Why My Coffee's Name is Italian and What It Means

From infographicsnews.blogspot.com

There is a popular myth that the best coffee in the world grows in Italy, possibly fed by the great number of Italian coffee names. This is clearly false because no coffee is grown or harvested in Italy at all. The country that grows the most coffee in the world is Brazil and the country that drinks the most coffee is the United States. We consume about 1/3 of the world's coffee harvest by ourselves, so why the Italian names? 

Well for starters, Italy came across coffee in the sixteenth century, many years before the States even became a country and second, it is possible that the best coffee is roasted, blended and drunk on the Italian peninsula because, even though they cannot grow it, Italians seem to love coffee.

Espresso Con Panna
Image from Starbucks Coffee Company Website

 

From the Affagato, a name that means "drowned" and is an espresso poured over gelato, to the Breve, an espresso with half & half, to the Marocchino, an espresso with steamed milk and cocoa powder, the majority of our coffee drinks were invented and named in Italy. The lovely chart below from infographicsnes.blogspot shows some of the differences between popular coffee drinks.



 

From infographicsnews.blogspot.com

Italian coffee names became so widely known throughout the world as the coffee language that when American G.I.'s invented their own type of coffee during World War I they added an "o" creating the "Americano".
My conclusion: we should all invent divine coffee beverages and name them weird things like "The Doctor Who" and "The Alarm Clock", etc. Until next time,
Yours Caffeinated,

Arah