How to Order coffee in Italy

Like so much that has made its way to America from foreign lands and languages, the Italian coffee culture has become a bit, well, garbled on its journey, leaving us with a lot of drinks whose names sound Italian enough and yet would leave an actual Italian barista thoroughly bemused.

Frappuccino? Both drink and word were invented this side of the Atlantic. Venti? In Italian it's merely a number, 20. Each drink comes in one size and one size only.  If you want more than that, you'd better order two cups, but it's probably better not to order a venti!

To clear up some of the muddlement, here's a quick guide to how to order the most common coffee drinks like a true Italian.

1. Espresso

The espresso is so common in Italy that it's almost never called an espresso. Instead, the locals will ask for simply un caffè; a coffee.

2. Cappuccino

You're in luck here. A cappuccino is actually called a cappuccino in Italy, but you'll also often hear people ask for un cappuccio, pronounced 'cappucho'. It's really just the same thing! Cappuccio means 'hood' in Italian - from the hood of foam on the coffee - so a cappuccino just means a 'little hood'.

3. Latte

Latte means milk in Italian. Unless you wanted a nice glass of milk, you'll need another term. In fact, what Americans call a latte is, in Italian, a caffè latte or latte macchiatto - milk with espresso. Pretty logical.

4. Coffee

So if un caffè will get you an espresso, how do you ask for a regular old American-style coffee? Well, drip coffee the American style is rarely made with the exception in some hotels targeting Americans.

But if you ask for un americano, you will get a dilution of espresso.  This type of coffee is much less common in Italy than it is here.  You may hear locals say it tastes like nothing more than dirty water - but at least you'll know how to order it!

5. Cafè

Finally, since you call a coffee un caffè, what do you call a café? Not a café of course, but a bar! And in fact, most Italians drink their caffè standing up right at the bar. The advantage to combining the coffee service with regular bar service is that it's quite easy for you to ask your barista to make your caffè corretto (corrected) - that is, to add a shot of grappa to it!

And of course, don't forget to say per favore after ordering your drink!

Hint: don't ask for an espresso