If you live under a rock – you’ve probably missed –
Noami Osaka- 20 yr Japanese tennis player who beat Serena Williams in the Grand Slam
The Iconic Seattle green mermaid made its way into the hands of the Milanese (People of Milan)
Apology to all my tennis fans but today there is only one topic-
Coffee.
Starbucks.
Italy.
popsugar.com
Why the fuss?
Well think about it. This American coffee has locations in roughly ~55 countries, yet just until last Friday – was ‘banned’ ‘shunned’ and ‘unheard of’ in the land cappuccino’s also known as Italy.
Why all these harsh words?
Italians love their caffé more than their kids. (joke)
But if you’ve been to Italy or personally know an Italian (like me) – ONE THING YOU DON’T MESS WITH IS OUR CAFFÉ.
ALL. CAPS. INCLUDED.
And if an Italian looks at the Starbucks menu they either A- laugh B- cry or C- throw aggressive hand gestures (like my father who refuses to enter a Starbucks)
Why?
Because what is a VENTI (literal translation, number 20) or a skinny caramel mocha macchiato with 2 shots of espresso?? And the worst of them all “Frappuccino"
How. Dare. You. tarish the ever so holy ‘Cappuccino!’
And If you ask for a latte in Italy, you will literally get a glass of milk. Because you did just that.
(look at you speaking Italian, bravo!)
So before we move on, let’s get a few things straight -
Caffé is an espresso.That’s it. It's how Italians do coffee, served with a glass of water of course.
Cappuccino a caffé with the perfect dose of foamed & steamed milk on top
Macchiato (literal translation stained) a caffé with a dash of milk -foamed or steamed. In other words, a ‘stained espresso’
Caffé latte caffé with a generous amount of steamed milk usually served in a tall glass with a long spoon
Lungo (literal translation long) a caffé with hot brewed water similar to the Americano but definitely not
Corretto (literal translation corrected) a caffé with grappa because why not?
Now of course there’s your ristretto, freddo, shakerato, d’orzo… but those are for the maestros.
In the meantime let’s just stick to the classics.
With that said, we can somewhat understand the Italian frustration when AMERICA plays mix and match with these classics, destroying names and serving coffee sizes bigger than our heads..
It’s comparable to Italians calling hamburgers and french fries Homer Simson Burgers and Freedom Fries (????)
You just don’t.
fortune.com
Now back to Italy and Starbucks.
Yes, they did it.
And that's huge. And no green aprons ???! !!
dailymail.com
But here’s a twist. It’s more of an homage to Italy. A thank you card taken to the next level!!
It’s Starbucks way of saying thank you for inspiring us, ect. By no means is it a threat to the Italian coffee culture, as Starbucks is well aware of its place on the cappuccino chain.
news.starbucks.com
in the words of the CEO " IL MIO SOGNO SI STA AVVERANDO" - "MY DREAM IS COMING TRUE"
Mr. Schultz is returning to the spot where the inspiration all started - the heart of Milan!
Oh and get this – no Frappuccinos on the menu! (Thank God).
Already people are raving- it’s the "most beautiful Starbucks in the world."
I guess I’ll need to take a trip back to Italy and find out.
But will I do it ?? Probably. So stay tuned..
Full review to come xx
THE MODERN PILGRIM
say hi! @themodern_pilgrim