WEBVTT - Why Do Coffee Drinks Often Have Italian Names?

0:00:02.040 --> 0:00:07.080
<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works. Hey, brain Stuff,

0:00:07.080 --> 0:00:09.760
<v Speaker 1>I'm Lauren Vogelbaum. And if you can't start your morning

0:00:09.760 --> 0:00:12.559
<v Speaker 1>without a cup of Joe, You're certainly not alone. I'm

0:00:12.640 --> 0:00:16.079
<v Speaker 1>right there with you. But Americans consumption of coffee is up.

0:00:16.400 --> 0:00:19.640
<v Speaker 1>It's the highest it spin since and global exports are

0:00:19.720 --> 0:00:23.880
<v Speaker 1>up to According to the International Coffee Organization, World coffee

0:00:23.880 --> 0:00:29.160
<v Speaker 1>exports increased by seventeen percent from October to October, and

0:00:29.240 --> 0:00:32.720
<v Speaker 1>overall global shipments were four point two percent higher year

0:00:32.760 --> 0:00:37.000
<v Speaker 1>over year. Clearly, coffee has become an important daily ritual

0:00:37.080 --> 0:00:40.400
<v Speaker 1>for many Americans, which begs the question why are so

0:00:40.479 --> 0:00:44.080
<v Speaker 1>many coffee lovers ordering those drinks using Italian words, from

0:00:44.159 --> 0:00:47.920
<v Speaker 1>latte's to macchiatos. How did this happen? After all, coffee

0:00:47.920 --> 0:00:51.159
<v Speaker 1>doesn't have its roots in Italy. Legend has it that

0:00:51.200 --> 0:00:54.280
<v Speaker 1>the Great Being originated in the Ethiopian Plateau and was

0:00:54.320 --> 0:00:57.120
<v Speaker 1>discovered by a goat herder who noticed his goats veritably

0:00:57.200 --> 0:01:00.800
<v Speaker 1>danced after eating a certain plant. It's throughout the Arabian

0:01:00.800 --> 0:01:04.520
<v Speaker 1>Peninsula and adjacent areas before Europeans encountered coffee in the

0:01:04.560 --> 0:01:08.240
<v Speaker 1>seventeenth century. Nevertheless, many of the coffee drinks we know

0:01:08.319 --> 0:01:11.399
<v Speaker 1>today and popularized by Starbucks. More on that in a minute.

0:01:11.720 --> 0:01:14.399
<v Speaker 1>Do originate in Italy and it has everything to do

0:01:14.480 --> 0:01:17.880
<v Speaker 1>with the invention of the espresso machine. Espresso doesn't refer

0:01:17.920 --> 0:01:20.440
<v Speaker 1>to a particular type of coffee bean. It's actually a

0:01:20.440 --> 0:01:23.559
<v Speaker 1>coffee preparation method and it was first developed in Italy

0:01:23.640 --> 0:01:27.039
<v Speaker 1>in the nineteenth century. Because brood coffee could take up

0:01:27.080 --> 0:01:29.480
<v Speaker 1>to five minutes to make, coffee, lovers sought a way

0:01:29.480 --> 0:01:32.840
<v Speaker 1>to shorten the time between ordering and drinking. The first

0:01:32.959 --> 0:01:35.600
<v Speaker 1>espresso machines were bulky and difficult, but by the early

0:01:35.600 --> 0:01:39.760
<v Speaker 1>twentieth century, Milanese manufacturer Luigi Bazara had developed a single

0:01:39.760 --> 0:01:43.240
<v Speaker 1>shot espresso that produced one cup of coffee in seconds,

0:01:43.600 --> 0:01:45.280
<v Speaker 1>though it did take a while for the machines to

0:01:45.360 --> 0:01:47.560
<v Speaker 1>improve in terms of ease of use and flavor of

0:01:47.560 --> 0:01:51.520
<v Speaker 1>the coffee produced. We spoke with Paul Bassett, former World

0:01:51.520 --> 0:01:55.760
<v Speaker 1>Barista champion. He said the espresso machine kind of revolutionized

0:01:55.760 --> 0:01:58.360
<v Speaker 1>coffee to some extent. Everything was centered around the way

0:01:58.440 --> 0:02:00.880
<v Speaker 1>espresso was made the way it was consumed as well.

0:02:01.440 --> 0:02:04.200
<v Speaker 1>He explained that with the espresso machine, coffee could be

0:02:04.280 --> 0:02:06.360
<v Speaker 1>made on the spur of the moment and was intended

0:02:06.400 --> 0:02:09.320
<v Speaker 1>to be drunk immediately after being served, typically standing at

0:02:09.360 --> 0:02:13.160
<v Speaker 1>a bar. Italian coffee culture grew, and espresso as we

0:02:13.240 --> 0:02:15.600
<v Speaker 1>know it today became popular in Italy and France in

0:02:15.639 --> 0:02:18.840
<v Speaker 1>the nineteen thirties. The nineteen fifties beatnik movement and its

0:02:18.840 --> 0:02:21.960
<v Speaker 1>coffee house culture launched an espresso craze in the United States.

0:02:23.160 --> 0:02:26.160
<v Speaker 1>We also spoke with Mike Ferguson with oh Lamb's Specialty Coffee.

0:02:26.600 --> 0:02:31.040
<v Speaker 1>He explained early in the specialty coffee movement, authenticity meant Italian.

0:02:31.480 --> 0:02:34.120
<v Speaker 1>In the nineteen eighties, many, if not most coffee houses

0:02:34.160 --> 0:02:37.160
<v Speaker 1>had Italian names and adopted as much Italian as possible

0:02:37.200 --> 0:02:41.440
<v Speaker 1>into their cafe and menu, so the trend continued. The

0:02:41.480 --> 0:02:44.800
<v Speaker 1>coffee drinks they served also retained their Italian nomenclature because

0:02:44.840 --> 0:02:48.120
<v Speaker 1>they were specifically made with espresso. The names referred to

0:02:48.160 --> 0:02:51.040
<v Speaker 1>what is added to the espresso. For example, put the

0:02:51.040 --> 0:02:54.760
<v Speaker 1>word marciato into Google Translate and you'll get stained or spotted,

0:02:55.080 --> 0:02:57.080
<v Speaker 1>So the drink name refers to the spot of milk

0:02:57.240 --> 0:03:02.160
<v Speaker 1>that stains the espresso. Bassett said, I think fundamentally espresso

0:03:02.240 --> 0:03:04.440
<v Speaker 1>is directly linked to Italy as a beverage and the way,

0:03:04.480 --> 0:03:07.120
<v Speaker 1>it's part of their culture. It's been transported all around

0:03:07.120 --> 0:03:12.200
<v Speaker 1>the world and reinterpreted. Despite reinterpretation, the drinks with Italian

0:03:12.280 --> 0:03:14.840
<v Speaker 1>names have an espresso base and typically some kind of

0:03:14.880 --> 0:03:18.480
<v Speaker 1>milk added. For example, a cafe latte, usually just called

0:03:18.480 --> 0:03:21.400
<v Speaker 1>a latte in the United States, consists of espresso, milk,

0:03:21.480 --> 0:03:24.799
<v Speaker 1>and milk foam. It's not brewed coffee with milk, although

0:03:24.840 --> 0:03:28.480
<v Speaker 1>that's the literal translation. To be fair, ordering an espresso

0:03:28.520 --> 0:03:31.640
<v Speaker 1>with milk and milk foam doesn't sound as catchy. The

0:03:31.639 --> 0:03:35.800
<v Speaker 1>distinction between espresso and brewed coffee is important. Consider the Americano,

0:03:35.920 --> 0:03:38.480
<v Speaker 1>which was named for Americans in Italy who sought a

0:03:38.560 --> 0:03:40.960
<v Speaker 1>drink similar to the brewed or filtered coffee they drank

0:03:40.960 --> 0:03:43.880
<v Speaker 1>at home. Because it emerged in Italy and is made

0:03:43.880 --> 0:03:47.160
<v Speaker 1>by adding water to espresso, it retains its Italian title.

0:03:48.440 --> 0:03:51.160
<v Speaker 1>So this answers the question about coffee drink names. But

0:03:51.400 --> 0:03:55.200
<v Speaker 1>what about Starbucks use of sizes like grande inventi, which

0:03:55.240 --> 0:03:59.320
<v Speaker 1>are also Italian words. This sizing nomenclature short, tall and

0:03:59.360 --> 0:04:02.600
<v Speaker 1>Grande was introduced when ill Joornale opened its doors in

0:04:03.360 --> 0:04:05.760
<v Speaker 1>six and the venti size came in the early nineties.

0:04:06.080 --> 0:04:08.640
<v Speaker 1>Ill Joornale was the name of the coffee houses launched

0:04:08.640 --> 0:04:11.840
<v Speaker 1>by Starbucks Chairman emeritus Howard Schultz during his mid eighties

0:04:11.920 --> 0:04:15.400
<v Speaker 1>hiatus from the company. The company's website states that Schultz

0:04:15.440 --> 0:04:18.000
<v Speaker 1>had been quote captivated with Italian coffee bars and the

0:04:18.080 --> 0:04:21.200
<v Speaker 1>romance of the coffee experience, a tradition he wanted to

0:04:21.200 --> 0:04:23.880
<v Speaker 1>bring to the United States. He returned to Starbucks and

0:04:23.920 --> 0:04:27.760
<v Speaker 1>purchased the company in and that branding now extends to

0:04:27.839 --> 0:04:30.680
<v Speaker 1>faux Italian product names like the frappuccino, which is a

0:04:30.680 --> 0:04:34.719
<v Speaker 1>trademarked name and not actually an Italian word. By the way.

0:04:34.880 --> 0:04:37.320
<v Speaker 1>Bonus fact of the episode, the caffeine and coffee that

0:04:37.360 --> 0:04:40.200
<v Speaker 1>Perks You Up is considered the most commonly used drug

0:04:40.279 --> 0:04:47.920
<v Speaker 1>in the world. Today's episode was written by Carrie Whitney

0:04:47.960 --> 0:04:50.160
<v Speaker 1>and produced by Tyler Clang for iHeart Media and How

0:04:50.200 --> 0:04:52.280
<v Speaker 1>Stuff Works. For more on this and lots of other

0:04:52.320 --> 0:05:06.640
<v Speaker 1>peppy topics, visit our home planet, how Stuff Works dot com.