Bitter Coffee(2010)

Revealing the lost truth of history

Bitter Coffee is an Iranian series that follows Nima Zande-Karimi, a history teacher struggling to make ends meet in Tehran, who plans to return to his hometown of Darab. When he meets Roya Atabaki, a university student researching a turbulent period in Persian history (1198–1203), Nima receives a mysterious phone call directing him to Niavaran Palace. There, he drinks a cup of bitter coffee and inexplicably finds himself transported to the year 1201. As Nima navigates this distant era, he must uncover the secrets of Iran's ruling elite during this chaotic period while searching for a way back to his own time. The series blends historical intrigue with magical realism, exploring how the past and present collide through an ordinary act of hospitality.