What spices go with coffee

Cardamom coffee is the standard preparation across the Arabian Peninsula, not a variation on it. Cardamom's cooling eucalyptus character cuts coffee's bitterness, and both are aromatically intense enough to hold their own.

How: Pods ground with the beans, or added to the pot

Add alongside: Saffron, Cloves

Widespread from Turkey through the Levant to Mexico, where cassia is boiled with the grounds rather than added after. It softens the bitterness without sweetening, which is a different effect from adding sugar.

Add alongside: Green cardamom, Cloves, Nutmeg

The Caribbean and North American treatment, rasped over a milky coffee rather than boiled with the grounds. It works on the milk as much as on the coffee — the same reason nutmeg belongs in a bechamel.

Add alongside: Cassia, Green cardamom, Vanilla

• A rasp over the top. Nutmeg boiled with coffee turns bitter and soapy.

Coffee is bitter and aromatic, vanilla is broad and sweet-smelling without being sweet, and the combination is old enough in European and American drinking to be invisible. It softens the bitterness rather than masking it.

Add alongside: Cassia, Green cardamom, Dark chocolate