coffee questions

It's all expresso and capuccino over there. And, it's really great stuff even though you get wired up. Even McDonalds has expresso machines. You don't see the typical coffee systems that we have in America. You can order "cafe Americano" but in most places, all I got was instant coffee. I didn't see any decaf machines although instant could be available.

You would ask for "decafinato" or it could be listed as caffe Hag (pronounced ahg) as they make the most popular brand of decaf.

You can always drink a glass of wine or a beer. A wine spritzer too.

Here is a good link for coffee in Italy...

http://www.msadventuresinitaly.com/blog/2007/07/11/how-to-order-an-italian-coffee-in-italy/

Here’s a great web site that has a ton of coffee information. My caffe’ of choice is also the Marocchino. This site may help you understand Italian coffee options:

http://www.msadventuresinitaly.com/blog/2007/07/11/how-to-order-an-italian-coffee-in-italy/

Some “rules/suggestions” to follow: Drink your caffe’ standing at the bar & not sitting at a table–It’s at least HALF the price… and don’t order cappuccino after 1 PM in Italy!

Rule of thumb: further south you go, the smaller the espresso cups get and the MORE potent!

There are NO Starbucks in Italy, and probably never will be. In the 1980's, Howard Schultz joined SB and while on a business trip in Italy, he visits Milan’s espresso bars and the rest is history! In fact, many of the structures in Starbucks are "Italian based." The largest coffee you can get at SB is called the “venti” and its 20 oz, which is 20 in Italian!

You can get decaf here… but “when in Rome…

Have a great time and try all great coffees!

Thanks gentlemen for you help...websites, favorite coffees, etc. I do realize when in Rome... and want to honor that...but honestly if I do caffeine these days I won't sleep and that's not a pretty sight!! I find guys handle caffeine better as maybe also alcohol....? (so not too much wine for me either and I love that too) All in moderation (or less in my case!)

To an Italian, decaf would be considered an abomination, much like say, Bud, to beer drinkers.
We have gotten coffee in Italy served w a container of Acqua Calda (hot water), which dilutes the strength.
Cafe Hag is coffee with milk and Nescafe is instant

Thank you also Paul n Sara, that's what worried me...I didn't want to embarress myself and ask for something that Italians would find "unItalian"!! I like your suggestion also and I did enjoy the choices on the website offered.... I'll certainly find something!

I fell in love with cappuccino in Italy at breakfast. I could have had it all day long. Why don't they make it that way over here? Maybe it has something mentally with being in Italy. It was the best I ever had in Rome, CT, and Venice too. I ordered it when I got back home and it was not the same...... ?????

I have found the coffee not as strong in Italy if you order a cafe lungo or cafe americano. Basically it's a watered down espresso. Order it with extra hot water if it is still too strong for you. I have done this and was given a little jug of hot water with no problems.

I have never heard of decaf in Italy, but then again I have never asked for it, as I am lucky and can drink as much as I like with no ill effects. I would think you should be able to get it though.

Any coffee made with milk eg. latte etc is not drunk any time other than at breakfast and early morning.

I am a coffee addict and consider Italy to be coffee heaven. Do you know that espresso has less caffeine than a cup of brewed coffee? It has to do with how long the coffee is exposed to heat. As a Starbucks fan, you have had espresso and know your limits with caffeine. Maybe just a coffee in the morning? Just one for the wonderful experience of rubbing elbows at the coffee bar with the locals? My husband is not such a purist as I am and he has learned that he really likes a macchioto. We discovered a coffee bar in our neighborhood on our last trip that caters to lots of students. They ordered milk drinks all day long and the bar also served various chai drinks. I think the younger generation may be less rigid in the traditions of coffee.

Read somewhere that there are only two coffee drinks -- capuccino and expesso. All the others were invented by Starbucks !! While capuccino is primarily a breakfast drink it is now served all day. Also see Latties routinely advertised now though not much different than a capuccino. Americano is a shot of expresso often served with a small tea pot of hot water and a large cup. A shot of expresso contains about half the caffeine of a regularly brewed Am cup of coffee.

Very important -- the prices at the standup bar will always be less than sit down services. And if you really want to tag yourselves as an uninformed tourist, take the coffee from the standup bar and sit down at a table -- huge no,no at anytime.

No, no no!!
you can, of COURSE get a cafe latte in Italy!!!! It is a common breakfast drink and good if you don't want something too strong! (and I usually order a latte calda for my kid - hot steamed milk with NO coffe in it)

Italians usually order cafe or, what we call espresso at all times after about 11am (cafe latte and cappuccini are stricktly for the am!) but no one really gives a hoot if you order it any time...we are in Italy a LOT and my husband always orders a capuccino - even after dinner. They may think we're really odd...but, who cares? I have yet to see decaf - I would think though you could find it in the larger cities/tourist areas. It is fairly easy to find herbal tea though (not in all places, but some) - so that's an option. (or order fruit jiuces which are usually freshly squeezed and yummy)you can also just politely asak the barman/woman to add a bit more milk if it's too strong. (but, yes, remember to say "cafe" latte - "latte" alone will be just milk)

"Very important -- the prices at the standup bar will always be less than sit down services."

NOPE. you need to look at the posted prices or ASK.

All prices in our southern town are the same if you stand or sit ;-) and, while in the big cities, you usually pay to sit, I have even found places in Venice where they do not charge for a seat ;-) (now, these are just cafe tables - no table service - you still order at the bar)

Do they ever make iced drinks properly in Italy? I drink lattes all day long, but as my tongue burns easily and I prefer cold drinks anyways I always get an iced drink.

I foresee a problem as I recall the difficulty I had in getting ice for my soda in Europe. Is ordering an iced latte unheard of over there?

Since this is a European discussion, I will not mention 100% Kona Coffee. aloha charlie

I'm not one of those people who always see European ways as superior to our own. For example, I growl at people who draw a line through the middle of the number 7 just because the Europeans do, without realizing that it's only necessary if you also put a flag at the top left of the number 1, making it confusable with a seven.

But, with apologies and no intent to offend, the following observations, while just my own opinion, are probably shared by many Europeans, who see Americans as spoiled children:

If you need decaf because you cannot handle caffeine, you are not a caffè drinker. After noon, don't order caffè. Order a fruit drink.

If you need extra milk because you cannot handle strong coffee, you are not a caffè drinker. Order a fruit drink.

If you need to add extra water because you cannot handle strong coffee, you are not a caffè drinker. Order a fruit drink.

If you need ice in your drink, you are not a caffè drinker. Order a fruit drink.

someone earlier in the postings above asked if cold coffee drinks are available. Yes, you can ask for a 'caffe freddo' (which is sometimes called 'shakerato') and you'll get an iced espresso which has been shaken in a martini shaker (usually with sugar added). you could ask for no sugar ('senza zucchero'). it's a real thirst quencher! if you're lucky they might serve it to you in a martini glass!

Not to beat this dead horse any further but don't forget, Italian dark roast coffee has about 1/2 the caffine content as "normal" American coffee...strong flavor does not equate with high caffine. I guess I'm with Patrick on this.

Andrea, you have really stirred (pardon the pun) up quite a controversy. Allow me to add to it. Decaf is available fairly easily in the larger cities and towns. My wife is like you --- can only deal with decaf. We both enjoy espresso or macchiato when in Italy and I only drink regular. Cappucino is nice once in a while and never after noon or even 11:00 am. When we're in a ristorante with my Italian cousins they invariably roll their eyes or snicker when a tourist orders a cappucino after dinner. We prefer macchiato in the morning instead and even Starbucks in the US can't make it the way the Italians do.

Enjoyed reading the above replies. If your accommodations warrant it, you can also go and buy your own Moka Maker (Bialetti is one of the brands) and pick up some Illy or Lavazza coffee at the market and make your own.

My family and I love staying at agriturismos in the countryside, waking up in the morning and sitting outside enjoying our coffee. Most agriturismos supply a moka maker but last summer one of the places we stayed did not so we picked one up.

According to the owner of one of the agriturismos we stayed at in July 2006, right outside of Montipulciano, Illy (in the silver tin) is the best Italian coffee and Lavazza 2nd. I always bring back some of this coffee even though you can get it in the U.S. Probably the best coffee I have ever had in Europe was at Hotel de la Digue at the end of the causeway that leads to Mt. Saint Michel in northern France. It was absolutely perfect!

Andrea,

Two things:
1) I ordered decaf cappucinos (cappucini?) after dinner in Venice, Rome, & Florence with nary an eyeblink from my waiter. If you stay in an apartment, you can buy decaf coffee (available in larger town markets) & make it for yourself.
2) The wine in the afternoon offsets the caffeine in the morning!

Buon appetito!

Deborah

Obviously, you did not have a very good waiter. He should have made rude noises and rolled his eyes when you ordered cappucino after dinner.

My comments:

tea is better then coffee( it looks better, smells better, and in most cases is better for you)

coffee from Tim Hortons is way better then Starbucks

Espresso is NOT stronger in caffeine but weaker, so a caffe Americano( espresso served with side of hot water, or diluted with hot water) is the way to go to get a weaker caffienne drink.

tea is better then coffee, unless one is skiing and drinking coffee with Baileys Cream and whipped cream.

Ice is not easy( but not impossible) to find in Europe , get over it.. LOL

Well said Patrick. People are obviously VERY passionate about their favourite beverage. Caffe, per favore!!

Wow – Andrea you’re getting a ton of email reminders on this posting… To stir the pot some more :) :) !!! How about the best places to get coffee in Roma. I’ll start with the BIG THREE:

Antico Caffè Greco, Via dei Condotti, 84 – Just steps from the Spanish Steps… you have to go once - Since 1760, this has been Rome's poshest coffee bar. Stendhal, Goethe, Keats, and D'Annunzio have sipped coffee here! Giorgio De Chirico suggested that this is the cafe where you sit and await the end!!! Yeah, it’s maybe over-rated, pricey, and perhaps touristy now… but get a caffe’ at the bar and absorb the history!

Cafe Tazza D'Oro, Via degli Orfani, 84 – close to the Pantheon. Great coffee, great store… Baristas can be a “little direct” (polite way of saying rude!) but the caffe’ is GREAT! Try and go in the afternoon when it’s not so crowded because this place HOPS! It’s crowded, noisy… Great place to drink coffee and watch!

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Sant'Eustachio, Piazza Sant'Eustachio 82 – close to the Pantheon, but closer to San Luigi dei Francesi. This is my favorite coffee hangout. Quieter than the other two, less pretentious – it’s all about the coffee! The Grancaffè is the specialty of the house and is famous for its creamy taste and special blend.

Caffe’ is great everywhere in town – but I’d be curious if anyone has a hangout they always go to. I often hit Sant’ Eustachio after I do my “Caravaggio” viewings but I’m always looking to add spots to my GPS!

Ciao,

Ron

Ron, you GPS your fave coffee spots!!! Whatever is the world coming to? Follow your nose mate ;-) My special bar was at a tiny piazza on the corner of Via dei Serpenti and Via Leonina. Special because the woman, after my first visit, only had to see me walking through the piazza each morning, and my caffe was on the counter as I arrived. Bellissimo.

Follow you nose - I like that Pat, LOL!

Yes, I spend most of my time "getting lost!" Then I'll pull out my trusty GPS to see what's in this neighborhood (or nearby) I don't want to miss!

Corner of Via dei Serpenti and Via Leonina is now in there... and I WILL follow my nose to your cafe!!! Grazie!

Ciao,
Ron

Ron, there is a nice little ristorante just down the road a few metres. But sitting on the side of the fountain in the pza mentioned is a pleasant way to while away some time. I stayed at a convent is Via dei Goti. Heavenly.

How about off the beaten track type of coffee places? I don't want to visit only those establishments that are considered famous.

Eli, as I wrote to Ron in Rome, follow your nose. Discovering a little bar or ristorante yourself adds to the pleasures of travelling.

Cocco Caldo

I had no problems ordering my cappicino "decafinato" in the larger cities. Most of the Italian dark roast is lower in caffeine than American coffee and having it as a caffe latte is a good way to enjoy some coffee if decaf isn't available. I do make sure it's early in the day.

I've never experienced "angry" Italians who look down on Americans because of health problems with coffee. In four trips I've NEVER found them to be anything but friendly delightful and accomodating to guests in their country. DO make the effort to learn the precise Italian terms for your special needs and season thoroughly with please and thank you.

I will add that we avoid the "touristy" places where maybe the workers get burnt out on tourists. I'm counting the days until my next caffe in Firenze (19 days from today!!!!!!!!)