Noun
English: type of beverage, coffee with liquor
German: Kaffee mit Alkohol
Source: KGT
Category: food
KLCP Level: 3
See Also:
Notes
Though not native to the Empire, Klingons have developed a way to make coffee (qa'vIn) particularly strong, both in flavor and in its effect as a stimulant, and it is a very popular beverage. As a rule, coffee is consumed plain---that is, black---but some Klingons prefer to mix other ingredients in with the coffee.
If some kind of HIq ("liquor") is added to the coffee, the drink is called ra'taj. It is said that the drink was originally nicknamed ra'wI' taj ("commander's knife," suggestive of its potency), and that the name was shortened over time. This often repeated story cannot be confirmed.
In any event, ra'taj became one of the few Klingon foods to become popular outside of the Empire, though in an altered form. Instead of containing liquor, as does the genuine Klingon ra'taj, the "export" version (which came to be pronounced raktaj in Federation Standard) consists of strong Klingon coffee plus a nut like flavoring.
Eventually, a new fashion developed---adding cream to the raktaj---and with this innovation came yet another name, raktajino, modeled after the name of another popular coffee drink, cappuccino. Raktajino is now served hot or iced, with or without extra cream, and with or without the rind of some fruit to add even more flavor. Though it is sometimes called "Klingon coffee," it is quite different from both plain qa'vIn and the alcoholic ra'taj.
Usage for ra'taj
There is no usage for this word in the database.
