The Romans have unspoken rules about coffee...both how to order it and when it should be consumed. There are dedicated coffee shops that vary in their fanciness. Here are a couple of great ones:
La Tazza D'Oro - Near Pantheon - Beautiful and old-fashioned with delicious coffee granita (in picture)
Caffe Sant'Eustachio - Near Piazza Navonna - very busy and small but really good coffee
At a place like these you have two options, you can stand at the bar or sit at a table. Sitting at a table and being served will probably double the price of your coffee. If you choose to stand at the bar, you must first pay the cashier for your drink. Then, cooly walk to the bar and give the receipt to the barristo who will then make your drink.
In addition to dedicated cafes, many of the bars that serve drinks in the evenings do double duty as places to grab a coffee in the morning and afternoon. If you walk into one of these places and it's relatively quiet, as far as i can tell, you can just walk up to the bar and order directly with the barristo.
As far as what to order, there seem to be a billion different ways types of coffee:
un caffe = espresso
un caffe machiato = espresso with a little foam/milk on top
un caffe con panna = espresso with a swirl of whipped cream on top
un cappucino = exactly what you think
un caffe latte = exactly what you think
un latte machiato = hot milk with a dash of espresso
Sometimes you might have the option of getting something hot or cold. Hot is caldo and cold is freddo. I always get confused as to how to say hot and cold because caldo sounds so much like cold. However, I think that the Italian word comes from the same root as the English word scalding, so I now think I can remember.
Italians only drink milky drinks before lunch. If you order a cappucino after dinner, you might get an eye-roll.
No comments:
Post a Comment