Raising the bar

Most Italians go to the bar early in the morning but for a different kind of strong drink than you may be thinking - coffee!

The usual caffe' is what we might call an espresso.  It is a small cup of very strong coffee topped with a caramel-colored foam called "crema."  However, decafinated coffee also is available known as caffe' hag.  This can be ordered as "decafinato" or as Hag which is from the name of the largest producer of Italian decaf coffee.  In fact, that is what most bar menu boards will have displayed.

Straight coffee can be ordered any time of day throughout Italy, but after about 11a.m., only the tourists are seen indulging themselves with a "cappuccini."

Several options are offered to modify the coffee just like anywhere else.  Some popular choices are:

• Caffè con panna - An espresso with sweet whipped cream 

• Caffè con zucchero - espresso with sugar. Usually, one adds sugar from a container at the bar, but in some places, (especially in the south around Naples) the coffee comes with sugar. To order it, say "sensa zucchero" or without sugar if you don't like it sweet.

• Caffè macchiato - coffee "stained" with milk, usually just a bit of foam on top of the espresso.

• Caffè latte - This is an espresso with hot milk, a cappuccino without the foam usually served in a glass.  It might be called a "latte" in the U.S., but in Italy, outside of tourist places, you run the risk of getting what you asked for - milk, or worse yet, steamed milk. 

• Latte macchiato (Lah-te mahk-YAH-to) - Steamed milk "stained" with espresso, served in a glass.

• Cappuccino - a shot of espresso in a large(er) cup with steamed milk and foam.

Other specialty coffees include:

• Bicerìn - Traditional drink of Piemonte around Torino, consisting of dense hot cocoa, espresso and cream, artfully layered in a small glass. Not usually found outside of the Piemonte region.

•  Caffè freddo - Iced, or at least cold, coffee

•  Caffè Shakerato - This is one of the latest crazes in Italy, especially in the summer.  In its most simple form, a caffe shakerato is made by combining freshly made espresso, a bit of sugar, and lots of ice, shaking the whole drink vigorously until a froth forms when poured. It also can have some chocolate syrup added.

So if asked to go get a drink a bar with someone in Italy, remember it has quite a different connotation with the phrase.