The Italian coffee culture

 Today, I'm not (regrettably) going to talk about specialty coffee-related subject but about the Italian coffee culture.

How is the coffee drinking culture in Italy?
Even if questionable, Italian people have their own coffee culture no matter how it works in the rest of the world.

Italian Coffee Culture: A bit of history

The Italian coffee history seems to start around the 16th century in Venice where it was the port in which the environment-friendly beans were to start with imported as well as, not remarkably, Caffè Florian was one of the initial coffee bars that opened up in Europe.

The Italian nation has been affected for ages from the south of Italy, with Naples called one of the crucial influencers.

Still today, nothing has actually altered (or almost) in Naples. Over there the coffee culture is fairly the same with lots of coffeehouses that keep sugarcoating in your coffee while the extraction remains in the process, or before offering it (regardless of your request).

Normally speaking, lever equipment is still the favored kind of espresso maker in operation in Naples as well as the south of Italy, serving a blend made of (at the very least) 50-60 percent of robusta and up to 100 percent.

Exactly how is the coffee alcohol consumption culture in the rest of the nation?

Let's take a look at what makes the Italian coffee society so different worrying any other country worldwide.

Some aspects of Italian Coffee Culture

• Choosing a coffee in Italy is quite a routine: coffee is mostly consumed standing at the "bar", which is not only the counter but also the Italian translation of the English word (coffeehouse);
• Coffee is just coffee so there's no factor to sell a mug of coffee more than 1 euro (I'm talking about commercial coffeehouse and not about the few specialty ones that are spread out over the country);
• baristas do not need to be trained. If you know exactly how to steam fluffy milk and serve at the table you're ready to go.
• Italian people tend to drink their coffee swiftly as they believe that it has to be consumed when hot;

I'm not exactly sure concerning the factor behind that however I manufacture what it could be in two points as my viewpoint:

1 – The lack of knowledge and interest:

Italian people have constantly made me consider somebody that does not care that much concerning the coffee experience claiming "it's just coffee and being such, it's simply a stimulant that starts your early morning or maintains your day going. However, I prefer to think about the total absence of knowledge of what lags this beverage.

Italians don't understand that coffee originates from a fruit, even more specifically, a berry and as being such, when talking about coffee, we state a coffee has low/medium/high acidity and sweet taste with low anger or even no resentment in all as well as with unique fruit and/or floral notes (coffee is a fruit, remember?).

Now the question is: Why it's not feasible in Italy to experience that?

There are 2 important things to take into consideration.

As I claimed in the past, drinking coffee in Italy is very cheap. So, how a coffeehouse can have a margin on this? Just by getting low-grade coffee beans. So, in most of the situations what takes place is that what you are going to consume alcohol is made of a great percentage of Robusta which is cheaper than the Arabica and also gives to the cup a bitter preference and also a thicker crema. That’s why Italian people still think that the espresso must taste bitter to be considered of good quality if not, it's not a good one. This is among the essential facets of what makes this society thus far from the others.

Well, putting aside momentarily just how margin you can do from low-quality beans and also why you must avoid following by doing this, I just see two downsides such as the toasting profile: poor quality beans suggest we are in the instance of several defects that are going to impacts the mug.

The majority of the people don't find out about this yet in Italy, we roast darker (over the second split) exactly because we want to stay clear of those coffee flavor flaws (off-flavor). By toasting darker we conceal these undesirable flavors with the resentment that appears right from the roasting profile. So, the coffee is mosting likely to taste bitter, ashy, and also woody which is why Italian individuals are used to as well as think are excellent descriptors;

2 – the toughness of the Italian coffee culture:

That's directly associated with the initial factor. We take for provided that coffee is great only when it comes out with that full-body/bitterness in the cup but we never ever focus on similarly when consuming alcohol red wine, which likewise comes out from fruit and also expands genuinely similar to coffee does; well, I do not believe a glass of wine drinker would certainly consume wine if the taste was the same.

Also, we believe we value the resentment as much that we include three-four spoons of sugar to cancel what we do not such as anger.

LAST CONSIDERATION

• Most of the Italians opt for an espresso-based beverage and also never ever consume alcohol milky drink after lunch or later on as they assume it's indigestive to presume milk; the genuine reason behind that originates from another bad Italian practice: buying extra hot milk drink.
• There's no reason that you ought to ask baristas to steam your milk that much, except if you want the development of the casein tannate in your beverage that makes it indigestible to you as well as might in the long-term cause intolerance to dairy products;.
• There's one more element to bear in mind when talking about bitterness. A dark roast account is the first thing that brings anger out of your beans however it's not the just one; as I claimed previously, robusta beans are frequently mixed in a mix for the reason that is more affordable yet likewise because Italian individuals like the crema that stands on the surface. Robusta beans have roughly twice the amount of caffeine contrasted on any kind of Arabica beans which is why the drink is mosting likely to results bitter as caffeine tastes bitter;
• Education and learning should go to the leading edge of the culture of a firm. It would be excellent to enter in a commercial coffee bar and also discuss coffee with the barista, asking him encourages on what to drink or drink milk drinks at the best temperature.

It's typically great to keep the practices yet that's not the situation when talking about coffee. The faster we understand that the even more chances to bring speciality coffee in Italy.