Ordering Italian coffee in Italy sounds like the most natural thing in the world, and it is. Still, it is not always as simple as it looks at first, as I realised running my boutique hotel in Levanto.
Almost everyone here drinks coffee, from their teens onwards, but each of us has a favourite version, and depending on the region there can be a great many options.
And if your idea of an Italian coffee is queuing at Starbucks for a flavoured something in a particular size, you may be disappointed, though we do now have a rather glorious one, the Starbucks Reserve Roastery in Milan (do visit).
How Italians drink their coffee
Italians are not great at queuing, and certainly not for coffee. We usually order at the bar and drink it there and then, standing. With more time, or a friend to talk to, we sit at a table, wait for the waiter, and use the coffee as the perfect excuse for a pause. What we almost never do is order a coffee to go: I do it constantly when travelling, but in Italy it is simply not done, and you will struggle to find a bar that even offers it.
We drink most of our coffees in the morning, and keep others for an afternoon or after-dinner pause. I have never really bothered with these unwritten rules, and nor should you, but here is how it is “supposed” to work, in three parts.
Coffee through the day
Espresso
Order a caffè, literally “a coffee”, and you will get a shot of espresso, the king. It comes in a tiny cup, and you can add sugar or honey or take it as it is. The taste is intense, though it actually has relatively little caffeine. Variations: lungo (longer, milder in flavour but more caffeine), corto or ristretto (just a few creamy drops), doppio (a double shot), con panna (with whipped cream), or decaffeinato (decaffeinated).
Macchiato
A macchiato is espresso “stained” with a little milk, served in the same tiny cup. You can have the milk as you like it, cold, hot, with or without foam; if you do not specify, it comes hot. You may also hear someone order a macchiatone, the same thing in a bigger cup.
Ginseng
My favourite, and a newer arrival, which I drink several times a day. Order it in tazza piccola (small cup) or tazza grande (large): it is an espresso with ginseng extract, and it is very sweet.
Coffee at breakfast
Orzo
Orzo (barley) was the only one I was allowed as a child, as it is caffeine-free. You can have it in a small or a large cup.
Caffè latte and latte macchiato
Essentially the equivalent of a latte: about three-quarters hot milk and a shot of espresso with a little foam on top, served in a tall glass. Crucial tip: if you simply ask for a latte, you will get exactly that, a glass of hot milk. Do not forget the caffè in front.
Cappuccino
If espresso is the king, the cappuccino is the emperor, known the world over. Served in a teacup, it is a perfect balance of espresso, hot milk and foam, and you can ask for a double shot, more or less foam, or warm rather than hot milk. It is considered a breakfast drink, but my mother, for one, has it at any hour, and so may you if it pleases you.
Caffè americano
The closest thing to a long black coffee: an espresso served in a large cup with hot water on the side to lengthen it as you like.
Coffee after lunch
Corretto
Want your espresso “corrected” with a shot of your favourite spirit? Order un corretto. The usual choices are grappa, whisky, sambuca or cognac.
Shakerato
A chilled espresso poured over ice and shaken to a froth, with or without sugar (I love it with a few drops of sambuca). Served in an elegant glass, it is bliss on a hot summer afternoon.
Marocchino
This is another newer entry among Italian coffees, and there are as many variations as our regions. A perfect afternoon treat, it is generally a shot of espresso with frothed milk and cocoa powder on top, served in a small espresso glass.
Moka, the coffee of home
I could not end without our beloved moka, a category all its own. This is the coffee we make at home, the one whose smell wakes us, and the one you will be offered in any Italian house.
The moka is a stove-top coffee maker that brews by pushing steam-pressurised boiling water up through the ground coffee. Named after the Yemeni city of Mocha, it was invented by the Italian engineer Alfonso Bialetti in 1933, and it makes a coffee far stronger than drip brewing, with, depending on the beans, a little of the foam we call crema.
Coffee at the Oasi in Levanto
If you are staying at my boutique hotel in Levanto, do not worry: order a coffee, or any hot drink you like, and I will happily arrange a private tasting class just for you.
But at least once, try it the local way: a ristretto with a slice of freshly baked Genoese focaccia. Trust me.
Coffee experiences I liked while travelling
Frequently asked questions
A shot of espresso, in a small cup. In Italy “coffee” means espresso by default, so if you want anything else, milky, long, decaffeinated, you need to say so. Ask for a caffè and stand at the bar, and you are doing exactly as an Italian would.
No one will stop you, and no waiter will truly mind. Cappuccino is considered a breakfast drink, because Italians tend not to drink a lot of milk after a meal, so ordering one in the afternoon marks you as a visitor. But it is a custom, not a rule, so if you fancy one, have one, as plenty of Italians do.
A caffè macchiato is an espresso “stained” with a little milk, in a small cup. A latte macchiato or caffè latte is mostly hot milk with a shot of espresso, in a tall glass, closer to what English speakers call a latte. The key warning: order a plain latte and you will simply get a glass of hot milk, so always say caffè latte.
Rarely, and it is not the custom. Italians drink their coffee at the bar, usually standing, as a quick ritual or an excuse for a pause, rather than carrying it away in a cup. A few tourist spots now offer it, but if you want the authentic experience, drink it where you order it.
An espresso “corrected” with a shot of spirit, typically grappa, sambuca, whisky or cognac, usually taken after a meal. It is one of a family of after-lunch options alongside the iced, frothed shakerato and the cocoa-topped marocchino.
Further reading
- The perfect partner to a ristretto: the Genoese focaccia recipe
- More of my region’s food and drink: the Cinque Terre and Liguria
- Another Italian ritual worth understanding: Sciacchetrà, the sweet wine of the Cinque Terre
