The Italian coffee, caffè, is really great.
It is the same thing that we call espresso.
With the difference that Italian coffee tastes better than our coffee.
Swedish brewing coffee and boiled coffee do not exist at all in Italy.
 
The coffee is sure made at home.
But most of all, the italians drink it in bars more than we do in Sweden.
One reason is probably the low price.
Another might be that it is tastier in bars than home made coffee.
The secret is supposed to be high preasure and high temperature
of the water when the coffee is made.
Also meeting people in bars is important.
They drink the coffee together but only one person orders it for everybody.
It is fascinating to see a bunch of people argue about who
to pay and order the coffee.
Everybody always are voluntary and are standing with open wallets,
ready to pay.
Very south italian.
 
An Italian bar does not have many things in common with a Swedish one.
Well, maybe that they both have a counter.
It is more like our conditori, but as I said, with a counter.
The counter is very important since the italians often take the
coffee standing at it.
They drink it with an incredible speed.
Well, the cup of coffee is small, like a cup for dolls, less than
half a deciliter, but the speed really is impressing, just a few seconds.
Although the coffee not costs more than about 1000 lire, 4.50
Swedish crowns, 60 US cents, the price is pretty high for the
italians in case you count per unit of time...
 
I don't know why they drink that fast.
It does not fit in my picture of italians, that they indeed try to enjoy life.
Regarding the coffee, I don't understand how they have time to enjoy it.
The Swedish, or rather non-italian coffee drinker, has not even had
a sip when the italians have finished it and are ready to go.
 
Ordering a cup of coffee is science.
And I am not thinking of the fact, that you first pay the coffee and
then go to the bar and order what you just paid.
No, the variation is science.
The most common is a plain cup of espresso, it is just called
caffè.
Then there are tons of variations.
 
A little bit lighter coffee is called caffè lungo
(long coffee).
Stronger coffee, which may be difficult to imagine, is called
caffè ristretto (narrow coffee).
Note that the amount of coffee is the same for caffè
lungo and caffè ristretto, but the total amount varies.
This means that a ristretto is even smaller than a plain
coffee, which also may be difficult to imagine.
Coffee in a small glass instead of a cup becomes al vetro
(in the glass).
If you want some liqeur with the coffee, then order caffè
corretto.
During the summer there is also another type, of course cold coffee,
caffè freddo.
It is served in a long narrow glass.
 
Some milk with the coffee is called caffè macchiato.
If you want warm milk, then order caffè macchiato caldo.
Coffee with cold milk is called caffè macchiato freddo.
Do not believe that macchiato means milk.
Milk is called latte and macchiato means spot,
in other words, coffee with a spot of milk.
Caldo means, somehow confusing, warm and
freddo means cold. In caffè macchiato caldo
you really can see a spot of milk in the coffee.
 
The contrary, some coffee with the milk is also possible.
If you want to try that, then order latte macchiato, milk
with a spot of coffee.
No visible spot though.
It is served in a big glass and not in a cup.
Do not mix it with caffè latte, which is like our
cafè au lait.
Also caffè latte is of course based on espresso.
It is served in the same type of glass as latte macchiato.
Caffè latte consists of the same amount of coffee as
a plain caffè.
Latte macchiato contains about half of the amount of coffee.
Are you getting it?
 
All this can be combined in almost any possible way.
Of course a caffè lungo ristretto (long narrow coffee)
does not work.
But why don't you try a caffè lungo corretto macchiato caldo
al vetro?
 
Sugar with the coffee?
Most italians drink the coffee with sugar.
It is not a matter of a small amount of sugar, which would be natural
considering the size of the coffee.
No, they put sugar until the coffee is saturated and then some more.
To be fair, I must say that the food contains less sugar than we have
in Sweden.
The coffee is more like a sweet dessert.
 
Finally the cappuccino.
It is a must, even if you don't like coffee in general.
In Sweden you can get coffee with milk and some foam on top.
It uses to be called capuccino.
It is not much like the real, italian, cappuccino.
It is fantastic.
The italians only take it before lunch since it is lighter than
regular coffee.
The cappuccino is more like a soft starter than an awaker
or digester.
So, take it with the breakfast or a little bit later.
Waiting until after lunch, immediately tells that you are a tourist,
and have not really got the idea of Italian coffee culture.
 
Bosse Wesshagen
Roma 96/01/10-97/12/19