I am starting a new thread since topics were getting mixed up in customs post.I don't want a starbucks in Italy or a Mc donalds for that matter.Regarding coffee,what should I order
if I want more water passed through the expresso coffee, so as to have a larger cup
say 8 oz.or so?(but still with milk and foam)
RR

Americano?

I have a double Americano here in Toronto, at a bar called Terroni and my recipe, which they know by now, is a double espresso and water to the brim of the cup, much like a tall at the "despised Starbuck's". (N.B. Why are they so hated? At least to some extent they educate people about coffee).

Back to the Americano: don't say "8 ounces". That will throw them off...

Doru

OOPS, I lost the last part of the question. No milk or foam in the Americano, sorry. Maybe cappuccino lungo, because lungo also stands for diluted? I am reaching now; I am out of my depth.

Doru

When we want a larger cup of coffee, we ask for a "lungo" - long - more water added.

People hate Starbucks because they are part of the spread of big corporations throughout the world. Some people have the theory that it is the large corporations that run the world. Many of these corporations start off in the US, so are seen as the Americanization of the world. McDonalds, IBM, Pepsi, Coke, Walmart, Levi, Gap. I think Nestle and Cadbury are European based. Benneton is Italy based. And we work with a huge corporation that is England based - Pearson.

Personally I would rather a Starbucks come to town than a Walmart. But then I like coffee, and don't like plastic things from China. Of course the coffee growing is exploitive too - of people and the planet.

Pauline from Slow Travelers

Since the largest cup of coffee you can get is a cappucino size cup.... that is about half of what one of those big to go cups has in it. There is however the caffe-latte glass!!!

The caffe Americano is in the cappuccino cup, and you can get it Macchiato, splashed with hot milk.

Expresso also has less caffeine, and Italians never ask for a doppio... so will look at you strangly.

But a Doppio macchiato, would be a nice cup of a double expresso with some steamed milk on top.

Or you could try un caffe-latte con doppio caffe... but that is getting too starbuckie for me..
Just stop at more bars!!!

I have seen some American students come into the bar at the market with their re-usable starbucks cups and get them filled to take to class, that may be an idea..


Judy
Divina Cucina

Florence
Everyone should try being Italian at least once a day!!

I am not a coffee drinker so I am clearly out of my league here, but I have found this thread interesting and it made me wonder: Do Italians drink decaf ever? Decaf always seemed contradictory to me -- the whole point of coffee being cafeine, but as I said, I don't drink the stuff.

Yes. We did get in Italian cafe-bars decaffeinated coffee. When we didn't specify what style of coffee, we got a decaffeinated espresso. Never tried in a restaurant.

Illy, one of (if not) the largest Italian suppliers of ground or full bean coffee sells a decaffeinated coffee. Also a filter version...

Doru

Despite our best attempts, at least as of our last trip to Venice last Christmas, Decaf was
not always available.My wife dosn't do caffeine, so she has a tea or hot chocolate.RR

Twas almost impossible to get decafinated coffee when we were there in 2000, and this year it was available almost everywhere. I can't see the point.....

If you can't get decaf.... try Orzo, it was here when decaf wasn't. A coffee from a toasted grain, in the central market at one of the bars they actually ahve a new special machine that cranks it out like expresso.. and it's not bad with a spot of hot milk ( macchiato)

Judy
Divina Cucina

Florence
Everyone should try being Italian at least once a day!!

Funny, I have never had a problem finding decaf. When pregnant I always got decaf, in Rome, Asti, Florence and Siena (as well as a few other little towns). I never asked for decaf though, just ask for Hag which is the brand.

Cristina
A San Franciscan in Siena
Read my report on the Palio di Siena

I am reasonably certain that there is less caffeine in a good cup of espresso in Italy than there is in a cup of tea or in a cup of hot chocolate.

I save up all my caffeine intake so that I can enjoy the wonderful coffee in Italy.

I'm not much of a caffeine drinker, but I find the amount of caffeine in Italian espresso to be the perfect amount. When I drink a standard cup of brewed coffee in the US (not Starbucks stuff), it makes me feel sick. Italian, coffee, on the other hand, makes me feel great!

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I never asked for decaf though, just ask for Hag which is the brand.

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And, for those who don't know, don't pronounce the "h" in "Hag"....... and make sure that the vowel's an Italian "ah"....

David, usually in NYC

Espresso has 1/3 of the caffeine of an American cup of coffee. The mind is very powerful as so many believe they get a caffeine boost with a shot of espresso but they would be better off with a good ol' cup of joe.

Thanks David for the pronunciation. After living here for a while you forget that it is not pronounced the same in all languages.

Cristina
A San Franciscan in Siena
Read my report on the Palio di Siena

I'm sitting here in my house in Coconut Grove looking at the list of things I need to do today, and Starbucks is number one on my list. I love Starbucks (American) coffee and although I don't have to have it, I prefer it to other brands that are sold near me. At any rate,I know that when I get to my apartment in Florence, there will, more than likely, be no drip coffee maker. I want my cup of American Coffee in the morning, before I get dressed or do anything. After that, I'm fine. I am a true addict. There are certain things that are very important to me. In saying all this, is there a place near the center of Florence where I will be able to purchase a small drip coffeemaker and coffee to use with it?

Espressos:
Normale
Lungo
Ristretto
Macchiato caldo
Macchiato freddo
Corretto (grappa, fernet, sambuca...)
Doppio
Con panna

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What's wrong with Starbucks?

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I've only had one Starbucks coffee, and that was in the UK. Maybe I was unlucky, but I have to say that it was the most disgusting parody of a coffee I have ever tried, light years ahead of the pack, absolutely no contest, truly undrinkable.

I've left un-drunk many a cup of UK coffee, but it was hard to see how people were managing to swill this stuff. Probably a mistake to order a cappucino - who knows, maybe the coffee content in itself wasn't too bad - but the delicately stained shaving foam that they sprayed on by the gallon was impossible to get around, or through, or under.

Again, maybe the US version is less 'customised', but I doubt that I'll ever be putting that to the test.

Mat

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Originally posted by Donna: ...is there a place near the center of Florence where I will be able to purchase a small drip coffeemaker and coffee to use with it?

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I don't know about drip coffee maker purchases in Italy, but there most be some because Illy sells vacuum-packed filter (drip) coffee. Then, maybe they sell it only to stranieri...

Doru

I have a friend who buys at the nearest electric store an American style drip coffee maker as a "gift" for every house she rents.
Her theory is that she is the odd one, not the rental owner who has provided an espresso pot. So she goes out and buys a 30 Euro drip coffee maker and then leaves it at the house when she leaves.

Deborah Horn
-----------------------------------
Marketing Solutions for Health Care

AS posted by Robert:

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My wife dosn't do caffeine, so she has a tea or hot chocolate.RR

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Now I am confused! I don't (shouldn't) have caffeine either, but I thought that tea and chocolate both have caffeine! I have already started to stockpile decaf teabags for our impending move! Am I wrong about this, or do tea and chocolate have smaller amounts of caffeine?

Hi, my wife drinks herbal tea.Don't know exact figure for hot chocolate but whole chocolate bar has about 30mg(about 1/3 amount of cappacino or 1/4 8 oz of drip coffee)
In other words takes three cappacinos to equal one 16 oz.coffee RR

[This message was edited by Robert Rainey on December 11, 2002 at 11:56 AM.]

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Originally posted by Robert Rainey:
what should I order if I want more water passed through the expresso coffee, so as to have a larger cup

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My thought here is that once the flavour is extracted from the grounds what's left is more and more bitter. It's called 'overextracted'. So leaving the water to flow longer in order to increase the quantity will make the codde taste worse. This is my problem with many espressos in countries other than Italy.

So I suggest you think of ways to ask for a little hot water added to the espresso shot to get a bigger cupful.

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Originally posted by Donna:
In saying all this, is there a place near the center of Florence where I will be able to purchase a small drip coffeemaker and coffee to use with it?

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Donna, before you go, buy a simple plastic filter and some filters and bring them with you. Then all you have to do is boil water and pour it in the filter. Every Italian coffee I have tried this way tastes great.

Shannon
www.chowbellabooks.com

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Thanks David for the pronunciation. After living here for a while you forget that it is not pronounced the same in all languages.

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Cristina: I couldn't help it. The idea of (a) "Coffee Hag", pronounced all'americana, as if we were talking about some witch who was hepped up on too much caffeine, seemed pretty funny........

Bri, thanks for the observation about why some coffee gets bitter. That's been just about the most important criterion to me when judging coffee. I always thought that the bitterness I frequently found in Starbucks coffee was from the, IMO, over-roasting of the beans......... Most of the coffee I've had in Italy was not bitter.

David, usually in NYC

Two questions - what grind would one get? And what kind of store sells small electrical appliances?

Tante grazie!