Being used to weaker American style coffee, I found that half European coffee and half hot water (usually for tea) makes a great cup that is just right. Happy trails!

dln - If this coffee dilemma doesn't hurry up and get resolved, I will just have to cancel my future trip to Europe. :) I may well be the world's biggest coffee consumer. Since java seems to be everyone's mutual best friend here, I'll bet we can find a solution.

As previously stated, I will raise a gelato cone to you upon your departure, my glass of Asti Spumante to you as I celebrate my 21st anniversary on 9/11- in the midst of your trip, and finally, lift the largest mug of coffee I can find on the morning of your return! Bon Voyage!

My mom was the same way on our trip to Italy years ago. She finally gave up on the cafes and now is a big fan of McDonalds in Europe!

By the way, I know this has been covered in other threads, but if you want some good coffee resembling what you have experienced in Europe, try Cost Plus World Market's French Roast or Italian Roast. I have been getting one of each, and haven't figured out which I like better. I grind them up for an espresso maker, but add more water than I would need for a single shot of espresso. Makes for a great cup.

I was wondering if someone could answer my question. I only drink decaffinated coffee and I like it with half and half. I know that to get decaf coffee you order caffe hag - but how can I get halp and half instead of milk?

You'll need to order a caffe americano.

Please, please, whatever you do, don't order a cappucino AFTER 11am!

Cappucino is for the MORNING only!

The locals will point and laugh at you. It would be as if a foreigner in the US went to Denny's and ordered nachos and a hot fudge sunday for breakfast.

Crispin.... will the locals laugh at you if you order an espresso in the evening?

whatever you do, don't order anything after 5 PM. I made that mistake once (it was oh so good) and I was up all night long. and not having much fun lest someone make a smart comment!. ;-)

MarkY:

No. You can order an espresso anytime without ridicule.

However, to get what Americans refer to as "espresso", you'd simply ask for a "caffe".

Well, crispin, you obviously don't have a sweet tooth. I have been known to order a hot fudge Sunday in the morning and no one laughed at me :)

This thread takes me back to the first time I was in Rome, enjoying a delicious cup of cappucino on the rooftop breakfast room of my hotel, overlooking the skyline of Rome.

Miss Scarlett, you just think they didn't laugh! wait until you turn your back. :-)

I do the same though. I've also been known to squirt Hershey's syrup unto a bowl and eat it with a spoon. plain.

crispin - I hear ya! I can eat spoons of Eagle Brand right out of the can, and Hershey's syrup right out of the squirt bottle. My mother freaked when I told her this, and insisted that's not normal! :) Maybe not. I admit not healthy. Thanks for the analogy about Cappucino. Now I get it!

Aye mi dios RLA! Eagle Brand? I haven't heard anyone mention that stuff in years. Memories. There was always an open can of it on my grandmother's kitchen table. I thought it was great when I was a kid.

DLN

And if all of that doesn't work, just show some cleavage. Voila! Coffee just like home.

MizzEve -
Grandmother's always have the best food. Right?

1. While Italians in fact do not, as a general rule, drink cappuccino after 12 noon, they will not, as some people claim on this thread, "point and laugh" at you if you do so. They are used to the tastes of North Americans and they accomodate them. So order what you want when you want. (As a "compromise" consider a caffe machiatto at night.) FYI Many Italians hold the view that milk ingested in the evening is unhealthy.

2. To those who disparage Caffe Americano may I point out there is no coincidence as to why it's named such. (Hint: drop the 'o'.) Prepared properly (double shot long espresso then lengthened with steaming water) it is, in my opinion, better than a presse and miles ahead of a McDonalds drip --- but, each to their own. However, to describe Caffe Americano as "watered down espresso" is very funny --- what is coffee other that some combination of water and coffee grinds--- regardless of the method used? I guess that makes espresso "concentrated coffee" and Folgers "eau de caffe"?

3. Although Caffe Hag is synonymous with decaf in Italy it is actually a brand name. You can safely say "decafinato" in a cafe and they'll get the drift.

For the life of me I cannot figure out what is this American obsession with Starbucks. My in-laws love it! To me it tastes bitter and most people order a cup big enough to fill half of a trashcan! Personally, I love a thick, creamy, sweet cup of coffee and Italians really exceed at it!

As a coffee lover, I didn't fall in love at first sight with Starbucks. Like many, I just liked the fact of having a modern day coffee shop. I stick to straight coffee because for those high calorie drinks, I had rather eat cookies. I first thought their coffee tasted like licking the bottom of an ashtray and smelled like it too. I've learned to water it down, and it's fine.

Me and others have noticed that there seems to be a difference in the caffeine level of that served at the Starbucks coffee shop and the store bought Starbucks. Is it our imagination? A server there once told me that many of their regular coffees have more caffeine than their espresso and to my surprise, "Light Note" has the highest caffeine content of all unlike the name implies. Furthermore, "Breakfast Blend" is on the lighter side contrary to what I would have thought.

I am puzzled by some people I see there. Not those reading a book or studying, but like a guy I once saw sitting at a 4-person table in the shape of a desk and near the traffic pattern. He had his papers and stuff spread out, and his table top looked exactly like he was at the office! I can't remember what else it was that made it look so much like someone's office desk. I wondered if he was there all day and how he could focus. He was not in a zone as he seemed to be glancing up at each person that walked by.

I know, some are easily entertained, but I enjoy seeing quirky things like this. I guess that's partly why I enjoy people watching.

dln -- Although Naples is generally considered the center of the pizza culture, it is in fact a Very serious coffee city. Try Caffe Gambrinus or Remy Gelo for what Neopolitans consider the best coffee in Italy.