Italian Coffee
Italian coffee is a counter ritual, not a beverage. Espresso, cappuccino before eleven, the Bialetti at home, granita in August, and the corrected coffee at the end of lunch.
The twelve canonical Italian pours
- Espresso — Naples · Twenty-five seconds, seven grams, thirty milliliters. The reference standard.
- Cappuccino — Milan · Espresso, steamed milk, dense foam. Morning only.
- Caffè Macchiato — Bologna · An espresso stained with a teaspoon of milk foam.
- Latte Macchiato — Trieste · A glass of milk stained with espresso. The children's drink.
- Caffè Lungo — Rome · A long pull, fifty milliliters. Never an Americano.
- Ristretto — Naples · A short pull. The sweetest fifteen milliliters of the shot.
- Moka Pot Coffee — Bologna · The Bialetti on the stove. Every Italian kitchen owns one.
- Affogato al Caffè — Florence · Vanilla gelato drowned in hot espresso.
- Caffè Corretto — Venice · Espresso corrected with grappa or sambuca.
- Granita di Caffè con Panna — Catania · Sicilian summer breakfast: frozen coffee with whipped cream and brioche.
- Caffè Shakerato — Milan · Espresso shaken with ice and sugar, strained into a coupe.
- Marocchino — Alessandria · Cocoa, espresso, foamed milk. Piedmontese answer to the cappuccino.
Coffee in other cultures
- Japanese coffee — kissaten pour-over, siphon, kyoto-style cold brew.
- French coffee — café au lait, café noisette, the cafetière.
- American coffee — drip, diner, cold brew, third-wave pour-over.
- Middle Eastern coffee — Turkish cezve, Lebanese, Yemeni qishr, gahwa.
- Spanish coffee — café con leche, cortado, carajillo, café bombón.