Category: Coffee Lessons

Coffee in Italy

Coffee in Italy (v. the US):

5 things I researched, and also experienced, 13 years ago and this time around

  • bar = coffee shop
    • You go to the bar for coffee, the bar is not your local pub.
  • No milk options/questions
    • When I order a cup of coffee, or any coffee drink in the US, I’m almost always asked what kind of milk I want with my drink. I usually ask what is available and am treated to a nice list of options. I keep my ears open for almond, cashew, or oat. *This is very much an American experience.*
      • No such questions are ever asked by baristas in Italy. I asked a few locals and they laughed at my list of milks, and asked how it tasted with coffee with curiosity and bewilderment, because it is very much a foreign concept. They also informed me that maybe you can get soy, but no, there’s no litany or automatic choices for milk, and soy is very much a maybe.
  • latte = milk
    • If I go to a coffee shop in the US I can order a latte by merely saying “latte.” However, latte is not an English word in origin, and it literally means milk. In Italy, I order a caffé latte to be more accurate.
  • No time for reading, or working, or gaming, or whatever at the bar 😉
    • It’s a bar, there’s a counter, you get your drink, you take it, and you go back to your life. The concept of getting coffee and sitting down to drink it for an hour or so, the concept of a prolonged coffee escape, that is very much an American concept.
  • Coffee all day, every day, every moment of the day
    • These people drink coffee. They pack it away! I get jittery just thinking about it. Coffee is a quick event that happens frequently throughout the day. There is no meal or snack where I am not offered coffee. It’s a daily, all day, recurring thing to consume during your day. If I drank this much, this often, I’m pretty sure I would have dropped dead of a heart attack by now–I haven’t even tried to keep up with the locals. I can’t do it.

There are definitely more differences, but these first 5 struck me the most. I still have another month here, I’ll see what more I can discover and learn through this cultural exchange. 😀

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Coffee Lesson #12

arabica (coffee arabica, Arabian coffee, mountain coffee):

  • an evergreen plant with seeds that produce high-quality coffee
    • plant is native to Ethiopia
    • the name “arabica” comes from historical context: it was eaten in Ethiopia, then traveled to Arabia (present-day Yemen, lower Arabian peninsula) in the 7th century where it was turned into a drink, so it was discovered as a drink in Arabia
  • considered, recorded, and thought to be the first species of coffee to be cultivated
  • arguably the best, most prized, coffee
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Coffee Lesson #11

coffee blend:

  • combination of coffees
    • coffee is blended (combined) for culinary and economic purposes
  • process, or art, that mixes coffee in order to complement the flavor of each selection of coffee
  • coffee beans from two or more different locations that are mixed and roasted together
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Coffee Lesson #10

dregs:

  • the little grains left at the bottom of the cup after drinking coffee (or tea)
  • the sediment in a liquid–usually referring to that in wine or coffee
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Coffee Lesson #9

instant coffee:

  • can be referred to as soluble coffee, coffee crystals, and coffee powder
    • available in granulated form or as a powder
  • beverage derived from coffee beans that allows for quick preparation of coffee by adding hot water and stirring
  • soluble powder that quickly dissolves in hot water
    • coffee powder was invented originally for convenience–so the coffee drinker would not have to prepare their coffee

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Coffee Lesson #8

fair trade:

  • identification that farmers, or coffee growers, were paid a minimum (*think fair*) price
    • fair trade standard agreements serve as protection for coffee growers

fair trade coffee:

  • coffee that was produced, and traded, according to fair trade standards
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Coffee Lesson #7

decaffeination:

  • removal of caffeine from coffee, cocoa, tea leaves, and any other caffeine-containing materials
    • as it pertains to coffee, there are several methods to extract caffeine–these include chemical solvents, carbon dioxide, or water methods

decaffeinated coffee:

  • often referred to as “decaf” or “decaf coffee”
  • coffee that has had almost all of its caffeine removed
    • while decaffeination refers to the removal of caffeine, decaffeinated coffee is not completely caffeine-free–trace amounts of caffeine can and do remain in coffee

 

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Coffee Lesson #6

barista:

  • Italian word used to describe both male and female workers that serve drinks, typically non-alcoholic drinks
  • a person that works in a coffeehouse and serves espresso-based coffee drinks
  • a person that makes, and serves, coffee and coffee drinks
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Coffee Lesson #5

ground coffee:

  • coffee that is ready to be brewed
  • the product after grinding roasted coffee beans
  • can be found in a variety of forms as grind size determines how fine or coarse the grounds will be
  • do not confuse with coffee grounds

It was not until I had to sit down and read, research, and think about coffee vocabulary that I realized before and after had their own terms–ground coffee (before) and coffee grounds (after). Funny how these connections came about–I love what this coffee blog is providing me!

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Coffee Lesson #4

caffeine:

  • an alkaloid (a group of naturally occurring compounds that mostly contain basic nitrogen atoms)
  • a stimulant; a stimulant of the central nervous system
    • most often used to combat fatigue, sleepiness, etc.
  • a compound found especially in coffee and tea
  • a chemical found in coffee and tea

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Caffeine is found in a variety of foods and drinks.

I have heard about caffeine–who hasn’t? I have read about its positive and negative effects.

For me, the caffeine in coffee is partly why I try to drink it early in the day. It’s also why I love drinking it in the morning, it’s my favorite pick-me-up.

There really is nothing like a good cup of coffee to wake me up in the morning . . . 

 

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