Italians are known to stick to their culture and traditions, and their coffee, with its unmistakable heavily roasted flavor, there is no doubt about it. An aroma that contains all those bittersweet tones explaining why Italians are so in love with it. Available indifferent varieties, it is generally served witha glass of water aside.
Let’s start from its history
Italian coffee historydates back to the 16th century. Since the first coffee was poured inVenice, Italians never ceased to claim their sincere adoration for a beverage that would have later become a real cornerstone of Italian culture. The Serenissima Republic of Venice was in fact one of the first European states toimport coffee beanswhen they reached the Old Continent. Founded in 1720 and located in the outstanding and iconic Piazza San Marco,Caffè Florian, is themost ancient operating coffee house in the world. Many of the most important internationalpeopleandartistsof the past – such as Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Lord Byron and Giacomo Casanova – habitually stopped by there for coffee, while sharing intellectual conversations. Hosting people of every social class, Caffè Florian would have set a precedent for thesocial rolea coffee house could hold.
During the 19th century, Italian patriots and statesmen in bowler hats would have met inTurin’s elegant coffee shops and cafés in order to plan thecountry’s unification, while at the beginning of the 20th century Italy would have emerged as the globalleader in the commerce of coffeesoon after the inventions of the businessman Angelo Moriondo. In 1884 he presented a new machine which was able to produce a short and concentrated drink, the so-calledespresso, whose name derives from its brewing: it could be prepared appositely for each consumer, since water had to be expressed through the coffee. In 1901, the project was than revised by the engineer Luigi Bezzera, which allowed to spread this preparation system throughout Italy.
Easy to make and good to wake, espresso rapidly became anemblem of the turn of the century, together withhigh-speed trainsharing its name. Espresso machines became popular in the “American bars”, where customers could stand at the counter instead of sitting at the table. The first one to be opened in Italy was theCaffé Maranesi, located inFlorenceand also known as Caffè dei Ritti, referring to “the standing people” that were hosted in the inside.
Still nowadays, many Italian households do have a moka, a stove-top brewer able to extract a great tasting coffee within the walls of your home!
DuringWorld War II, coffee basically disappeared, due to the embargo that the League of Nations imposed on Fascist Italy, and was actually replaced by surrogates, such as barley. The first idea of the Italian style espressoas we know it can be traced back to the city of Turin, after which many took inspiration from and created their own versions and modifications, such as the baristaAchille Gaggiain 1948, during the post-war period. He introduced a newpressure extractionof the precious beans, a technique which also turned out to be important for the following history ofItaliancoffee, as it made it possible to obtain an even more concentrated and aromatic drink with the distinctive crema on the surface.
After Achille Gaggia’s invention, many new professional coffee machines have been conceived during the 1950s, whenlarge companiesbegan to produce and make available models that could be increasingly accessible to the general public.
In his youth Italo Calvino was a regular atCaffè Talmone, in Turin, where he used to drink Italian espresso with a layer of foam on top and meet up with other intellectuals to discuss books, politics and current affairs.
All the types of coffee you can find at the bar
Let’s take a journey through the differenttypes of Italian coffee, in order to understand which may be more appropriate for each consumer’s tastes.
When the day breaks, it is customary in Italy to consume thefirst coffee of the day, generally accompanied, in one way or another, bymilk, since a typical Italian breakfast certainly includes asweetpastrypaired with a delightful cup of coffee. The most popular and tasty recipes including milk are the famous Cappuccino, requiring one shot of espresso, and equal parts of steamed and foamed milk, theCaffelatte, which consists of an espresso with more steamed milk and less foam, and theLatte macchiato,namely steamed milk with a drop of espresso. You will never taste a better drink based on coffee and milk elsewhere, since the first steam-driven coffee machine was indeed invented there! Regardless, Italians do not order milky coffee after 11 am.
Considered as the authentic Italian coffee, the espresso, is instead preferred atlunchtimeorlater in the day. Over time, Italians have created dozens of varieties and alterations including espresso itself. TheCaffè americanois to be considered as a taste of home Italians intend to offer to their guests from the United States as an interpretation of their habits in terms of coffee. It involvesItalian espressodiluted with plenty of hot water. For its part,caffè lungo, a “long coffee”, is a similar but is just made by extending the extraction of a regular espresso.
Apart from which, each Italian region boasts a unique and motley coffee culture. While espresso is undoubtedly pervasive, one can find so many diverse regional twists and unexpected combinations. When visiting the region ofMarche, it is possible to enjoy acaffè anisette, a delicious anise-flavored espresso, while inSicilythe arabesque-tastingcaffè d’u parrinuincludes cinnamon, cloves and cocoa.
Why coffee is so important in Italy
Italy has a wide historically rich culture and is prominent in so many different fields. When you think of Italy, it's all about amazing landscapes and monuments, art and tradition, food and wine, but also, last but not least, coffee.
When visiting Italy, you have probably run into the following sentences a thousand times: “Time for a coffee”, “a coffee on the fly”, or the pretty common “we must have a coffee together one of these days!”. Whether in a bar or being a guest at someone’s home, you can count on Italians to brew and drink coffee. Though, why isItalian coffee cultureso special? Why isgood Italian coffeeso delicious? We may look at it as a culmination of traditions, customs and historical contributing factors. While different regions have their own variations, the fundamentals are the same, since Italians wouldnever give up their espressoat standing bar in a groovy social atmosphere. This is just one of the customs explaining how coffee is an integral part of Italian everyday life and culture. It even marks the passage of time and serves as a constant pretext for dating. It is of no surprise that several of the most internationally renowned coffee brands were born in Italy.
