Tuscany - The Basics - Part 10

Tuscany - The Basics - Part 10 cont.

Drinking

Most drinking in Italy is essentially an accompaniment for some other activity such as a meal; you do not find much drinking for its own sake. You will find people of all ages sitting around in bars or cafés and they will spend hours talking over a single drink. In bars many of people you see drinking will be trying one of the local Italian grappas or brandies; an acquired taste. They most often take just one and then go on their way. The problem with all this is that since the bars and their owners need to make a living the prices can be higher than you would normally expect.

If you are away from the large cities then the bars are often very basic brightly lit places. A typical bar would most probably have a chrome counter, a Gaggia coffee machine and a picture of the local football team somewhere. As there are no set licensing hours and children are always allowed in the whole clientele of these bars is different to what you might expect. People come into the bars for ordinary non-alcoholic drinking. It may be a coffee in the morning, a quick beer, or a cup of tea but most often they do not spend a large part of day or evening in them. In fact when you visit some rural places you may find it difficult to find a bar that is open after 9pm.

As mentioned earlier bars need to make money so the price of what you drink will also depend on where you drink it. It’s nearly always cheapest to drink standing at the counter and in smaller bars there’s often nowhere to sit anyway. In this type of bar you often pay first at the cash desk / cassa and then present your receipt / scontrino to the barperson. In others you simply order your drink and pay as you leave. There will always be a list of prices / listino prezzi behind the bar. If there is waiter service you can select your own table wherever you like. However remember that doing this means your drink will cost maybe double the price and even more if you sit outside on the terrace. All these different prices for the same drinks are always shown on the price list as bar, tavola and terrazza.

Coffee

One of the most distinctive smells in an Italian street is that of fresh coffee, usually wafting out of a bar. Given how much the ‘coffee culture’ has spread you may think that this section is not needed but Italians keep to the original definitions of their coffees; not those used by Starbucks. The basic choice is always a small black espresso if you just ask for a caffè, if you ask for white then the default tends to be a frothy cappuccino. If you want a longer espresso ask for a caffè lungoor Americano; a double espresso is una doppia, while a short, extra-strong espresso is a ristretto. A coffee topped with un-frothed milk is a caffè latte and with a drop of milk it’s caffè macchiato. If you want a shot of alcohol it’s caffè corretto. Most places you just help yourself to sugar however a few add it automatically. If you want to be certain then ask for caffè senza zucchero. You can get decaffeinated coffee; it’s called Hag even though this is a brand name. In summer if you want your coffee cold ask for caffè freddo; or try caffè granite which is cold coffee with crushed ice and topped with cream.

Continued in Part 11