from Tangier to the Sahara, in shops while you bargain and after every meal. Chinese gunpowder green tea is rinsed, brewed with a big bunch of fresh spearmint and sweetened in the pot, then poured from high above the glasses so it froths. The host often pours a glass and returns it to the pot several times to mix the sugar through. The result is sweet, fresh and pleasantly bitter. Chef's tip: rinse the tea leaves with a splash of boiling water and throw that water away first; it removes the dust and the harshest bitterness.

10 min

Moroccan Drinks

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Punjabi lassiSweet yogurt drink with cream

In Amritsar and on the highways across Punjab, lassi comes in a tall steel or brass glass, churned so thick a spoon nearly stands up in it, with a raft of malai (clotted cream) floating on top. It is a summer drink, but Punjabis drink it all year with a stuffed paratha breakfast or after a heavy lunch. This is the plain sweet kind, with no fruit, so the tang of good full-fat yogurt is the whole point. Chef's tip: chill the yogurt, milk and glasses beforehand; cold lassi stays thicker.

5 min

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ChampurradoThick masa hot chocolate

Champurrado is a chocolate atole, the thick, hot corn drink Mexicans have drunk since before the Spanish arrived. Masa harina is whisked into water and milk with Mexican chocolate (stone-ground with sugar and cinnamon) and piloncillo, a dark unrefined cane sugar, and cooked until velvety and spoon-coating. It is drunk on cold mornings with tamales or conchas, and above all during Día de Muertos and Christmas posadas. Chef's tip: always dissolve the masa harina in cold liquid before it meets the hot pot, and whisk constantly once it's in; dumped into hot milk it seizes into lumps.

20 min

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Horchata de arrozRice and cinnamon drink

Mexican horchata is a sweet, milky-looking agua fresca made from rice soaked overnight with cinnamon, then blended and strained. It is quite different from the Valencian horchata de chufa made from tiger nuts. Sold everywhere from Mexico City street stalls to taquerías in Oaxaca, it cools the mouth after a spicy taco and tastes of cinnamon, vanilla and toasted grain. We blend in almonds for extra creaminess and keep it dairy free, so it is vegan. Chef's tip: strain twice, the second time through a fine cloth; a gritty horchata is the most common mistake, and that silky texture is what you're after.

15 min

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Agua de jamaicaHibiscus iced drink

Agua de jamaica is one of the aguas frescas, the cooling fruit and flower drinks ladled from huge glass barrels at markets and taquerías all over Mexico. It is made by steeping dried hibiscus calyces (flor de jamaica) in hot water, giving a deep crimson drink that tastes tart like cranberry, lightly floral and very refreshing over ice. It is naturally vegan and keeps for days in the fridge. Use the concentrate as the base and sweeten to taste. Chef's tip: don't boil the flowers for long or leave them steeping for hours; too much extraction makes the drink tannic and harsh.

15 min

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KahwaSaffron green tea

Kahwa is the warming green tea of Kashmir, traditionally brewed in a brass samovar and poured for guests on cold winter days. Green tea leaves are infused with saffron, green cardamom and cinnamon, sweetened lightly and served with slivered almonds in each cup. It's golden, fragrant and soothing, and is drunk after heavy meals to help digestion. Chef's tip: never boil the tea leaves; simmer the spices first, then let the tea steep off the heat for just 2 minutes or it turns bitter.

10 min

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Chicha moradaPurple corn drink

Chicha morada is Peru's favourite soft drink, served by the jug in every restaurant in Lima and drunk across the country with lunch. Andean purple corn is simmered with pineapple peel, apple, cinnamon and cloves, then sweetened and sharpened with lime to make a dark ruby drink that tastes of berries, spice and gentle tannin, a little like a spiced cranberry juice. It has no alcohol, unlike the fermented chicha de jora of the Andes. Dried purple corn (maíz morado) comes from Latin shops; purple corn powder works too. Chef's tip: add the sugar and lime only once the drink has cooled; lime added to the hot liquid turns it bitter.

60 min

Peruvian Drinks

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Zanzibar coffee (kahawa)

Kahawa is the strong, spiced black coffee poured from brass pots on the streets of Stone Town: freshly ground coffee boiled with cardamom pods and finished with ginger and ground cardamom. It's bitter-sweet and aromatic. Serve hot in small kahawa cups.

22 minAfrican Drinks

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Zanzibar spiced tea (chai ya viungo)

Zanzibar is the spice island, and chai ya viungo is its everyday tea: black tea boiled with a home-roasted masala of cardamom, dry ginger, black pepper, cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg. The masala keeps for months in an airtight jar. Milk is optional; serve the tea hot.

35 minAfrican Drinks

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Ginger drink (tangawizi)

Tangawizi is a warming Swahili drink of ginger boiled with cinnamon, clove and black pepper and sweetened to taste. It's hot, peppery and soothing on a cool evening or when you have a cold. Serve hot in small kahawa cups.

24 minAfrican Drinks

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Bungo juiceSweet-sour bungo fruit juice

Maji ya bungo is a favourite Zanzibar street drink made from the orange, sweet-sour pulp of the bungo fruit (Saba comorensis), soaked off the seeds, blended with sugar and water and strained. It's tangy, fruity and very refreshing. Serve well chilled.

25 minAfrican Drinks

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ZoboHibiscus and pineapple drink

Zobo is the deep crimson drink sold ice-cold in recycled bottles at Nigerian bus parks, markets and parties, and in Ghana the same drink is called sobolo, often made punchier with extra ginger and grains of selim. Dried hibiscus calyces are boiled with pineapple peel, fresh ginger and cloves, then strained and sweetened, giving a tart, fruity, gently spicy drink. It is drunk fresh and alcohol-free, very cold, especially in the dry heat before the rains. Chef's tip: sweeten the drink once it is strained and still warm, tasting as you go; hibiscus tastes much sharper hot than when it is chilled, so leave it a touch sweeter than you think.

30 min

Nigerian Drinks

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Filter coffee

In Tamil Nadu the day starts with filter coffee: a strong decoction dripped slowly through a two-tier steel filter, mixed with plenty of hot, boiled milk and sugar, and frothed by pouring it from a height between a steel tumbler and its little bowl, the davara. It's served at every Chennai and Kumbakonam 'hotel' and in nearly every home, and it's thick, sweet and slightly bitter from the chicory in the coffee powder. Chef's tip: press the coffee only lightly in the filter and pour the water in slowly; packed too tight, it drips for an hour, and too loose, the decoction is thin.

25 min

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Tibetan butter tea

On the cold Tibetan plateau, people drink many cups a day of this salty, buttery tea, and a host keeps topping up a guest's bowl as soon as a sip is taken. Traditionally, brick tea is boiled for a long time, then churned with yak butter and salt in a tall wooden cylinder called a chandong. At home, a blender gives the same creamy, frothy result. It tastes more like a light broth than a sweet tea. Chef's tip: boil the tea hard and long; it needs to be very strong to stand up to the butter.

14 min

Chinese Drinks

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KinderpunschHot spiced fruit punch

At every German and Austrian Christmas market, from Nuremberg to Vienna's Rathausplatz, the stalls selling Glühwein also sell Kinderpunsch: a steaming, alcohol-free mix of fruit tea and juices with cinnamon, cloves and orange, served in the market's own decorated mugs. Children love it, but so do drivers and anyone who just wants something warm to hold on a cold evening. It takes 20 minutes at home and makes the whole house smell of Advent. Chef's tip: keep it just below a simmer; boiling makes the spices bitter and dulls the fruit flavour.

20 min

German Drinks

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Hyderabadi Irani chaiCreamy milk tea

Irani chai came to Hyderabad with Persian migrants who opened cafés across the old city, and it is now the city's signature drink, poured at all hours in places around the Charminar, often with Osmania biscuits or a bun maska. Unlike masala chai, it has no spices: strong tea is brewed slowly in a sealed pot (dum), while full-fat milk is simmered separately with a little khoa until thick and creamy. The two are mixed only in the cup, giving a rich, mellow, slightly sweet tea. Chef's tip: seal the tea pot lid with a little dough or foil, as the cafés do, so the brew steeps without losing steam or strength.

40 min

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JigarthandaChilled milk almond gum drink

Jigarthanda means 'cool heart', and on a hot evening in Madurai crowds queue around the carts near the Meenakshi temple for a tall glass of it. It's layered rather than blended: a spoonful of soaked almond gum (badam pisin), a glug of nannari (Indian sarsaparilla) syrup, chilled milk reduced until creamy and lightly caramel-coloured, then a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. The result is cold, floral, wobbly and rich all at once. This home version uses shop-bought vanilla ice cream; check that yours is eggless and gelatine-free. Chef's tip: let the reduced milk chill overnight; cold, thick milk is what makes it taste like the street version rather than flavoured milk.

55 min

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BorhaniSpiced mint yogurt drink

At a Bangladeshi wedding in Dhaka, the moment the kacchi biryani comes out, so do glasses of pale green borhani. It's a thin, salty-spicy yoghurt drink blended with mint, coriander, green chilli, black salt and a whisper of ground mustard, made to cut through a rich meal and settle the stomach. Pour it alongside any spiced rice dish, including a vegetable biryani or bhuna khichuri. Chef's tip: the ground mustard seed is the signature; toast it lightly first and grind it fine, or the drink turns bitter.

10 min

Bangladeshi Drinks

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Rooibos iced tea

Rooibos grows only in the Cederberg mountains north of Cape Town, and on hot Western Cape afternoons it is brewed strong and poured over ice rather than drunk hot. The tea is naturally caffeine-free and slightly sweet with notes of honey and vanilla, so it needs little added sugar. Orange, lemon and fresh mint make it a summer jug for the stoep (veranda). Chef's tip: brew the tea double strength and pour it straight over plenty of ice; it chills in seconds and the melting ice dilutes it to the right strength.

10 min

South African Drinks

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Chicha venezolanaRice and milk drink

Chicha venezolana is the thick, creamy rice drink sold from pushcarts by chicheros on the streets of Caracas, poured over ice and topped with condensed milk and cinnamon. Unlike Mexican horchata, which is made from soaked raw rice, chicha is made from rice cooked until very soft, then blended with milk, condensed milk and vanilla, so it's thick and velvety, almost a drinkable rice pudding. Children love it as an afternoon treat. Chef's tip: cook the rice until it is really mushy and splitting; any firmness left makes the chicha gritty.

40 min

Venezuelan Drinks

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KopiCoffee with condensed milk

Kopi is the strong, thick coffee poured from long-spouted pots at kopitiams all over Singapore. The beans are dark-roasted with sugar and margarine, which gives a bittersweet, almost chocolatey brew, and the classic cup is sweetened with condensed milk. Order it like a local: kopi-o is black with sugar, kopi-c has evaporated milk, and kopi peng is iced. At home, a dark-roast robusta or espresso blend in a cloth sock or cafetière gets close. Chef's tip: pour the coffee back and forth between two jugs a few times; it cools slightly, aerates and gets the smooth, frothy kopitiam texture.

7 min

Singaporean Drinks

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Papelón con limónIced panela and lime drink

Papelón con limón is the cold drink of Venezuela, served in jugs alongside arepas, empanadas and every Sunday lunch, and sold by the glass from street stalls in the heat of Maracaibo and the plains. Papelón is the Venezuelan name for panela, the dark block of unrefined cane sugar; melted into water and mixed with lots of fresh lime, it tastes like a caramel-scented lemonade. The hot Colombian cousin is aguapanela. Chef's tip: dissolve the papelón in warm water first, then chill; it never fully dissolves in cold water and leaves grains at the bottom.

10 min

Venezuelan Drinks

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Sattu sharbatRoasted gram flour drink

On scorching May afternoons in Patna, handcarts with steel pots and heaps of lemons sell sattu sharbat by the glass: roasted gram flour whisked into cold water with black salt, roasted cumin, lemon and a bit of raw onion and chilli. It is filling enough to stand in for lunch and is the drink rickshaw pullers and farm workers swear by to beat the loo, the hot summer wind. It tastes savoury, nutty and sharp all at once. Chef's tip: whisk the sattu into a little water first to a smooth paste, then dilute it; tipping it straight into a full glass leaves dry lumps.

5 min