Mexican Name Finder
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Café de olla

"clay-pot coffee"

Say it

kah·FEH deh OH·yah

Built from

Spanish cafécoffee+deof+ollaclay cooking pot

What Café de olla means

Café de olla is a Mexican drink name of Spanish origin meaning "clay-pot coffee". It is built from Spanish café (coffee) and de (of) and olla (clay cooking pot). It is pronounced kah-FEH deh OH-yah, and it is most associated with the whole country.

The pot is the whole point of the name: unglazed clay, sweetened with piloncillo and spiced with canela. Café itself reached Spanish through Turkish kahve from Arabic qahwa.

This is a site about what Mexican words mean, so there is no recipe here. For the name itself: Agua fresca, horchata, atole, tepache, pulque, mezcal. Most Mexican drink names are the name of the plant or grain they are made from, and the agave spirits are named for the towns and regions that make them.

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Café de olla means clay-pot coffee

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