Italian Coffee
Discussion
I’m currently in Italy (Rome) with work and have been here well over a week now. Whilst I’ve been to Italy dozens of times in the past this is the first time I’ve really made an effort to drink copious amounts of their coffee and see what it’s all about. As a coffee lover I should be in heaven, right?
I’ve lost count of how many I’ve drunk this week but all I can say is I’m thoroughly underwhelmed and frankly disappointed. It seems to be served so strong that it’s devoid of any flavour and all you get is a taste of coffee but with a stinging sensation in your throat. The milk based ones have been especially poor. Even at the top rated places I haven’t tasted anything with any complexity of flavour.
So is it just me or is Italian coffee seriously overrated and, like their food, done better by non-Italians? (Don’t get me started on the food, some of the meals I’ve eaten in Italy over the years weren’t fit to be served to animals.)
I’ve lost count of how many I’ve drunk this week but all I can say is I’m thoroughly underwhelmed and frankly disappointed. It seems to be served so strong that it’s devoid of any flavour and all you get is a taste of coffee but with a stinging sensation in your throat. The milk based ones have been especially poor. Even at the top rated places I haven’t tasted anything with any complexity of flavour.
So is it just me or is Italian coffee seriously overrated and, like their food, done better by non-Italians? (Don’t get me started on the food, some of the meals I’ve eaten in Italy over the years weren’t fit to be served to animals.)
Italian coffee is purely marketing, akin to Belgian chocolate.
Italy doesn't have the climate to grow coffee, so all they can do is blend other countries' produce and serve it in various different guises. There is absolutely no reason why Italian coffee should be superior to any other country, but as coffee shops are seen as a sophisticated place to socialize, they go hand in hand with Italian culture.
Coffee as a whole is a fantastic example of marketing over substance. I have paid £25 for 125 grams of Hawaiian Kona and much preferred Tesco's Sumatran Mandheling at £3 for 250 grams.
Italy doesn't have the climate to grow coffee, so all they can do is blend other countries' produce and serve it in various different guises. There is absolutely no reason why Italian coffee should be superior to any other country, but as coffee shops are seen as a sophisticated place to socialize, they go hand in hand with Italian culture.
Coffee as a whole is a fantastic example of marketing over substance. I have paid £25 for 125 grams of Hawaiian Kona and much preferred Tesco's Sumatran Mandheling at £3 for 250 grams.
Well, maybe I just don’t get the culture. Today I went to the place with supposedly the best coffee and pastries in Rome and while it was undoubtedly smoother I still thought it was rather bland.
Call me uncultured but I’ll take a Costa flat white and cherry slice over this overrated junk! Same with the food, it’s far easier to get a decent pizza in the UK than here! Hey ho, at least the Colosseum is impressive!
Call me uncultured but I’ll take a Costa flat white and cherry slice over this overrated junk! Same with the food, it’s far easier to get a decent pizza in the UK than here! Hey ho, at least the Colosseum is impressive!
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