The Best Ways to Drink Italian Coffee

The Best Ways to Drink Italian Coffee

Coffee is a fundamental institution in Italy.
Its history in our Belpaese began at the end of the 1500s even if it was already widespread in other places.
If your intention is to take a trip to Italy then I suggest you try Italian coffee and I’m sure you will be amazed. Here in Italy, there are about 40 different kinds of coffee to choose from.
Continue reading the article to find out more about coffee and its characteristics.
But above all to discover the best ways to drink coffee in Italy.

The history of coffee in Italy

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Coffee spread in Italy around 1575 in Venice.
The Paduan Prospero Alpino brought a sack of it from the East.
Initially, the product was sold in pharmacies and was very expensive.
Only the middle-upper class could afford this delicacy.

But the success was such that the famous “coffee shops” spread to every town and city.
Since then, coffee has become part of the daily life of Italians, it is a moment of sharing and conviviality with others.

And even today,  we can easily say that coffee is not lacking in Italian homes and is made to perfection.

Coffee for breakfast

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The vast majority of Italians love to wake up in the morning with a good “tazzulella” (aka little coffee cup in Naples)  of freshly brewed coffee.
But not everyone gets to have coffee for breakfast.
Some prefer the famous “cappuccino”.
Cappuccino is generally taken until 11 in the morning and only for breakfast.
You will find an excellent coffee at the base diluted with excellent hot milk and its very soft foam.
It’s a way to lengthen the coffee and not make it too heavy in the early morning. Once in Italy try it out in the morning with a little splash of cocoa powder on top of the warm milky foam. If you don’t like hot milk then you can ask for a “latte macchiato freddo” which is a mix of coffee and cold milk or you can choose to have it a worm or boiling hot. There is less coffee in it so it’s good if you want to moderate the intake of caffeine. During summer people love to drink cold coffee in the morning, don’t ask me why but so it is!

Ristretto or long coffee

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This type of coffee depends entirely on the tastes of the customer who turns to the barista to obtain a longer or shorter one.
The “short” coffee is more restricted and concentrated and there is less caffeine in it because you can only taste the initial part of the coffee and you don’t let the whole cup be filled.
As for the long coffee, instead, you will find a cup fuller of coffee which for many seems almost watered down

Mocha at home

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The mocha is an accessory that cannot be missing in Italian homes.
Because coffee is essential, at breakfast, after meals and in the afternoon with friends for a chat.
It is a courtesy that we offer to guests who come to visit us at home in the afternoon.
Very often the coffee made in the “Italian Moka”  is accompanied by a traditional dessert of the place.

The corrected coffee

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During the afternoon, many elderly people in Italian villages love to read the newspaper and enjoy a good correct coffee.
To correct the coffee, the famous Sambuca or Grappa are used, both of which are very famous liqueurs in Italy.
Obviously, we are talking about an Italian “cup”, the quantities are minimal!

Sicilian coffee granita

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If you are in the Sicilian environs then you absolutely must try this particular version of Italian coffee.
The recipe to create this sweet delicacy that will refresh your palate can be found online.
It’s a tasty refreshing drink on hot, sultry Italian days.

The dessert with coffee “affogato”

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If you don’t really like drinking coffee during the day then this is a valid alternative. Affogato literally means “drowning” You will find a good vanilla-flavoured ice cream drowned in hot, freshly brewed espresso coffee.
A delight to savour after a hearty Italian meal! Believe me!

The “sospeso” coffee

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In Naples, there is this fantastic tradition called “suspended coffee”. The customer goes to the bar to drink an espresso and very often, when paying, leaves another one paid for the next customer to come.
In this way a chain is generated, which can do good to someone who cannot afford to pay for a coffee.
This custom began after the Second World War. Here people used to pay for two cups of coffee, one for themselves and one for the next customer who would arrive later.
Nowadays this tradition has spread throughout Italy and Italians are proud of it.