Any guest in Italy sooner or later comes to understand that it’s not enough to just want a cup of coffee. It’s very important to order it correctly. Will you cope with this? If you do, then you will get exactly what you want.
If you ask for a “caffe”, you always get a cup of espresso. Those who love stronger coffee should decide in favour of “ristretto”. Say a magic word “coretto”, and you will get espresso with grappa or cognac, while a colloquial “capuccino” is enough to have a cup of cappuccino.
Your coffee may be served with sugar or powdered with cocoa (if you’ve ordered a cappuccino) without asking you. If you disapprove of such additives, you should better specify, “senza zucchero e cacao”. The phrase “al vetro” will help you to get coffee in a glass goblet, while coffee without caffeine is pronounced like “caffe deca”. Feel free to experiment asking for a drink with ginseng (caffè ginseng) or barley (caffè d`orzo).
Order a croissant with chocolate paste to a cup of your beloved coffee, and you will have a classic Italian breakfast.
