Emily Chan
If you’re planning a trip to Italy this summer and want to learn how to act like a local, TikToker Rachael (@trippingmillennial) is teaching you how to order coffee like a true Italian.
Before getting into the ways of Italian café culture, she added a disclaimer that the experience might differ based on what region of Italy you’re in and what coffee shop you’re at.
For example, at some places, you might order your coffee, sit down to enjoy it, then pay at the end. In other areas, such as Rome, you might have to pay at the beginning, obtain a receipt, give the receipt to the barista, and finally receive your beverage.
If you never hand over the receipt, you won’t be getting your drink. So in Rome, it’s more common to enjoy your beverage at the bar rather than sitting down and sipping it slowly.
But if you are ever unsure about what to do, as always, pay attention to what the locals are doing. In any coffee shop you enter, it’s best to start with a greeting like “Buongiorno,” which means “Good morning.”
When ordering, you can simply ask, “Un caffè, per favore,” which means “One coffee, please.” That will get you an espresso.
Other popular drinks you can ask for include “un cappuccino” or “un macchiato.” Do not order “un latte” because that just means “milk” in Italian.
However, you could ask for “un latte macchiato” or “un caffè latte.” If you’re ordering for two people, you might ask for “due caffè,” which means two coffees. Or “due cappuccini,” the plural version of “cappuccino.”
Rachael also goes over how to say a few terms that are often used in relation to coffee. Sugar is “zucchero,” cream is “crema,” and ice is “ghiaccio.”
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