Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works. Hey, brain Stuff,
Speaker 1: I'm Lauren Vogelbaum. And if you can't start your morning
Speaker 1: without a cup of Joe, You're certainly not alone. I'm
Speaker 1: right there with you. But Americans consumption of coffee is up.
Speaker 1: It's the highest it spin since and global exports are
Speaker 1: up to According to the International Coffee Organization, World coffee
Speaker 1: exports increased by seventeen percent from October to October, and
Speaker 1: overall global shipments were four point two percent higher year
Speaker 1: over year. Clearly, coffee has become an important daily ritual
Speaker 1: for many Americans, which begs the question why are so
Speaker 1: many coffee lovers ordering those drinks using Italian words, from
Speaker 1: latte's to macchiatos. How did this happen? After all, coffee
Speaker 1: doesn't have its roots in Italy. Legend has it that
Speaker 1: the Great Being originated in the Ethiopian Plateau and was
Speaker 1: discovered by a goat herder who noticed his goats veritably
Speaker 1: danced after eating a certain plant. It's throughout the Arabian
Speaker 1: Peninsula and adjacent areas before Europeans encountered coffee in the
Speaker 1: seventeenth century. Nevertheless, many of the coffee drinks we know
Speaker 1: today and popularized by Starbucks. More on that in a minute.
Speaker 1: Do originate in Italy and it has everything to do
Speaker 1: with the invention of the espresso machine. Espresso doesn't refer
Speaker 1: to a particular type of coffee bean. It's actually a
Speaker 1: coffee preparation method and it was first developed in Italy
Speaker 1: in the nineteenth century. Because brood coffee could take up
Speaker 1: to five minutes to make, coffee, lovers sought a way
Speaker 1: to shorten the time between ordering and drinking. The first
Speaker 1: espresso machines were bulky and difficult, but by the early
Speaker 1: twentieth century, Milanese manufacturer Luigi Bazara had developed a single
Speaker 1: shot espresso that produced one cup of coffee in seconds,
Speaker 1: though it did take a while for the machines to
Speaker 1: improve in terms of ease of use and flavor of
Speaker 1: the coffee produced. We spoke with Paul Bassett, former World
Speaker 1: Barista champion. He said the espresso machine kind of revolutionized
Speaker 1: coffee to some extent. Everything was centered around the way
Speaker 1: espresso was made the way it was consumed as well.
Speaker 1: He explained that with the espresso machine, coffee could be
Speaker 1: made on the spur of the moment and was intended
Speaker 1: to be drunk immediately after being served, typically standing at
Speaker 1: a bar. Italian coffee culture grew, and espresso as we
Speaker 1: know it today became popular in Italy and France in
Speaker 1: the nineteen thirties. The nineteen fifties beatnik movement and its
Speaker 1: coffee house culture launched an espresso craze in the United States.
Speaker 1: We also spoke with Mike Ferguson with oh Lamb's Specialty Coffee.
Speaker 1: He explained early in the specialty coffee movement, authenticity meant Italian.
Speaker 1: In the nineteen eighties, many, if not most coffee houses
Speaker 1: had Italian names and adopted as much Italian as possible
Speaker 1: into their cafe and menu, so the trend continued. The
Speaker 1: coffee drinks they served also retained their Italian nomenclature because
Speaker 1: they were specifically made with espresso. The names referred to
Speaker 1: what is added to the espresso. For example, put the
Speaker 1: word marciato into Google Translate and you'll get stained or spotted,
Speaker 1: So the drink name refers to the spot of milk
Speaker 1: that stains the espresso. Bassett said, I think fundamentally espresso
Speaker 1: is directly linked to Italy as a beverage and the way,
Speaker 1: it's part of their culture. It's been transported all around
Speaker 1: the world and reinterpreted. Despite reinterpretation, the drinks with Italian
Speaker 1: names have an espresso base and typically some kind of
Speaker 1: milk added. For example, a cafe latte, usually just called
Speaker 1: a latte in the United States, consists of espresso, milk,
Speaker 1: and milk foam. It's not brewed coffee with milk, although
Speaker 1: that's the literal translation. To be fair, ordering an espresso
Speaker 1: with milk and milk foam doesn't sound as catchy. The
Speaker 1: distinction between espresso and brewed coffee is important. Consider the Americano,
Speaker 1: which was named for Americans in Italy who sought a
Speaker 1: drink similar to the brewed or filtered coffee they drank
Speaker 1: at home. Because it emerged in Italy and is made
Speaker 1: by adding water to espresso, it retains its Italian title.
Speaker 1: So this answers the question about coffee drink names. But
Speaker 1: what about Starbucks use of sizes like grande inventi, which
Speaker 1: are also Italian words. This sizing nomenclature short, tall and
Speaker 1: Grande was introduced when ill Joornale opened its doors in
Speaker 1: six and the venti size came in the early nineties.
Speaker 1: Ill Joornale was the name of the coffee houses launched
Speaker 1: by Starbucks Chairman emeritus Howard Schultz during his mid eighties
Speaker 1: hiatus from the company. The company's website states that Schultz
Speaker 1: had been quote captivated with Italian coffee bars and the
Speaker 1: romance of the coffee experience, a tradition he wanted to
Speaker 1: bring to the United States. He returned to Starbucks and
Speaker 1: purchased the company in and that branding now extends to
Speaker 1: faux Italian product names like the frappuccino, which is a
Speaker 1: trademarked name and not actually an Italian word. By the way.
Speaker 1: Bonus fact of the episode, the caffeine and coffee that
Speaker 1: Perks You Up is considered the most commonly used drug
Speaker 1: in the world. Today's episode was written by Carrie Whitney
Speaker 1: and produced by Tyler Clang for iHeart Media and How
Speaker 1: Stuff Works. For more on this and lots of other
Speaker 1: peppy topics, visit our home planet, how Stuff Works dot com.