Bila Kava

Discussion in 'Food & Drink' started by Petronela, Dec 2, 2009.

  1. Petronela

    Petronela Well-Known Member

    Sometimes weird things from the past just pop into my head (I guess it’s part of getting old :( ) and if I cant remember details it just bugs the hell out of me.
    Anyways…..
    “Bila Kava” what exactly is it?
    I remember we used to drink it and for the life of me I can not describe the taste. It’s like your mind remembers it and not at a same time lol.
    It was drank hot with sugar (I think) and as far as I know it had nothing to do with any “real” coffee nor had any caffeine in it because mom would never let us drink it if it did.
    So my question is: what is bila kava?
    Thank you
     
  2. Jana

    Jana Well-Known Member

    Bílá káva is a hot drink (very popular for breakfast some fifty years ago) made with a coffee substitute called "melta" (made of roasted rye, oat, sugar beet and chickory root) with milk added.
     
  3. Petronela

    Petronela Well-Known Member

    Thank you very much Jana.
    Now that you listed the ingredients I can actually “taste it”.
    So does it still exist or did it go the way of the dinosaurs?
     
  4. TomKQT

    TomKQT Well-Known Member

  5. Petronela

    Petronela Well-Known Member

    Tom, I think the recipe is for something else. Kind of sounds like a variation of mocha, maybe they share same name in Czech? Just guessing here…. When it comes to fancy coffee I’m more of a cappuccino girl.
    But the product in the first link definitely looks like what Jana described, so it’s really awesome that it still exists.
    Thank you :)
     
  6. TomKQT

    TomKQT Well-Known Member

    I asked some people and for some of them, bílá káva is just normal coffee with a lot of milk.

    It seems it doesn't have a strict recipe, maybe it differs between families, maybe in different regions.
     
  7. Jana

    Jana Well-Known Member

    In Czech hospitals, bílá káva (made with a coffee substitute and milk - no sugar at all) is still being served quite often for breakfast or afternoon snack and it tastes awful! However, Vitakáva, which is an instant coffee substitute (similar to Melta, but nt containing sugar beet), used to be a favorite morning drink of my kids. They had "coffee" like grown-up people, not hot chocolate like babies :lol: .
     
  8. meluzina

    meluzina Well-Known Member

    not sure if the ingredients have changed - my package is as you listed with the exception of the oats - mine has barley listed

    and actually, it's still popular with many people i know - i make it in a drip coffemaker - it's very good with milk and honey
     
  9. wer

    wer Well-Known Member

    For me, bílá káva is any ersatz coffee with milk. Melta needn’t be with milk.

    I remember Bikava from my childhood, I guess Vitakáva is some Vitana’s analog of it, isn’t it?
     
  10. Jana

    Jana Well-Known Member

    Bikava used to be an instant drink - mix of a coffee substitute and milk powder; Vitakáva does not contain milk at all.
     

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