Cappuccino Italiano

Italians do not drink cappuccino after eleven in the morning. This is not a suggestion. It is a truth so deeply held that to violate it is to mark yourself as someone who does not understand how Italians eat and drink. Milk is for the morning, when your stomach is empty and needs coating. After lunch, after dinner, milk in coffee becomes an affront to digestion and to the meal you have just eaten.

The proportions are not negotiable: one-third espresso, one-third steamed milk, one-third foam. The foam must be microfoam, dense and velvety, not the stiff dry peaks Americans mistake for cappuccino. When made properly, the milk and coffee integrate into something neither could be alone. The foam should hold a pattern if you pour with skill, though the pattern is vanity. The texture is what matters.

The cup must be warm. Cold ceramic shocks the espresso and drops the temperature below what is pleasant to drink. This is why the barista at a proper Italian bar keeps cups on the espresso machine. Every detail serves the drink.