I admit, it’s never crossed my mind to combine two of my favourite things, coffee and cheese. Kaffeost is a traditional Scandinavian coffee where dried, sponge-like Finnish cheese, called leipäjuusto (commonly referred to as cheese bread), is placed at the bottom of a mug and then covered with boiling coffee. So how does it taste? The cheese is softened and left with a delicious smoky coffee flavour, while the coffee picks up a nutty, buttery flavour from the cheese.

There’s no one way Spanish people take their coffee and you should make it your mission to try them all. A bombon coffee is a Valencian specialty that is made from condensed milk, which is poured in the coffee cup (usually glass) first, followed by a shot of espresso. Another sweetened coffee that originated in Spain is the cafe con miel. The drink consists of honey, a shot of espresso and steamed milk. It’s layered so the light, frothy milk foam sits on top and is sometimes dusted with cinnamon. Finally, if those sound a little too sweet for your liking opt for a cortado. Larger than a macchiato and smaller than a cappuccino, a cortado is composed of equal parts espresso and steamed milk.

Also known as Nanyang coffee and popular across South East Asia, Kopi is the national drink in Singapore. Coffee beans are roasted with butter, margarine or lard to bring out the rich and dark flavour of the beans. The caramelised beans are then ground and brewed in a pot inside a small muslin cloth bag. Condensed milk, sugar and water can be added to it to taste.

Coffee paired with run and whipped cream? I’m sold. A pharisäer is made up of coffee, sweetened with sugar cubes, a splash of rum and finished with a generous serving of whipped cream. Need I say more?

It makes sense that in warmer climates, iced coffee is the go-to. And in Vietnam ca phe sua da (Vietnamese iced coffee) is the ultimate caffeinated thirst quencher. The refreshing beverage is made from coffee that is brewed through a metal filter (phin) on top of sweetened condensed milk and is finished off with ice cubes.

Frappe reigned supreme for decades in Greece. Come summer, the iced coffee drink is a staple that is surprisingly easy to make. A frappe is made from instant coffee, water, sugar and milk (the last two are optional), which is then shaken, blended or beaten to create a tasty, foamy and refreshing caffeinated drink. In recent years though, the freddo cappuccino has been growing in popularity among locals, mainly because it’s made from espresso rather than instant coffee. This icy beverage includes a shot of espresso topped with frothed cold milk and a sweetener of some sort. Opa!

Coffee, whipped cream, and cocoa, oh my! A Viennese coffee is simply an espresso topped with whipped cream and dusted with chocolate shavings of cocoa powder. While you don’t need convincing to try this, you’ll enter the age-old debate on whether you eat the cream or drink the coffee first.

This is not what you think. Swedish egg coffee is a unique way of brewing coffee that does involve a raw egg. The egg is added to the ground before brewing the coffee. It’s said that the egg white extracts the bitterness from the coffee grind and enhances the caffeine. So you’re left with a clear brew that is easy to drink thanks to the lack of bitterness.

If you like your coffee strong, jump on a plane heading to Turkey pronto. Prepared in a cezve (small pot with a long handle) Turkish coffee is unfiltered and is simply very finely ground coffee beans mixed with water and boiled over high heat. The coffee grind sinks to the bottom of the cezve and is then poured into small coffee cups. Unlike espresso, Turkish coffee is meant to be sipped and drunk slowly.