8561 How one *should* drink a cappuccino......

I don't know, but I'd love to find out where he managed to get a real Italian cappucino that was "very hot when it arrives" ... I'd [I][B]grow[/B][/I] a moustache if it got me that VIP treatment!

Agree Pigro, I've never ever had a hot Cappuccino in England or Italy. Then again i'ts supposed to be served warm enough so you don't have to blow on it and I've never seen anyone lift the froth with a spoon except for children who like to treat it like an ice cream. My usual complaint is that it's not warm enough and often only just tepid.

John Morgan and Brighton College clearly haven't done very much research on Cappuccinos.

Then again you have never seen me drink one Biagio!.
A

Fair enough A and R, I need to do more research!

Have just done the etiquette quiz on BBC on line, I think mooted by the Brighton lot. As I didnt do that brilliantly, probably will not be received in polite company, might be something to do with my coffee drinking technique?.
A

It may be that the closed he's come to a cap is at Starbucks :swoon:

Some doubt remains. Is that the back of the spoon or the front - I do want to do things properly?

And should the spoon then be licked, placed in the saucer unlicked or used to flick the foam at other cappuccinisti, especially those with a foamy moustache??
[url=http://www.olivopiegato.com]Tuscany Bed and Breakfast - L'Olivo Piegato, The Crooked Olive[/url]

And I suppose making a bar [quote=tuscanhills;80303]According to John Morgan, late author of the Times's Guide to Modern Manners, one [B][I]should[/I][/B]

"[I]Lift the froth with your spoon before you drink. This allows the coffee to cool a little, as it is usually very hot when it arrives. This also saves you from acquiring a foamy moustache[/I]"
[RIGHT][SIZE=1]([/SIZE][URL="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7180661.stm"][SIZE=1]http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7180661.stm[/SIZE][/URL][SIZE=1])[/SIZE][/RIGHT]

Is this the reason he's "the late author..."? :eerr:[/quote]

It is well known that cappuccino is a "morning drink" and should not be asked for after 11am. It is drunk as it is served, i.e. you sip the coffee through the foam. I have onoy seen the foam being scooped off first when I was in Australia. But in Italy its a no-no-no.

Oh Rina, does it really matter that much?, nobody here in Marche probably gives a hoot, and if you want to eat your pasta with a knife and fork as well, so be it.

I think there are far more important things to worry about than upsetting someones food eating sensibilities, dont mean to sound sniffy, but as long as you enjoy what you are eating, does it really matter in the scheme of things?

So thats me off everyones dinner party list!
A

I'm not really bothered how people drink their cappuccino - but I do get a bit hot under the collar when [in the UK] I hear people ordering a "Laah-tay.

Hmm, despite growing up in Italy I hate coffee. I also didn't develop the taste at university, so never went late back for cofee... probably explains a lot!:-). If I should, misadventure, drink a cappuccino I'd probably spit it out in a spray, but even the more tolerant of you might find that a leetle off-putting...

[quote=alan h;80421]I'm not really bothered how people drink their cappuccino - but I do get a bit hot under the collar when [in the UK] I hear people ordering a "Laah-tay.[/quote]

Would the Laah-tay drinkers be the same people that have also visited Lay Mar-kay? :winki:

the easiest and QUICKEST answer is to eschew the cappuccino in favor of the eXpresso :laughs:

Rina has given perfect instructions, and I expect she will agree that it is quite acceptable, after having drained the cup of the liquid contents, for the remaining foam to be collected by the teaspoon and carried to the mouth.

I understand the slight displeasure about the cappucino normally being a touch on the tepid side, but a simple instruction to the barista - "molto caldo" - is usually obeyed, and they will serve it scalding hot, if that is what you like. If you frequent the same bar, they will remember your taste, (whether you like your espresso in a glass, or a little lungo, or a little corto, if you like cocoa sprinkled on the cappucino, or cannot abide a decorated finish to the froth, or if they know you never use sugar so they can save on giving you a spoon, etc. etc.) it is a completely different world from Starbucks! And you just have to ask for 'cigarettes' and if your regular bar has not remembered your brand, and whether you like them in a soft or hard pack, they will be mortified that they have to ask you for details.

I can`t see how there is a `right` or `wrong` way to drink a coffee...and I don`t know any Italians who profess that there is :o/

There again, I drink espresso...and good espresso in the UK is harder to find than fresh dodo droppings.....that`s why I live in Italy :o)

[quote=LizzyF;80439].
............ good espresso in the UK is harder to find than fresh dodo droppings.....that`s why I live in Italy [/quote]

Many dodos where you live?

.

no - we are dodo-free but we have oodles of places that do damned good espresso...including casa mia...which rather illustrates my point doesn`t it!!!!

[quote=alan h;80421]I'm not really bothered how people drink their cappuccino - but I do get a bit hot under the collar when [in the UK] I hear people ordering a "Laah-tay.[/quote]

Even more cringe-making is the number of coffee shop assistants attempting to correct me when I order a latte. It's bad enough hearing the customers demanding their morning (or indeed 24/7) LAR-TAY, but to have the staff insisting that customers order LAR-TAYs instead of lattes is a bit much.

OTOH the tag line of Cafe Nero "The best coffee this side of Milan" also grates. Are they honestly trying to claim that their coffee is better than anything available in Torino?

Then there are all those high street sandwich shops selling "paninis".

Grrrrr.

Does anyone have an opinion on the subtle difference between drinking espresso from a cup and from a glass?

I think this thread is very fertile ground for a right royal ItalyMag style bust up! Have been getting bored with ItalyMag for its lack of fireworks. Who cares how you drink your cappuccino or whether you drink it at all! Sounds to me like you all spend too much time in bars and need to get a life. I personally favour Lapsang Souchong and Sprat is a long time aficionado of Earl Grey, but it must be Twinnings and it must be in the black box and come from the U.K. Have you all forgotten that you’re British? It’s a well known fact that the Queen serves a blend of Earl Grey and Lapsang Souchong to her garden party guests: so WE are in good company. God Save The Queen. Drinking all this effete foreign muck. You'll all turn into degenerate bottom pinchers and fashion victims. :winki::winki::winki:
Must go now; kettles boiling and the toast and marmalade is ready.Thick cut of course.
Pilchard

I enjoy having a cup of Twinning's English Breakfast Tea with a dash of lemon juice in the morning: however, I also enjoy a cappuccino, an espresso, a macchiato, a latte.... of a Jasmin tea if I'm in China or Mate tea if I am in Paraguay.... To sum it up, the right time, the right place, the right thing or what I think it is right for the moment. I enjoy life!!!! Nothing wrong with it.... I hope :laughs:

But Marc you didn`t give your own opinion about the difference between drinking from a cup or glass!!!

For me espresso has to be in a cup

It`s probably personal taste isn`t it? It`s like tea always tastes better out of a china cup - unless you`re a builder who drinks it soooo strong and heavily sugared it would dissolve said china before the tea was finished...

Heck Ang - I didn't mean my post to be read as if I was a right old snob. No of course you can drink coffee as you like, same goes for eating pasta with a knife & fork (tho' how you do that the mind boggles). ha ha. If I have come over as a snob though then ti chiedo scusi. lol

I drink my espresso in a good old British style bone china mug, made in Taiwan with a hairline crack and a broken handle.

Hmm.......me thinks you are all a tad :eerr: [B][I]wired[/I][/B] :eerr:from to much of the stuff.........never been known to drink coffee in any style ......but I do rememeber back in the yUK that people in Starbucks etc, would order LARTAY, and a Pa OH Chocolae........poor, sad bu££ers .....

Happy Sunday all ...........

[quote=LizzyF;80456]But Marc you didn`t give your own opinion about the difference between drinking from a cup or glass!!![/quote]

I think I prefer mine in a glass, but I'm not quite sure why. Maybe its the fact that glasses are thinner and don't have a flared top, so the coffee is delivered to a small patch in the middle of your tongue. Or maybe its just that glasses has more street cred innit?

cowabunga - I didn`t know that drinking espresso from a glass carried more street cred than a drinking it from a cup - I bet you have those posh double-walled jobbies too - or have you got asbestos fingers?

I remember in the olden days as a treat after a meal out with my parents we were allowed those liqueur coffees that came with a deep superslurpy layer of cream floating on the top and had a small sugar plantation stirred in first to keep said cream up there...I couldn`t fancy them these days but given the choice between one of those and one of those mind boggling super trendy abominations that come topped with enough airy-fairy-false-squirty-foam-stuff to extinguish a small fire, gimmie a Calypso any day....

[quote=LizzyF;80486]cowabunga - I didn`t know that drinking espresso from a glass carried more street cred than a drinking it from a cup - I bet you have those posh double-walled jobbies too - or have you got asbestos fingers?

I remember in the olden days as a treat after a meal out with my parents we were allowed those liqueur coffees that came with a deep superslurpy layer of cream floating on the top and had a small sugar plantation stirred in first to keep said cream up there...I couldn`t fancy them these days but given the choice between one of those and one of those mind boggling super trendy abominations that come topped with enough airy-fairy-false-squirty-foam-stuff to extinguish a small fire, gimmie a Calypso any day....[/quote]

I bet that was at a beefeater .........:smile:

I must confess I have never drunk espresso out of a glass - I didn't think I was old enough! It seems to be exclusively an (even) older man thing, and though it can probably be had without the additional shot of grappa that does seem to be a common ingredient.

Unlke the cups, the glasses are not kept hot on top of the coffee machine, so I imagine the coffee is slightly cooler - maybe that is a consideration? And I suppose too, as Marc suggests, it can be thrown down the throat more quickly from the thinner walled glass.

yessssssssssssss!!!! it was a beefeater she says with a big grin!!!!!

[quote=Charles Phillips;80491]....it can be thrown down the throat more quickly from the thinner walled glass.[/quote]

Not, however, if you are the BBC's etiquette correspondent!

O.K, we get the message you REALLY DO want to talk coffee. Actually we do rather like the stuff and agree with some of you who are dismayed that you never get a really hot Cappuccino or espresso. Every time we leave the country and come back we buy an espresso... then we know we are back.
So continuing in this coffee vein... What are your favourite brands and blends and why? Do you use tap water or bottled water? What's your favourite method of making it at home?
The first time we ever went to Rome an Italian cugino of Pilchardo told us to search out Piazza St Eustachio. Two reasons were, there's a church there with the most exquisite Caravaggios with no crowds, no queues, and no entrance fee, just put a coin in the electric meter to turn the lights on; and the other good reason is there is a bar there, in a time warp, that makes the best Neapolitan style coffee in Rome, roasting beans on the premises over a wood fire. When they've got a roast on it permeates the whole area. We bought a bag of the stuff but alas it's long gone now. Wonder if they do mail order?
Sprat