What is Caffè Corretto? Why is espresso served with spirits?

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Not long ago, when Qianjie was reviewing James Hoffmann's Guide to Household Coffee brewing, I saw a kind of espresso that is both a little strange and a little familiar, called Caff è Corretto.

It sounds familiar because Qianjie once heard the name and wrote it in an article. It is an Italian special that is very unpopular in China. But the combination shown in the picture is a bit strange. Everyone must have heard of it, but it is the first time that Qianjie has seen the form of separate "serving" of the two.

What is Carrito Coffee? Caff è Corretto is a very traditional Italian coffee. In Italian, "Corretto" means "correction, correction", so when this coffee is literally translated into English, it is "corrected coffee". But in the Chinese language system, we are used to translating those foreign words in the form of transliteration, so it is generally called "Carrito Coffee" in China.

Unlike other Italian categories, caf è Corretto is a more common drink in Italian cafes, and it's hard to see it as long as you get out of Italy.

About the origin of Caff è Corretto, coffee was introduced into Italy as early as the 17th century, and it was not until the end of the 19th century that it was introduced into the public as a mainstream drink. Around the 1930s, with the birth and popularity of Italian coffee machines, the espresso we are now familiar with officially entered the Italian coffee culture. At that time, the fascist regime continued to promote espresso among the working class to encourage hard work.

But at a time when the coffee atmosphere is at its peak, Mussolini's government faces sanctions and high tariffs, leading to rising coffee prices, forcing people who want to drink coffee but cannot afford it to look for other cheaper substitutes. for example, the grain is roasted into a scorched black color and ground into powder, and then added hot water to drink to "imitate" the strong taste of coffee.

Although these "flat version coffee" is a bit concentrated shadow, but after all, the taste is not good, especially the bitter taste is really difficult to swallow. In order to make those miserable drinks more palatable, the addition of spirits has become a good idea, and the addition of alcohol has also given drinks a new name "Corretto", which means to cover up bad taste.

In fact, before the advent of Carrito coffee, Italians tried to taste coffee and wine together, but it did not spread until the second half of the 20th century, coffee + spirits was officially named "Caff è Corretto" into the Italian coffee menu.

How would you like your coffee, Carrito? Although there is a habit of drinking Carrito coffee in different parts of Italy, there are differences in the way and time of drinking coffee in different places.

In the north, for example, Italian concentrate is mixed with Grappa or brandy, and farmers and workers like to have a drink in the morning to warm their bodies, while in central or south-central Italy, people prefer to drink it after meals to refresh themselves, and coffee is paired with fennel-flavored liqueur Sambuca to give the coffee a spicy aftertaste.

As mentioned above on the front street, Carrito coffee is produced in a special form. Baristas are served with a small cup of high spirits next to a cup of exquisite Italian concentrate, usually in a glass shot cup. In addition, when ordering, guests can choose the type of spirits they want according to their preferences.

However, not all coffee shops operate in this way. For example, some stores will add a few drops of spirits to the espresso and then present it with a bag of sugar and a spoon. Some shop operators are very heroic, a bottle of spirits directly delivered, let the guests themselves "at will" to add.

Italians usually drink this "exciting combination" after a meal because they feel that it is not only refreshing but also helpful to digestion. Stir with a little sugar before drinking. When the coffee is almost finished, pour the wine in and shake it, and finally drink it up. In other words, whether you taste it alone, or add spirits or how much to add to the coffee, it all depends on the guest's personal preferences and habits.

As the saying goes, here we all come. Qianjie takes advantage of this opportunity to simply reproduce a low-end version of Carrito Coffee. The concentrated part is still the sunflower warm sun coffee produced daily in the store, with a cup of low-degree white wine.

Qianjie first added a small amount of sugar to the concentrate, when the taste of the coffee was strong, slightly bitter, sweet, and with the fermented flavor of the beans. When half of the drink was mixed into liqueur, gently shaken and tasted, the texture of the coffee became much lighter, with a strong sense of wine, the overall taste was sweet, and the bitter taste masked a lot. Coffee mixed with alcohol does taste much better than drinking it directly.

Finally, there is a minor version of Carreto coffee "Italian concentrate + pineapple beer". With regard to the taste, there is no more explanation on Qianjie here. Just find a Cantonese at random to try it in person.

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Front Street Cafe

No. 10 Baoqian street, Yandun road, Dongshankou, Yuexiu district, Guangzhou, Guangdong province