While coffee, and especially great coffee, is something that one can find readily all over Italy, some places are particularly famous for their brews or serve up slightly better cups of the black stuff than others. Among these destinations, Trieste is undoubtedly one of the best of the best and unmissable for those who want to vacation in Italy. If you're a coffee lover, find a holiday rental in Friuli Venezia Giulia and get stuck into all of the rich history and delicious beverages that they have to offer in the city...
Coffee may be a daily, permanent fixture of most of our lives but until the 18th century, it was not something that Europeans were familiar with. It was originally an African and Middle Eastern drink and likely originated in either Ethiopia or Yemen and was invented around the 15th century. In the 16th century, it spread to Turkey and Iran and then to the Mediterranean in 17th century and the first coffee house opened in Venice around 1629. By the 18th century, there were plenty of coffee houses in Italy and in Trieste, in particular as Emperor Charles VI had made the city a free port, allowing them to receive beans from coffee plantations all around the world and to supply coffee houses throughout the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Coffee may be a daily, permanent fixture of most of our lives but until the 18th century, it was not something that Europeans were familiar with. It was originally an African and Middle Eastern drink and likely originated in either Ethiopia or Yemen and was invented around the 15th century. In the 16th century, it spread to Turkey and Iran and then to the Mediterranean in 17th century and the first coffee house opened in Venice around 1629. By the 18th century, there were plenty of coffee houses in Italy and in Trieste, in particular as Emperor Charles VI had made the city a free port, allowing them to receive beans from coffee plantations all around the world and to supply coffee houses throughout the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Coffee drinking, in of itself soon became a popular pastime and the coffee houses of Europe became vibrant places where great artists, thinkers, and writers came together. In Trieste, Caffè San Marco was the most important focal point of this scene and was where James Joyce penned The Dubliners and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Today, the city is home to the famous roasting company Illy with its own school, a dozen or so independent micro-roasters, and lots and lots of excellent coffee shops. However, it is some of the historic shops that are the must-sees, such as Caffè Tommaseo, the city's oldest surviving establishment which was opened in 1830, and the iconic Caffè degli Specchi, which was opened in 1839.
However, if you are planning on visiting Trieste and ordering coffee, then you need to familiarise yourself with the special coffee language that is unique to the city. Read on to the next post for the words you need to know in order to procure your coffee when you visit this extraordinary coffee capital in Italy.
However, if you are planning on visiting Trieste and ordering coffee, then you need to familiarise yourself with the special coffee language that is unique to the city. Read on to the next post for the words you need to know in order to procure your coffee when you visit this extraordinary coffee capital in Italy.