Month: January 2008

FT.com / Comment & analysis / Comment – Outside Edge: Starbucks bows to the Italian baristi
Many Italians feel their country is immune to invasion. Mention Starbucks and you will receive a load of steam and froth about the quality of the beans, the desirability of proper cups, an aversion to American imperialism and the all-powerful Italian barman, or barista, and his informed conversation on last night’s football.

Italians do cherish the barista who knows their order. It cannot be easy. One banker told me: “My barman has been at the same bar for at least 10 years. Even though the four of us [in the family] have different coffees – macchiato, cappuccino d’orzo, a marocchino and a cappuccio. We don’t have to order: he serves them as we enter.”

I should explain that a macchiato is an espresso with a dash of hot foamy milk, a marocchino is a bit like a small cappuccino with cocoa powder, a cappuccio is Milanese for cappuccino and a cappuccino d’orzo is not coffee at all but some substitute made of barley.

But Starbucks can play the bewildering game too. You could order a “half caff, dry, quad, tall white soy mocha”, and then settle down to your steamed white chocolate and (no foam) soya milk with two shots of regular and two shots of decaffeinated espresso, served in a 12oz cup. Continue reading “Starbucks Scared Off Of Italy”