Why Do Coffee Drinks Often Have Italian Names?

Many popular coffee drinks in America have Italian (or faux-Italian) names, but why? Learn the history behind these names in today's episode of BrainStuff.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works. Hey, brain Stuff,
I'm Lauren Vogelbaum. And if you can't start your morning
without a cup of Joe, You're certainly not alone. I'm
right there with you. But Americans consumption of coffee is up.
It's the highest it spin since and global exports are
up to According to the International Coffee Organization, World coffee

(00:23):
exports increased by seventeen percent from October to October, and
overall global shipments were four point two percent higher year
over year. Clearly, coffee has become an important daily ritual
for many Americans, which begs the question why are so
many coffee lovers ordering those drinks using Italian words, from

(00:44):
latte's to macchiatos. How did this happen? After all, coffee
doesn't have its roots in Italy. Legend has it that
the Great Being originated in the Ethiopian Plateau and was
discovered by a goat herder who noticed his goats veritably
danced after eating a certain plant. It's throughout the Arabian
Peninsula and adjacent areas before Europeans encountered coffee in the

(01:04):
seventeenth century. Nevertheless, many of the coffee drinks we know
today and popularized by Starbucks. More on that in a minute.
Do originate in Italy and it has everything to do
with the invention of the espresso machine. Espresso doesn't refer
to a particular type of coffee bean. It's actually a
coffee preparation method and it was first developed in Italy
in the nineteenth century. Because brood coffee could take up

(01:27):
to five minutes to make, coffee, lovers sought a way
to shorten the time between ordering and drinking. The first
espresso machines were bulky and difficult, but by the early
twentieth century, Milanese manufacturer Luigi Bazara had developed a single
shot espresso that produced one cup of coffee in seconds,
though it did take a while for the machines to
improve in terms of ease of use and flavor of

(01:47):
the coffee produced. We spoke with Paul Bassett, former World
Barista champion. He said the espresso machine kind of revolutionized
coffee to some extent. Everything was centered around the way
espresso was made the way it was consumed as well.
He explained that with the espresso machine, coffee could be
made on the spur of the moment and was intended
to be drunk immediately after being served, typically standing at

(02:09):
a bar. Italian coffee culture grew, and espresso as we
know it today became popular in Italy and France in
the nineteen thirties. The nineteen fifties beatnik movement and its
coffee house culture launched an espresso craze in the United States.
We also spoke with Mike Ferguson with oh Lamb's Specialty Coffee.
He explained early in the specialty coffee movement, authenticity meant Italian.

(02:31):
In the nineteen eighties, many, if not most coffee houses
had Italian names and adopted as much Italian as possible
into their cafe and menu, so the trend continued. The
coffee drinks they served also retained their Italian nomenclature because
they were specifically made with espresso. The names referred to
what is added to the espresso. For example, put the
word marciato into Google Translate and you'll get stained or spotted,

(02:55):
So the drink name refers to the spot of milk
that stains the espresso. Bassett said, I think fundamentally espresso
is directly linked to Italy as a beverage and the way,
it's part of their culture. It's been transported all around
the world and reinterpreted. Despite reinterpretation, the drinks with Italian
names have an espresso base and typically some kind of
milk added. For example, a cafe latte, usually just called

(03:18):
a latte in the United States, consists of espresso, milk,
and milk foam. It's not brewed coffee with milk, although
that's the literal translation. To be fair, ordering an espresso
with milk and milk foam doesn't sound as catchy. The
distinction between espresso and brewed coffee is important. Consider the Americano,
which was named for Americans in Italy who sought a

(03:38):
drink similar to the brewed or filtered coffee they drank
at home. Because it emerged in Italy and is made
by adding water to espresso, it retains its Italian title.
So this answers the question about coffee drink names. But
what about Starbucks use of sizes like grande inventi, which
are also Italian words. This sizing nomenclature short, tall and

(03:59):
Grande was introduced when ill Joornale opened its doors in
six and the venti size came in the early nineties.
Ill Joornale was the name of the coffee houses launched
by Starbucks Chairman emeritus Howard Schultz during his mid eighties
hiatus from the company. The company's website states that Schultz
had been quote captivated with Italian coffee bars and the
romance of the coffee experience, a tradition he wanted to

(04:21):
bring to the United States. He returned to Starbucks and
purchased the company in and that branding now extends to
faux Italian product names like the frappuccino, which is a
trademarked name and not actually an Italian word. By the way.
Bonus fact of the episode, the caffeine and coffee that
Perks You Up is considered the most commonly used drug
in the world. Today's episode was written by Carrie Whitney

(04:47):
and produced by Tyler Clang for iHeart Media and How
Stuff Works. For more on this and lots of other
peppy topics, visit our home planet, how Stuff Works dot com.