How to Drink Coffee Like an Italian

If you’re new to the Italian coffee scene, you might not know that there are a few very specific unwritten rules that locals follow.

Like everything else that has to do with food, Italians take this stuff seriously.

So if you want to blend in and order like a pro, follow our guide and you will not only avoid any faux pas, but be certain to impress your friends with your Italian know-how.

1. Coffee means espresso

The most typical way for Italians, especially in the north, to have coffee is just to walk into a coffee shop (bar in Italian) and order “un caffè, grazie”. And caffè is universally understood to mean espresso. You do not, in fact, order an espresso. That sounds unnecessarily specific, a bit like saying “look it up on a search engine” instead of just saying “google it”.

You can be specific if you want variations on your espresso. The most common options would be:

• Caffè ristretto meaning a shorter, stronger caffeine shot.
• Caffè lungo indicating, as you might have guessed, a slightly “longer” coffee with a tad more water.
• Macchiato literally meaning that you want your coffee “stained” with a bit of foamed milk.

2. You do NOT have cappuccino after a meal

While it is very common to have a coffee after a meal, it is usually one of the kinds mentioned above. A cappuccino is seen as too heavy and milky, and likely to mess up with digestion. Local diners and waiters are likely to exchange disapproving glances if they see a tourist do that. I’ve seen it happen more than once.

3. Ideally you have cappuccino for breakfast

The quintessential Italian breakfast at home would probably be bread, butter and jam. When going out, though, that is undoubtedly a cappuccino or, more colloquially, cappuccio, with a croissant. These are called, usually, cornetto (or “little horn”) in the centre-south and brioche in the more French-influenced north.

4. Coffee is often a pit stop

In, coffee, out. That’s often how Italians do it, especially for a coffee break. They don’t sit down and wait to be served, but stay right there at the bar, whether they are in a hurry or not. You’ll see many have a similar pit-stop kind of breakfast at the bar, as well. This is partly because ordering and consuming at the bar means no service charge (wink wink).

5. At home, the moka is queen

Italians don’t do French presses or filter coffees. Any Italian household, even if endowed with a Nespresso or Lavazza machine, will always have a moka. A moka coffee in fact is more than about the coffee, it’s about the ritual that goes with it. Kind of like what it means to a Brit to “put the kettle on”. So if you’re staying at an airbnb that hasn’t been excessively touristified, or know any Italians, make sure to try this special and homey kind of coffee. It’s not specialty, but it’s got a lot of heart!

Now go forth and show off your new language and cultural skills!