CULTURE
Coffee facts
Caffe freddo - (KA-FEY FRAY-DOH) cold coffee, the perfect pick me up in summer. If you are feeling brave, ask to have it “shakerato” – using a cocktail shaker can cause quite a stir in a busy bar at breakfast time.
Caffe corretto - (KA-FEY KAW-REY-TOE) if you’re really feeling like throwing caution to the wind and getting into the coffee mood try a “corretto”, which is caffè with a shot of local firewater added (usually Grappa but brandy or anything else you fancy can be used). After trying one of these you’ll never again order another after dinner cappuccino!
Caffe Americano - (KA-FEY A-ME-REE-KA-NO) unlikely to be known outside of big cities and touristy areas, this is one drink you may find yourself needing to explain. An espresso shot served with hot water is generally what you’ll get – but watch out, sometimes the server will automatically add milk! Some bars, in an effort to be seen as “trendy”, have started
offering things like barley coffee and ginseng coffee. But, be honest, did you come all the way to “Bel Italia” to miss out on the real thing? So that’s it, armed with this info, you should now feel able to
enter any bar under the Tuscan sun, or anywhere else in Italy for that matter! But remember, be careful, it’s a jungle out there!
• Coffee berries start as green berries in early stage of growth, turns yellow, red, then dark crimson when it is finally ripe and yields the best coffee. In fact, according to the rule of “FIVE”: Arabica coffee plant takes about “FIVE” years to mature and produce its first crop. A healthy coffee tree will produce only about “FIVE” pounds of green beans per year, but only about “ONE-FIFTH” of a pound meets the rigid sorting standards to be sold as “Specialty Coffee.”
There are a number of interesting variations on the standard caffè
depending on just how customized you want to go!
• We say coffee beans although they are really berries.
• Dorothy Jones of Boston was the first American coffee trader. It was in 1670 that she was granted a license to sell coffee.
• Japan is now the third largest consumer of coffee. They even know to improve their skin, and reduce wrinkles, by bathing in coffee grounds that were fermented with pineapple pulp. Amazing! Beats mud-bathing.
• Crema is a golden-browish foam that covers a freshly brewed cup of espresso. It is only made by a high-pressured method of extraction. An even thicker layer of crema also helps keep the heat and aroma of espresso. Enjoy!
• “Expresso is not a word; it comes from the same root as “express” as in “The Express Train.” The term is ESPRESSO. It comes from the Latinate root for “Press”, or “Under Pressure”. In many places if you order “expresso”, you will be politely ignored.
• In Greece and Turkey, it is the custom that the eldest is served coffee first.
• Espresso macchiato is a cup of espresso “marked” with a spoonful of the foam from steamed milk, whereas latte macchiato is a cup of steamed milk “marked” with a small dash of espresso.
• There is a difference between the strength and body of the coffee? The strength of the coffee refers to how much coffee is there in the brew, whereas the body is a measure of the richness (or heaviness) of the coffee taste.
• In the coffee world, “excelso” or “supremo” do not indicate the quality of the beans, but rather, the size of the beans.
• Vacuum pot brewer was invented by a Scottish engineer, Robert Napier, in about 1840. It has two glass or metal globes that fit together to make a seal. A plug, often attached to a spring seats in the upper globe.
THE TUSCAN MAGAZINE | 61
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