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I recently returned from 4 weeks honeymooning in Italy and Paris.
ITALY
I must say that I had some decent caffes (espresso shots) in Italy, but only had two good cappuccinos. In Italy, they pre grind their beans hours/days ahead. That may partly explain the lack of crema in their espresso shots! Ordering a milk based coffee is an adventure. Youll invariably receive a cappuccino with MASSIVE bubbles on top... lots of light frothy bubbles. Over the 3 weeks i spent in italy, i never saw a single barista actually clean the milk frothing arm after use! They all just leave the milk on there ready for the next customer. One can only imagine how burnt the milk would be by the end of the day. They think big bubbles is what people want, and dont seem to get the whole concept of dense microfoam.
PARIS:
This place had the worst coffee ive ever found anywhere in the world. They use warm long life UHT milk from a carton, no fresh real milk to be seen anywhere! Again they have issues with frothing microfoam, they dont know how and the baristas just jerk the milk jug up and down violently a few times to create some froth. Coffee beans are pre ground, espresso shots lacked crema, etc. Upon receiving a caffe (espresso) several times i remember there was no crema in the middle of the glass at all! The french also do a long 90mL shot for some reason. If you want a normal shot you ask for a ristretto... then you get 30 to 45mL. As in italy, they dont clean steam wand arms.
I landed Friday morning, slept then went straight to Di Bella to pick up some beans for my home machine. Ordered a cappuccino while i was there, and i have to tell you it was one of those God cups.... absolutely amazing, like something had been turned back on in my body after a month of being switched off!
I had expected more from Italy. I thought cafes there would at least know how to froth milk, grind on demand, and I thought it would be easy to find cafes that specialised in single origins, but my search was in vain. At least in italy you can get a caffe for 1 euro. In Paris, a cappaccino is often 6 euros (10 dollars AU)! For that much money, i expect something half way decent... but all i got was long life UHT milk.
Glad to back in Brisbane, where i can go to campos, di bella or veneziano any day of the week and get a range of awesome coffees from friendly knowledgable staff!
ITALY
I must say that I had some decent caffes (espresso shots) in Italy, but only had two good cappuccinos. In Italy, they pre grind their beans hours/days ahead. That may partly explain the lack of crema in their espresso shots! Ordering a milk based coffee is an adventure. Youll invariably receive a cappuccino with MASSIVE bubbles on top... lots of light frothy bubbles. Over the 3 weeks i spent in italy, i never saw a single barista actually clean the milk frothing arm after use! They all just leave the milk on there ready for the next customer. One can only imagine how burnt the milk would be by the end of the day. They think big bubbles is what people want, and dont seem to get the whole concept of dense microfoam.
PARIS:
This place had the worst coffee ive ever found anywhere in the world. They use warm long life UHT milk from a carton, no fresh real milk to be seen anywhere! Again they have issues with frothing microfoam, they dont know how and the baristas just jerk the milk jug up and down violently a few times to create some froth. Coffee beans are pre ground, espresso shots lacked crema, etc. Upon receiving a caffe (espresso) several times i remember there was no crema in the middle of the glass at all! The french also do a long 90mL shot for some reason. If you want a normal shot you ask for a ristretto... then you get 30 to 45mL. As in italy, they dont clean steam wand arms.
I landed Friday morning, slept then went straight to Di Bella to pick up some beans for my home machine. Ordered a cappuccino while i was there, and i have to tell you it was one of those God cups.... absolutely amazing, like something had been turned back on in my body after a month of being switched off!
I had expected more from Italy. I thought cafes there would at least know how to froth milk, grind on demand, and I thought it would be easy to find cafes that specialised in single origins, but my search was in vain. At least in italy you can get a caffe for 1 euro. In Paris, a cappaccino is often 6 euros (10 dollars AU)! For that much money, i expect something half way decent... but all i got was long life UHT milk.
Glad to back in Brisbane, where i can go to campos, di bella or veneziano any day of the week and get a range of awesome coffees from friendly knowledgable staff!
I thought to myself then that a hole in the wall shop just called "good coffee" that did just that would soon be very busy in any tourist area.....
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