The three of us, Paul, Saad and Fred and our guide Kristina, were sat in our third cafe of the morning and, consequently were just about to order our third coffee of the morning. ‘Ah, sikterusa’, says Kristina.
‘Sikterusa?’ says Saad. ‘Sikterusa,’ repeats Kristina, ‘shoo coffee. The third cup.’ She had our attention and our Balkan coffee culture education was just about to expand.
As our rich, thick and decidedly potent Serbian coffee arrived, Kristina revealed a coffee custom extended to guests arriving in a Serbian – or Bosnian - home. Invariably you will be offered coffee and the first coffee to arrive is called a docekusa which comes from the verb docekati meaning to welcome.

As your visit continues – assuming it’s a cordial visit – you’ll then be offered a second coffee, the razgovarusa which is derived from the word razgovar, conversation. Finally, comes the coffee which signals that it’s time to go. The sikterusa, the ‘goodbye’ coffee. The ‘shoo’ coffee as Kristina puts it. Nothing personal, just a neat, friendly way to wrap up.

Docekusa, razgovarusa, sikterusa. The three coffee custom. As with so many facets of coffee culture in the Balkans, we found this utterly charming.

Words and images by Fred Shively and Paul Kelly, the Balkan Caffeinators.

Two and a half years ago Maja Gredić lost her job as a marketing executive and knew exactly what she had to do with her life. ‘I had travelled the world for work and always loved the taste of good coffee,’ she explained. ‘In Serbia, I didn’t find coffee that tasted as good as what I discovered on my trips abroad. I believe that the true sign of the quality of your country is found in the quality of your coffee.'

For the good of Serbia, Maja decided to make a difference and opened a small coffee kiosk in Novi Sad designed to be a ‘peaceful and quiet’ place for people to visit. She roasts all of her coffee at home and then grinds and packages the beans at her shop. On the brown paper coffee bags Maja handwrites personal notes like, ‘You are the coffee you drink’ and ‘With a cup of coffee, even a day in Serbia has some chance.’

As do we, Maja. For both your coffee and your country.

There weren’t many ‘grand’ cafes to be found on our Balkan Caffeination odyssey. But the cafe at the Hotel Moskva in Belgrade certainly qualifies.

Historically this imposing building has gone through dramatic iterations starting with a simple single storey house in the early 1900s. Then an inn, the Velika Serbija. Around 1905, the wealthy owners of the inn – who weren’t that interested in inn-keeping - decided that the location was too good an opportunity to ‘squander’. Consequently they approached the successful and cash-rich Rossiya Insurance company of Russia with a view to opening a major branch HQ in Belgrade. As well as developing a luxurious, multi-purpose palatial edifice.

Thus began the design and planning of what was to become in 1908 the Rossiya Palace. Within the palace, in addition to Rossiya’s offices and other firms, they opened a 36 room hotel – the Hotel Moskva. Along with its obligatory fine cafe.

In the spring of 1941, following the Nazi invasion of Yugoslavia, the Gestapo moved into the Rossiya Palace,  promptly renamed it the Hotel Velika Serbija and looted its collection of fine paintings, silverware and gold-plated utensils.

Reverting in the post-WWII period to Hotel Moskva and to the Belgrade cultural elite’s favourite place to congregate, the hotel was nationalized under the communist regime.
Drinking coffee while hanging out amongst the cultural elite was an instant seal of approval. Cafe luminaries such as poet Vasko Popa was a regular client for decades. His daily ritual: arrive 3:30 PM, drink coffee until 6 PM.

In 1974, the hotel restaurant added a poslastičarnica (locally customized version of a patisserie) as part of its offering. Among the various cakes introduced on the occasion was Moskva šnit, a fruitcake that quickly became popular and remains one of the hotel's staples. The original Moskva šnit recipe was created by pastry chef Anica Džepina, and later trademarked. Nowadays, the restaurant serves between 200 and 300 pieces of Moskva šnit daily, while some one thousand whole cakes are delivered monthly to home addresses. A sweet reminder of a grand past.

The Hotel Moskva was re-privatized in 2005 and refurbished in 2009.  Today it continues to draw the ‘great and good’ of Belgrade - and the world.

Among the many loyal patrons of today's cafe at the Moskva we met two of the most delightful ladies - Milka (90) and Gigana (82). In their lifetimes they had seen the Moskva through virtually all of its character transformations, borne along on a tide of fragrant coffee.

Our brief visit to the Moskva was a bittersweet experience. On the one hand we appreciated the efforts of the owners to recapture its former glory, its grandness. But, as Milka indicated, something was gone. And in its place, a pastiche.

Nevertheless both its interior cafe area and sidewalk terrace are well worth the price of a cuppa and, of course, a slice of Moskva šnit.

Words and images by Fred Shively and Paul Kelly, the Balkan Caffeinators. With reference to a great Wikipedia piece on the Hotel Moskva history – well worth a read: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotel_Moskva,_Belgrade

​ Which set us up nicely for our next stop. If we could find it! There was no problem spotting the actual Pobednik (Victor) monument. 14 metres of Doric marble surmounted by a bronze warrior commemorating Serbia's victories over the Ottomans in the Balkan Wars and the Austro-Hungarian Empire in WWI. But where on earth was the Beogradski Pobednik Kafe? 

​A discreet sign and the disappearance of our guide down some stone steps are clues. We followed and eureka! There, overlooking the mighty Danube is a grassy terrace strewn with tables and umbrellas. And a scattering of customers.

The results were interesting. And private.

Words and images by Fred Shively and Paul Kelly, the Balkan Caffeinators

Dragan Despopović has been the owner of Štirske Véceri for 30 years now. It’s strictly a working man’s, coffee and rakia drinking café/bar. Food isn’t served and women don’t tend to visit. If you order a ‘married coffee’ you’ll get a cup of black coffee with a shot of rakia on the side. Dragan says about 40 % of his customers 'are the marrying type'.

Miloš works with his father behind the bar.

The Golden Beluga - Kafana Zlatna Moruna - Belgrade. A grand name for a modest cafe which wasn't much to look at in the Belgrade of 1912. Or today for that matter.

But it was here that a 17 year old Bosnian student and fellow conspirators met to plot an event that would ultimately spark World War I.
​

Thus began the first 'great' world war. More about Gavrilo Princip here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gavrilo_Princip   #balkancaffeination #Serbia #Belgrade #Bosnia_and_Herzegovina #Sarajevo 

​Words and images by Fred Shively and Paul Kelly, the Balkan Caffeinators

We are at the tiny ‘mala kafana’ (small cafe) Djulistan, a mini-bastion of authentic Bosnian coffee culture. Selma is not sure how many of the little cups of potent Bosnian brew she dispenses daily in the ancient Bascarsija heart of old Sarajevo. A lot, she says and then reveals that she herself will drink 3 to 4 cups.​

​Nedim is off coffee today. He’s not feeling well he says lighting up another cigarette without a trace of irony.

​As we move back outside to get a shot of Nedim and Selma in front of their cafe, somebody accidentally nudges a tray resulting in a trail of spilled coffee. Ah, says Selma, if you spill coffee on a table and the spill comes to you, you will marry an attractive partner. As Paul and Fred are both already married to attractive partners (Saad had not yet joined our expedition), the spill remains just a spill.

Situated in the heart of Sarajevo, Gallery Boris Smoje is part café, part art gallery. Owner Goran Esapović’s father was a famous Bosnian actor who years ago wanted a gallery for local artist. The art gallery alone didn't make much money so Goran has evolved Gallery Boris Smoje into the unpretentious and laidback café it is today.

Exhibitions of local and international artists and photographers are regularly on display bringing in a variety of local artist, coffee-lovers and tourist. Live music can be found here most Saturday nights.

'I’m an artist and poet who also happens to work here on occasion.’ – Mernes Zatiirović

Baščaršija is a wide street, which feels like a square, and the historical and cultural centre of Sarajevo. Here we found one of Sarajevo’s most popular - and traditional - cafés, Le Tunel. Taking over from his father and uncle, Baton Adžanel now runs this popular Sarajevo landmark, which opened in 1960.
Baton drinks about five cups of coffee a day but, ‘my best cup is my first cup in the morning with a friend’.

We couldn't agree more. Le Tunel provides you with the opportunity to enjoy, relax and take in all that Sarajevo life has to offer.

The scenic drive from Sarajevo to Mostar wasn't long just under three hours. About half way, we pulled over for coffee at a roadside restaurant. Fuad Zubetlak was our driver for the day and has lived in Sarajevo all his life. With a cup of traditional Bosnian coffee and a case of cigarettes, the 62 year old told us that he typically drinks three or four cups a day and his first cup in the morning is always with his wife.
Coffee has always been a staple in his life. During the Siege of Sarajevo, Fuad explained that although luxuries like coffee and cigarettes were expensive and hard to come by, 'not a single day did we go without coffee and cigarettes'.