There are countless reasons for drinking coffee: In the morning it serves as a starting aid for the day, after lunch against the deep mouth, some drink it out of habit at any time of the day or night and are apparently immune to the effects of caffeine.

After an overnight flight to Colombo, I couldn't think of a better way to overcome the fatigue exacerbated by jet lag and the warm, humid climate.

So we didn't think twice when my girlfriend and I were offered a fresh coffee at our accommodation in Negombo, just a 20-minute drive from the capital.

Philipp Johannssen

Editor on duty at FAZ.NET.

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Our eyes, still sleepy after a short power nap, wandered through the endless green of the island, we listened to the strange noises of animals that we never saw, and were enveloped by a sweet, aromatic cloud of fragrance from the cups in front of our noses.

After the first sip, the pupils dilated, our tongues were delighted by a firework of spices.

Nothing could have woken us from our doze more sweetly than this cup of coffee.

We had to ask: What's in there?

A stick of cinnamon, four green cardamom pods and a small piece of ginger were placed in the filter to brew the ground coffee.

The strong, black coffee took on an elegance I had never experienced before.

Ironically, on the island that is world famous for its tea.

Flavoring coffee is not a Sri Lankan invention, let alone Starbucks.

The Arabs did this many centuries ago.

We also encountered the spiced coffee on later trips to Morocco and Israel.

In Morocco it was often called "Berber coffee", in Israel "Arabic coffee".

The latter was drunk from espresso cups and tasted intensely of cardamom.

In addition to cinnamon, cardamom and ginger, cloves, pepper and allspice also go well with coffee.

For German palates, these spices may be associated with the Christmas season, but in fact the spiced coffee also tastes very good on hot summer days.

Since the trip, I have been mixing my own coffee spices from cinnamon, cardamom, ginger and cloves (everything ground, in descending amounts) and adding them to the coffee as I like.

Unfortunately, as our journey continued, it became apparent that coffee drinkers in Sri Lanka should switch to black tea - which, by the way, is often brewed directly in hot milk on the island and served with plenty of sugar.

Because: All of the following accommodations only served instant coffee.

If we had known that in Negombo, we would have enjoyed the coffee even more.

And the delicious coconut biscuits.