I am curious to see what coffee culture will be like in Italy where, I've been told, it's absolutely verboten to have a cappucino after morning hours.
Only recently I started drinking coffee regularly, at the advice of my good American (but not Oregonian) friend Douglas who a few years ago suggested I try latte macchiato. I have since been addicted to this sorry excuse for a regular coffee.
I realize I jumped on the coffee train very late and caffeine culture was way beyond its peak.
All the same, a latte macchiato, as we all know, is a bland version of a regular latte, already considered bland among coffee aficionados. Most cafés (in Stockholm) prepare it with a single shot of espresso and I'm ok with that even though quite often it gets way too strong for my delicate palate.
I like it bland. In Swedish we have a word for it: mescafé. (I'm afraid I would have to translate that one with pussy coffee.)
And in Sweden there is still big confusion concerning the definition of latte macchiato (as opposed to caffè macchiato or espresso macchiato). Quite a few times I've met the response "there is no such thing" or, worse, I've been offered the regular macchiato, strong as hell. Inferno.
Well it so happens the origin of this kind of coffee, of course, is Italian. It literally means maculate(d) milk. A few drops of coffee stains the innocent white milk.
Immaculate milk would be fun to order instead of a regular glass in a restaurant. That would be latte immacolato in Italian I suppose. Per favore.
Last time I visited Italy I wasn't really a coffee drinker. I am not expecting the Italian coffee culture to have changed one bit. Things you eat and drink seem, luckily, to stay the same in Italy.
However, I am not expecting good coffee - my style - either.
My favourite kind of coffee would be found at Stumptown in Portland, Oregon. (Incidentally, the main reason why I am writing this blog in English, is so that my Oregonian friends will be able to read it, bless their hearts if they do.)
