When you look at Italy, you can see that drinking coffee is a passion that has turned into a tradition.
Love for coffee was exported all over the world, and the classic espresso became a symbol of Italian lifestyle where drinking espresso in the morning is simply mandatory.
Espresso is something more than just a drink. It appeals to the senses with rich aromas that change depending on the coffee type. Espresso is a vital part of our social life and encourages us to share our thoughts and experiences. Among numerous coffee types the most popular is a mixture of Arabica and Robusta beans. Real Italian espresso owes its aroma to this specific blend and particular preparation process.
The other key elements in making good coffee are the right pressure in the espresso machine and the correct setting of the grinder. One thing that’s surprising, there are no coffee plantations in Italy since the plant grows in different climate zones, e.g. South America (mainly Brazil) and Africa (Ethiopian coffee is one of the best).
Also Poland has some love for coffee. More and more people own espresso machines with grinders. This enables them drinking top quality coffee with fresh aroma that comes from using the whole beans. Many amateur coffee enthusiasts use traditional, Italian Moka in order to start a new day with a cup of cappuccino (Italians don’t drink cappuccino after a meal).
I would like to draw your attention to a type of coffee called Saicaf which has been recently introduced to the Polish market. Saicaf’s distinctive features are top quality and affordable price, which makes it a good alternative to other types of coffee like Lavazza or Illy.
Below you will find a few examples of how to make coffee:
Espresso
Classic espresso is the essence of everything that is most precious about coffee – amazing aroma, perfect flavour, and strong stimulation. The most important factors related to making this type of coffee have been the same for years and they are as following:
• the pressure of the water forced through coffee should be 9 bar,
• the temperature of water that brews coffee should be 90°C,
• initial brewing time should be 25 seconds,
• extraction time should be 25 seconds,
• the amount of brewed espresso should be 30ml
• the amount of used should be coffee 6.5-7g
Ristretto
Much more concentrated than a regular espresso. The amount of coffee, which is served in an espresso cup, is around 10-20ml.
Doppio
Simply double espresso (2 x espresso usually served in a big cappuccino cup).
Cappuccino
Coffee drink made out of espresso, milk and foamed milk. To make cappuccino you need whole milk 3.2% cooled down to 4-5˚C, this temperature rises to 60-65˚C while frothing.
You may serve cappuccino with crème, 1 tbsp is enough. It is better to avoid sugar as the coffee is already sweet thanks to the crème. You can sprinkle the top of the drink with cocoa or cinnamon.
Caffe’ Latte
Espresso with a generous amount of hot milk. It comes served in tall glasses or big cups. You can sprinkle the top, thin layer of foam with chocolate or cinnamon.
In France it’s called a cafe au lait.
Latte Macchiato
Made of three layers: hot milk, espresso and foamed milk. It comes served in tall glasses with a porcelain saucer and a long spoon. It’s quite common to add hazelnut or vanilla syrup which gives an impressive, additional layer.
Pour hot milk and then foamed milk to the glass. Let the foam take off a while so it’s clearly separated from the milk and then pour the freshly brewed espresso through the foam.
Espresso Macchiato
Classic espresso with a small amount of hot, foamed milk. It comes served in espresso cups.
Mocha
Mixture of hot chocolate, espresso and hot milk. The same amounts of all ingredients are poured to a tall glass.
Corretto
Espresso with a small amount (around 10ml) of alcohol; usually Italian grappa. Grappa can be sometimes replaced by cognac or brandy.
Espresso Con Panna
Espresso with a tablespoon of crème, it usually comes served in espresso cups.
Mokaccino
Mixture of espresso and hot chocolate, decorated with crème.
Irish Coffee
World famous coffee drink, created by an Irish barman Joe Sheridan. The drink is based on 40ml of Irish whiskey.
Pour whiskey into a shot containing a teaspoon of cane sugar. Warm up slightly over the flame and add espresso. Decorate the top with crème.
Cafe Frappe, Ice Coffee or Caffe Fredo
Iced coffee drink. It’s made out of espresso, milk, ice, coffee syrup and sugar. There are many different ways of preparing it, mainly with the help of blender.
Prepare espresso and cool it off. Mix well cold espresso, ice (4 ice cubes), sugar (5g), syrup (30ml), and milk (100ml). Pour the drink into a tall glass and decorate the top with crème and chocolate syrup.
Americano
Espresso with a generous amount of hot water. It’s the best way to serve coffee in big volumes. Americano comes served in 200ml cups.
Vanilla Velvet
You will need:
• 110ml coffee
• ½ tsp sugar
• 1 tbsp crème
• 20ml advocaat
• 1 scoop vanilla ice cream
• a little bit of liqueur to decorate
Mix hot coffee, sugar and milk and put it away to cool off. When the mixture is cold add advocaat, mix and pour into a tall glass. Add a scoop of ice cream and crème at the top. Decorate with a few drops of liqueur.
Giovanni Genco