Milan, 27 December 2023
Getting a coffee in Italy is a rapid affair. I go into a bar, I order my coffee (normally a cappuccino but it could be an espresso, corto, lungo, macchiato, corretto, and who knows what other combination), and I pay.
I pass the order to the barman, who, with a few rapid movements, fills the portafilter with ground coffee (no idea what coffee, whatever the bar buys), and snaps it into place onto the coffee-making machine.
A few minutes pass, and the coffee trickles out.
My coffee is ready! The barista bangs the cup down onto the counter in front of me.
I gulp it down.
And I’m off! Total time: 5 minutes.
That’s the yang of coffee making. Now we come to the yin.
Japan doesn’t have much of a culture of coffee drinking. When we’re in Kyoto, it’s hard to find places that sell coffee on the go. We normally have to repair to international chains like Starbucks or McDonalds to get one. We have also gone into a small number of Japanese cafes which sell coffee, but that is a completely different experience.
First, we have to choose our beans from a long list of various coffee beans from all around the world, each with different roasting levels. It’s so complicated it gives me a headache. I normally choose at random.
Next we sit around while the barista does his or her thing.
First, the barista weighs out a precise amount of the chosen beans. Note in this case just how much detail is given about the chosen bean.
Next, the beans are ground. While that is happening, the barista sets up the drip-coffee equipment, puts in the filter paper, and rinses it.
Next, the barista adds the ground coffee – note that all this is done on a scale, to make sure that the exact amount of ground coffee beans is used.
The barista now starts adding the water. This will be done in several stages.
Here we see this operation as I normally have seen it.
Between each addition of hot water, the barista will give the whole thing a swirl.
And finally the coffee will be ready.
By the time my coffee is placed carefully in front of me in Japan, in Italy I would already have left the bar and be half way to Turin.
I have to say, I am irresistibly reminded of Japanese tea ceremonies when I see those Kyoto baristas going through their routine – the same attention to the minutest detail, the same choreographed moves, the same solemnity.
But hey! The world is beautiful because it’s varied, as the Italians like to say. If people want to wait 20 minutes to have a coffee made in a quasi-ceremonial way, why not? Just please point me to the nearest Italian bar.
the heart thrills 