We know a lot about coffee: we know the places where it is produced, the qualities we prefer, local alternatives such as, for example, the Argentine cortado. But are we sure we know precisely everything about the beloved beverage that accompanies us every day from the moment we wake up?
For example, not everyone is aware of what is the origin of the word cappuccino or the word espresso, why Bach or Goldoni loved it so much or what is the best time to consume it. No need to despair, let's catch up now by revealing these and other coffee trivia that most people most likely don't know!
Six coffee trivia: from cappuccino to the exact time of day
Why is coffee called that?
Café, coffee, kaffee. Scanning the translations of the word coffee in major European languages, it becomes clear that there is a common root that originates around the year 1000. In fact, the story goes that some Turkish merchants exported from the Horn of Africa, and specifically from a region that roughly corresponds to present-day Ethiopia, the beans of a plant from which they prepared an energizing drink. They called it, in the local language, "qahwa," which means, literally, "that does not allow one to fall asleep." Term later translated into Turkish as "kahve" hence our Italian "coffee" and all European variants.
Origin of the word "cappuccino"
Cappuccino, on the other hand, originates as its own word from Italian. Again, the real etymology is shrouded in legend. It seems, in fact, that coffee with milk foam was invented by a Capuchin friar, Marco d'Aviano, in 1683 in Vienna.
Another variant of the story relates that the year the first Café opened in the Austrian capital, the Italian friar arrived at the court of Emperor Leopold I with the typical light brown cap. Whereupon, it was impossible for the Austrians not to associate the color of the robe with the drink of Italian origin and, hence, the name cappuccino.
Finally, a third version is that the name cappuccino comes from the effect of the white of milk with the brown of coffee around it. Does it also remind you of the bald head surrounded by a ring of hair typical of Capuchin friars? If the answer is yes, you have found your favorite version of the origin of the word cappuccino.
Espresso, a matter of speed
The name espresso clearly refers to a matter of timing and, to a certain extent, of haste, but what does it mean to refer to? Making coffee requires steeping the powder under pressure, unlike other beverages such as tea to give an example. This process became established not to obtain a very thick cup, but to speed up the preparation time, hence the label "espresso" to refer to quickly brewed coffee.
The perfect time for coffee? Science answers
Having dispelled the myth that drinking coffee in the evening leads to insomnia, many remain convinced that any time is the right time for a cup of espresso, macchiato or cappuccino. In reality, this is not really the case. In fact, some neuroscientific studies have tried to calculate the perfect time to reap the most benefits. The results agree: the ideal time to drink coffee is in the morning, between 9:30 and 11:30.
A passion shared with animals
That coffee is liked all over the world is nothing new; what may be surprising, however, is that even animals do not disdain the beans of black gold. Among the greediest, we cannot fail to mention elephants, who happily eat coffee berries. A habit that has also turned into an opportunity: the beans, in fact, are retained in the animal's digestive process and are then collected from the dung. This is how Black Ivory was born, a smooth and creamy coffee that is among the most cherished and appreciated around the world.
A similar process is what allows us to taste Kopi Luwak, a typical Indonesian coffee produced from the berries, eaten, digested and defecated by the common palm civet, a cute little animal that lives in Southeast Asia. Those who have tasted this quality of coffee assure that it is less bitter than what we are used to and has a pleasant chocolate aftertaste.
Coffee in art
Those who love coffee will not be surprised by the fact that, throughout history, it has also become a muse for artists, musicians, and writers. Probably the most famous example is Carlo Goldoni's comedy "La bottega del caffè," composed in 1750: it recounts the vicissitudes of the industrious coffee house owner Ridolfo, the young cloth merchant Eugenio, the ambiguous Don Marzio, and the fake nobleman Flaminio. A maze of characters moves through Carnival Venice and revolves around Ridolfo's Bottega del caffè.
Equally famous are some pictorial representations of coffee rituals. Think of Auguste Renoir's "The End of Breakfast," Eduard Manet's "The Couple Seated at the Café," and many other works by Van Gogh, Munch, and Boldini. Less well-known, however, is Johann Sebastian Bach's "Kaffeekantate": a cantata with libretto by Picander that tells the story of a young woman who drank so much coffee that her father, worried about her dowry, threatened to deny her marriage if she did not reduce her doses. The girl then, getting smart, accepted her father's condition, not without including a singular clause in the prenuptial contract: as a married woman she could drink as much coffee as she wanted.
Coffee lexicon in Trieste
If you are now convinced you have heard it all about coffee, from the origin of the word cappuccino to the qualities resulting from the gluttony of animals, you may still be surprised to discover an all-Italian peculiarity.
In fact, only those who have had the opportunity to visit the city of Trieste at least once in their lives will have noticed that in local bars there is an alternative lexicon for ordering coffee. Before we even dwell on the difference between "black" and "boss," it is important to know that the glass tumbler is generally preferred to the cup. Some, by the way, find the origin of this custom in the customs of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Others argue, however, that the custom derives from the so-called "Sessolote," that is, the women who washed the coffee that arrived at the port of Trieste between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries with sessoles, precisely. It seems, in fact, that they used the glass to warm their hands, and from there the preference for this solution was maintained.
We now come to a real little dictionary of Trieste coffee:
- Nero, meaning espresso coffee in a cup.
- Nero in B, espresso coffee in a glass.
- Deca, decaffeinated espresso coffee in a cup.
- Deca in B, decaffeinated espresso coffee in a glass.
- Capo, espresso macchiato in cup.
- Capo in B, espresso macchiato in glass.
- Capo in B tanta, espresso macchiato coffee with lots of foam.
- Capo in B tanta special, espresso macchiato coffee with lots of foam and dusting of cocoa.
- Capo deca, decaffeinated espresso coffee macchiato in cup.
- Capo deca in B, decaffeinated espresso macchiato in cup.
- Gocciato, coffee with a drop of milk froth.
- Caffellatte, aka cappuccino.
If your head is spinning, it is normal, but what is just as likely is that there are now many coffee trivia you can splurge on the next time you find yourself sharing coffee with friends. Did you know the origin of the word cappuccino?
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