Why Do Italians Drink So Much Coffee?
If you tell a random Italian that you drink one, two or no coffee a day, they’ll almost drop dead on the spot. Tre caffè is the minimum dose needed to get through the day. But why? I looked into it and discovered something very strange.
A cup of coffee
In the Netherlands, the word ‘coffee’ is associated with cosiness, chatting and cookies on the side. Whether it’s a good cappuccino, a cup of filter coffee or a cup of dishwater from the coffee machine at work doesn’t really matter. Where the cup of coffee is drunk does affect the experience: who are you with, is it a pleasant place, is there apple pie, is the sun shining, that sort of thing. In short, the situation is the main thing; the coffee itself doesn’t matter.
Il caffè
Italian coffee culture is different. While we Dutch drink cup after cup while chatting, in Italy you go to a bar with a purpose: un caffè. In Italy, people therefore always refer to ‘a coffee’ as a sort of single ticket that you buy for it. Coffee dates do exist, but they’re quicker, and often only one cup of coffee is drunk anyway. The same goes for after lunch or la cena. Coffee is served with a purpose: to become a little more alert after a meal. Even when Italians have guests, coffee is served with a purpose. The purpose is to get caffeine into your system, wake up, freshen up and regroup; the situation is secondary.
Then, of course, there’s the cultural aspect: the coffee bar, the receipts, drinking while standing, the sound of cups being washed and so on. For Italians, drinking coffee is an ode to their own culture. And that’s something Italians are only too happy to do.
Who drinks more coffee: Italians or the Dutch?
To make this coffee analysis as complete as possible, I dug into some figures and immediately had to knock back an espresso shot to recover from what I read. The result? Italians don’t drink that much coffee at all. The Dutch drink far more. Almost twice as much. Yes, really. But after the above, that actually makes perfect sense. While Italians are busy honouring their culture and drinking single caffè, the Dutch simply get through litres of coffee in the local cafeteria without even thinking about it.
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Source: Italiamo
