This Is What You Need To Know About Coffee In Italy – It’s Not Starbucks

The following guest post was written by a fellow travel blogger, Katja.  She visited Italy, and enjoyed coffee. Lots of coffee. In fact, when she wanted coffee, Italy was one of her favorite places to visit. She’s traveled the world and lived in America. She knows a few things about American coffee and coffee in Italy. And now she’s here to share her tips with you. 

I am excited to guest post here today, in fact, I really would like to invite you to make a big cup of coffee, and take some time for yourself, and check out Skimbaco Lifestyle’s first magazine issue, and virtually travel around the world by reading the stories of afternoon tea in England, or where in Italy the cover photo of the magazine was taken.

When I posted the cover photo for my European friends to see, the intuitive response was that it was a morning picture. Sitting down, getting ready for an adventure and planning the day ahead. In fact, it was taken on an afternoon, because I was doing it all wrong…

Italy Coffee – With Milk, Drink In Mornings

I was drinking a cappucino on the afternoon in Italy, a big no-no! Coffee with milk, whether it’s a cappucino or a cafe latte, are typically only drank on the mornings in Italy.

In fact, I took a food tour in Venice once and our guide said “If I ate a pizza and had a cappucino for dessert, I would vomit for a week!”  True indeed, Italians don’t mix heavy foods like pizza or pasta with a lot of dairy, and ordering a coffee with milk close to lunch or dinner time is almost not acceptable, well, for the locals anyways.

Coffee drinks with milk are for the mornings, and the rest of the day Italians do short visits to cafes to get a quick coffee.

Italy – Cafe Espresso vs. American Americano

In Italy, when you order a “cafe”, it automatically means a tiny cup of espresso, but for Americans they often specify, do you really just want “cafe” or would you like an “Americano” which is more like the regular coffee we drink, but even that is an espresso with hot water added.

Coffee Shops In Italy  – Not Many Tables

The coffee shops typically don’t have many tables, but they have a long bar, and people stop just for a quick espresso, drink it by standing, and then continue about their day. Bakeries, restaurants and gelaterias, the ice cream shops, are a different thing, and you can sit and have a cappucino in those as well. Most cafes will of course make you a latte or cappucino on any time of the day, but just remember one thing if you want a latte, order a “cafe latte”. “Latte” in Italian means milk, and you might end up getting just a hot milk! (Don’t ask me how I know!)

I hope you will get that big cup of coffee now, and have some time to sit down, and enjoy it, and perhaps read more stories from our magazine. Just don’t make it a quick espresso, but give yourself some time to relax!

Guest post by Katja Presnal, editor-in-chief of Skimbaco Lifestyle, a global lifestyle magazine inspiring you to live life to the fullest. You can also follow Katja’s travel photos on Instagram as Skimbaco.