Walk into a café in Athens in February and you will see people drinking iced coffee. Not in a heatwave, not as a novelty, but as the default. Greece drinks cold coffee the way Britain drinks tea: slowly, socially and all year round.
The frappé, an accident from 1957
The story goes that at the Thessaloniki International Fair in 1957, a Nescafé representative wanted a coffee during a break, could not find hot water, and shook instant coffee with cold water and ice instead. The foam that came out became the national drink for the next forty years.
A frappé is instant coffee, a little water and sugar if you want it, shaken or whisked into a thick, stable foam, then poured over ice and topped up with cold water and, if you like, milk. It is strong, bittersweet and oddly refreshing. We serve it as the Nescafé frappé.
The freddo generation
From the 1990s, espresso machines took over Greek cafés and the frappé gained two younger rivals.
Freddo espresso is a double espresso blended hard with ice until it cools and turns velvety, then poured over fresh ice. No milk. It tastes like espresso with the edges sanded off.
Freddo cappuccino is the same base topped with a thick cap of cold frothed milk, which sits on the coffee rather than mixing into it. You drink the coffee through the foam with a straw.
Neither is an iced latte. An iced latte is espresso poured over milk and ice, thin and milky. A freddo is cold coffee first, with any milk treated as a topping.
How to order like you have done it before
In Greece you give your sugar level with the order, because it goes in before the coffee is blended: sketo (no sugar), metrio (medium) or glyko (sweet). Tell us which you want when you order.
And do not rush it. A freddo is made to last an hour at a table. That is rather the point.
For those who want something hot
Everything else is on the bar too: espresso, cortado, flat white, cappuccino and lattes, matcha and chai lattes, and a full list of teas, including fresh mint and the Canarino, fresh ginger with a slice of lemon. Oat, almond and coconut milk are all available, as is cold chocolate for anyone who does not do coffee.
Coffee is served from 8:30 every morning at Judd Street. See the drinks menu.