The Inconvenient Truth About Coffee: Is Italian Coffee the Best?

Italians feel themselves as coffee expert, but few understand it really. Beyond prejudice, we reveal why Italian coffee is not the best in the world. Or rather, not always.

Italian coffee is the best in the world.

Italians do it better – Is the Espresso the only valid coffee-style?

This is an idea that must be completely denied. For intellectual honesty, it is essential to understand that espresso is not the only valid method for preparing a good coffee. I can already see italian noses wrinkling and mouths twisting in disappointment. How? But Italian espresso coffee is famous all over the world! Of course, it is, and Italians are proud to have invented a system for obtaining such a (often) pleasant drink. But, honestly, the espresso is only one of the many ways of brewing coffee. Surely, the espresso system is able to make mediocre coffees pleasant. Therefore, Espresso coffee is, in fact, excellent only if produced with excellent coffee. This is true for all the other coffee making styles.

The barista and his skills

 – That barista made me a burnt coffee.
It is common in Italy to hear similar statements in a Bar. Often accompained by a strange face and a bad eye to the poor barista. Espresso machines present in coffee shops across the country today, it is hard to make a bad espresso. Indeed, what is truly impossible for a barista is to really burn the coffee. In general,  an Italian barista prepares coffee simply by pressing a button. The machine delivers pressure and water: fire and the burnt are therefore unrelated to the barista’s work. On the contrary, that smell that we identify as burnt simply indicates poor quality. Perhaps due to poor roasting or, upstream, from inadequate selection and abandonment to mold. A low-quality product in fact retains defects that are released during extraction.

Il caffè macchiato è uno dei modi più comuni per bere un caffè espresso, soprattutto se troppo amaro

No one openly protests over bad coffee.

Maybe because in Italy coffee is so affordable, many people do not protest for a disapponting coffee cup. Maybe because shy, or too polite, resigned or out of cowardice. Or just because, over the years, in Italy the art of fixing bad coffee has been refined. Thus, adding sugar, cold or hot milk (the famous macchiato), sambuca, cream. Or the request to extract it in a certain way, ristretto for example, are all unconscious tricks that our personal taste suggests to us to fix the drink. Sometimes, making the undrinkable, pleasant. A ristretto coffee, in fact, is less bitter because the sweet components of the coffee come out first in the extraction. In other words: less water, less bitterness. So people let’s stop grumbling behind your baista’s back! Instead, let’s complain to the owner of the bar and advise him to invest in a better quality coffee.

The Bar and its customers

In most Italian coffee shops and bars, you can find baristas who, although good workers, are not real professionals. This is another of the great professions that are often underestimated. By employers perhaps, but even more so by customers. Customers often ignore the difference between a professional and an amateur. Often and above all, are not ready to pay the cost for. Moreover, Espresso coffee in Italy is consumed quickly and distractedly,  Often as a work or as a recharging break. Certainly a bar that serves 100 coffees a day, at an average cost of just over a euro, could hardly afford a coffee maestro. We will talk about this mysterious professional figure in a future post, anyway.

Coffee in Italy is too cheap

Coffee in Italy is very affordable, around one euro per cup. But we must understand that the quality of the raw material and the expert staff cannot be sustainable in this way. Such low prices only encourage exploitation. Exploitation that does not only concern the agricultural sector in developing countries. Furthermore, coffee, especially in Italy, is associated with fleeting consumption. Italian coffee culture, in fact, involves a stop at the bar for a few minutes. High costs for a quick consumption of just a few euros, which is why Italian bars sell a bit of everything. Instead of specializing in coffee, they have become hybrid places, that sell everything from scratch cards to pizza. Choosing a bar that focuses on quality, therefore, means appreciating and supporting a courageous choice.

i caffè specialty a roma stanno spopolando. Offrono nuove prospettive nel consumo del caffè

Not all bars are the same

Just look around and you realize that new coffee shop models are starting to bloom around us, worldwide. These new places offer the opportunity to enjoy a high-quality coffee, perhaps taking the time to savor its aromas and flavors. We are talking about specialty coffee shops: places where you can taste fine coffees from different regions. Often these are single-origin coffees, prepared with different extraction methods, to enhance their characteristics. Often oriented towards ethics and sustainability, concepts that attract younger consumers. Beyond the trends of the moment, these coffee shops are actually carrying out a sort of cultural revolution. Many of them are also small artisanal roasters that, while pursuing profit – as it should be – are able to highlight some problems. Without a doubt, they offer a broader perspective than the classic local coffee. Which risks becoming standardized in a downward competition that is harmful to managers and customers.

Do you want to learn more about the world of coffee and meet enthusiasts from all over the world? Join our Espresso, Gelato and Tiramisu tour in Rome