Espresso, or simply caffè to the Italians, still reigns supreme in the land of gelato and spaghetti. No matter where you are in Italy, whether in the North or the South, Italians’ love for espresso doesn’t waiver. You’ll find the cuisine varies greatly by region: pesto in Cinque Terre, heavily meat and cheese-based dishes in the north, and fresh tomato-based dishes in the south. And of course the wines as well, but not caffè.
I’ve had the pleasure of traveling to Italy a few times since moving to Dublin last March. It happens to be my favorite country. Can you blame me? On my most recent trip to the Emilia-Romagna region, one of the food capitals of the world (home to Parmigiano-Reggiano, Balsamic Vinegar, and Parma ham among others), I specifically noticed that tea was sparse and if there, buried in the back of a menu. Yet, coffee could be found around every turn.
If I may be honest, I am an equal lover of coffee and tea and believe they both serve a purpose. I love enjoying that deep espresso, though I’ll admit it’s an acquired taste if you’re used to weaker drip coffee. But I started to miss ordering a mint tea after a heavy meal, which I often do at home. While starting to think about why tea culture hasn’t really made its way to Italy, I had an epiphany. This realization may be obvious to you, but as so many places around the world have embraced tea for its social, medicinal, and health benefits, why the resistance in Italy? It’s not like Italians don’t love to sit out on the piazza and enjoy watching the world go by or linger over a 3-hour meal. But when it comes to espresso, it’s almost a disappearing act. Have you ever been to a real coffee bar in Italy? Well let me tell you, people are in and out. Someone will walk in, stand at the bar, motion to the barista for a caffè, and within minutes has received her espresso and sipped it down. And let’s not forget the final act of using a teaspoon to get every last drop of the delicious froth from the bottom of the cup. Such is the Italian way of consuming coffee and I think this rapid enjoyment of the beverage has stalled the adoption of tea…or it at least must be a contributing factor. What do you think?
That’s a very interesting observation. I think there is some truth to that. Ultimately I suspect tea is a cultural ritual that hasn’t yet found its way to Italy. Coffee being so firmly established over generations, it will take time for tea to take hold. As the world gets turned on by the health benefits of tea, which prompted its large awakening in the U.S., I suspect the same message will hit the younger generation in Italy as well.
First of all, I’m with you about loving Italy, even if I have never been there. The whole ambience and romance, not to mention the golden sunlight, love of life, and food appeals to me. As to tea: Yep, culture, probably. Another thought is that espresso/coffee are very addictive, very. I really think they are ‘addicted’ to that caffeine jolt, while tea is much milder on the system, because of the theanine balancing the caffeine, and 1/3 to 1/2 less per brewed cup. Italy’s espresso bars were the inspiration for Howard Schultz’ original Starbucks concept, weren’t they? Well, he added the ‘3rd place concept’ and now finds that drive-throughs are what they really want to make most profit, because of people buying a $2-$3 cup and staying all day as a home away from home office.
Thank you for introducing such an interesting topic. I’m Italian (born and raised) and I think most Italians still consider tea (and herbal teas) a beverage for when you’re sick. Green tea is often associated with weight loss/health benefits. This is slowly changing, though. Last month, the first Italian tea expo was held in Bologna. When Italians realize that there’s so much more to tea than sad tea bags, they will embrace it, not as an alternative to coffee but as a different, yet enjoyable, experience.
I hope you’re right about this. Very exciting to hear that they held an Expo in Bologna. Sounds like that might be the direction things are moving. Thanks so much for sharing that information with us.
If you’re interested, I’ve put together a blog post with some thoughts and observations:
http://teasquirrel.com/home/2017/5/17/tea-in-the-land-of-espresso-my-thoughts