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There are many ways to consume coffee. Some mix it with chocolate, some put stones in it. Others drink it with salt - or even put meat in it. And drinking coffee on a saucer was once very common, until it suddenly was considered bad manners.

The indigenous people of northern Sweden, the Lapps, started to drink coffee in the late 19th century, as a complement to their traditional deer-clear soup. Often they add cow or goat milk, dried deer milk and cheese - and sometimes even smoked or dried deer meat - to their coffee. Many times the fat from the bottom of the deer are carved in thin slices and put in a cup and covered with coffee. In older days the Lapps did the same thing with deer intestines. Further east, other indigenous people boil meat of sheep or deer together with coffee or tea. The Lapps also have an old trick to make coffee without a pot. They fold birch bark into a cone in which they pour water and grind coffee. By putting a heated stone into the brew, they get the coffee even hotter. While drinking they add small hot stones to keep the coffee warm.

In many cultures salt is added to the coffee. A passenger on a domestic flight in Guatemala gets a small package of salt with the coffee. Salt also helps the body retain water and therefore the armed forces in some countries have worked on adding salt in coffee to help the soldiers endure cold weather.



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