Standing coffee
Coffee culture is slightly different in Italy. Coffee is more of a quick fix, a shot of quality caffeine. As we were people watching at a local cafe, we realised that people come in for an expresso, down it within 4 minutes and leave…quite different from our coffee breaks or coffee dates on a lazy Sunday afternoon. Normally at a café, there would be a bar area and a seating area, most locals stand at the bar to have their drinks (or meals even). This could be because drinks at the bar costs half as much as ‘eating in’, so if you’re not planning to stay for a couple hours, it would be a smarter choice just to stand.
Coffee culture is slightly different in Italy. Coffee is more of a quick fix, a shot of quality caffeine. As we were people watching at a local cafe, we realised that people come in for an expresso, down it within 4 minutes and leave…quite different from our coffee breaks or coffee dates on a lazy Sunday afternoon. Normally at a café, there would be a bar area and a seating area, most locals stand at the bar to have their drinks (or meals even). This could be because drinks at the bar costs half as much as ‘eating in’, so if you’re not planning to stay for a couple hours, it would be a smarter choice just to stand.
Coffee means business
I have been to a fair amount of coffee
shops and ordered some lattes. The great anticipation of a graceful swan
spreading its frothy wings to cover that expresso shot…was no where
to be seen. Instead, was milk being aggressively combined with coffee and served
at the bar. I realised I have made a huge mistake… Italy was only famous for
its coffee, not for its latte art. I then, disappointedly, did some googling
and found that Latte art was in fact invented and popularised in the U.S.
Lesson learnt, I guess Italians really focus on the taste of coffee and less on
the aesthetics.
Try something new
Coffee in Italy is generally quite nice, at any place really.
You may find many more coffee variations (ones that you might need to google to
find out what it exactly is), be adventurous and try some out. I ordered a
Caffe D’orzo, a roasted barley drink that's caffeine-free (yes, I frantically
googled it before reaching the till). It had a slight coffee taste, like very weak coffee. This is a drink made in the expresso machine (like you
would making normal coffee), so I’m not sure if it was the residual smell from
the expresso machine or if it was what the drink actually tasted like. All in all, I
was happy I tried something different.
Hit up this café in Rome if you’re looking
to experience Italian coffee:
06 679 17 00
Via dei Condotti, 86, 00187 Roma RM,
Italy
(It’s right next to the Spanish Steps)
Hope you are well.
Love,
Vivien
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