Il coffee it is an all-Italian ritual that cannot be renounced for most. The express strictly in ceramic cup or at most glass identifies and distinguishes us. In Italy it combines good and bad times. He knows it well Howard Schultz which was inspired by this healthy habit of our country to achieve Starbucks, the largest coffee shop chain in the world. In the morning, in the homes of Italians it spreads the intense and warm aroma of coffee. Otherwise how do you start a day well? This drink with a strong and intense taste, which has come to us from other continents, has now become one of the symbols of the Italian spirit.
Starbucks and Italian philosophy
It was the 80s when Schultz, a New Yorker traveling to Milan, was fascinated by Italian bars where coffee was consumed at all times. But it's not just the business that attracts him, but the philosophy that accompanies this moment.
The way to taste the drink, the intense and confidential relationship that is established between barista and customer. Observing all this, Schultz thinks of flying to Seattle and proposing to the small local coffee roasting company, Starbucks, the idea of creating a chain of coffee shop. Today, after almost 40 years, it is one of the largest companies in the world with over 300 employees worldwide and a staggering turnover. Schultz, born into a poor family, made a fortune today and is among the richest men in the world. It owes its fortune in part also to Italy.
Last year Starbucks also came to us: several roasteries have been opened in Milan and now also in Turin. The key to this success? Having realized that coffee time in Italy is a real ritual that binds and strengthens human relationships. A way to create community. Starbucks reinterprets the romantic idea of everything that accompanies this ritual. The idea is to propose a complementary experience to what already exists. A test of courage so far well rewarded.
I'll wait for you for a coffee
In Italy, after all, coffee is the drink that is consumed daily in large doses. From North to South. To the point that in Calabria they also invented a drink with his taste, the famous one Brazilian which for years continues to refresh the palates during the summer heat.
Over time we have witnessed the various declinations of our traditional espresso, from cappuccino to latte, passing through the spotted or foamed one with lots of drawings on it. And then again, corrected with anise, cold, long or narrow. Without forgetting the legendary hazelnut in Naples and the Moroccan in Milan. Important business decisions have been made around a cup, rivers of chatter between friends, confessions between women. There are also those who have read the future in funds of the cups. Even to get to know each other, we invite you for a coffee. The break at work is essential even if you have to take it from a machine. There is no morning that does not start with a steaming cup and croissant or lunch that does not end with a nice coffee. A little less than dinners, given its energizing properties. In every Italian home but also office as soon as you arrive you are asked: "Can I bring you a coffee?". It must be said, it relaxes and relaxes. It unites.
With coffee we sing
It began to spread in Italy around 1500 thanks to the flourishing trade of Venice with the East. Slowly the shops spread throughout the territory and in the early 900s even the espresso. It is so part of the Italian spirit that we find it in many popular songs.
Roberto Murolo in one of his pieces, taken from Renzo Arbore and her Italian orchestra, describes Mrs. Brigida as a cup of coffee: "under tenite 'o zzuccaro, and' ncoppa, amara site"(Underneath you have sugar but you are bitter on the surface). Who has never sung the famous "Na 'tazzulella is café”By Pino Daniele or on the notes of Fabrizio De Andrè “Ah, what a bellu ccafè” (Don Rafaè). "Spaghetti, chicken, salad and a cup of coffee," he said Fred Bongusto to finish at the Zecchino d'Oro col Peppina coffee. In '69 all of Italy hummed with Richard of the Turk “What did you put in the coffee I drank over you?”, In the 80s Fiorella Mannoia leads to Sanremo “Hot black coffee” and in 2003 Alex Britti he would like “7000 coffees” to stay awake at the wheel. And outside our country too Bach in the 700s he composed a cantata dedicated to coffee (Kaffeekantate) which revolves around the great passion of the protagonist for the drink with a strong and unmistakable taste. That of Italians for coffee is a long and passionate love story. We don't know how to give it up. Now I leave you, I have a steaming cup waiting for me.
