Cappuccino / Drinking coffee in Italy 3

I will conclude today my description of the Italian way of drinking coffee with cappuccino.
I guess everybody knows what it is: an espresso coffee with addition of milk. But it’s not just milk, because it’s warmed up with steam (using a special nozzle on the espresso machine that I described in my previous post), which produces a delicious foam, which makes cappuccino so unique….
Anyway, preparing an excellent cappuccino is not so easy, because the best cappuccino must have some conditions.
Not too warm: if it’s too warm it’s because the barman used to much steam to warm it up. Consequently the cappuccino will be not only difficult to drink, but also too “long” because of the quantity of water produced by the steam.
The foam must be thick: so thick that you will drink it first and then collect it with a spoon…
A good balance between coffee and milk.

In Italy the real cappuccino addicts select and choose their favourite breakfast bars according to their cappuccino.
When do we drink cappuccino? Only for breakfast, usually together with what we call a “brioche”, a croissant.
If you are in a bar or restaurant in Italy and you see someone drinking cappuccino after a meal or in the afternoon (or sometimes even at night!) then one thing is sure: this is a tourist!