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OPENING A COFFEE SHOP OR SIMPLY THINKING TO SWITCH TO A WELL KNOWN ITALIAN HIGH-QUALITY COFFEE BRAND?
No matter how you like your coffee blend, we are well prepared.
We import in Ireland four well-known coffee brands: Lavazza, Bristot, Segafredo and Gimoka.
If you have a bar or coffee shop, you own a restaurant or simply you like to drink in the office good quality coffee just like in Italy, we would be happy to supply it for you.
Would you like to learn some more about the history of Italian coffee? Then keep on reading.
It all started in Venice ...
Coffee has a long history in Italy but espresso coffee has the most interesting story.
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Venice was one of the first European ports to import coffee beans in the 16th century but Italy only emerged as the global leader in coffee in 1901 when the Milanese Luigi Bezzera came up with the idea of forcing pressurized water through a handful of coffee powder to produce a short, concentrated drink: the espresso. The name was chosen because it could be prepared expressly for each customer and because the water had to be expressed through the coffee.
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Quick to make and good to wake, the espresso became a must-have in all ”American bars”—spaces where people would stand at the bar, saloon-style, instead of sitting down at the table.
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The first American bar in Italy was Caffé Maranesi, in Florence, nicknamed Caffè dei Ritti after the standing people that populated it (ritti means “upright” in Italian).
By the late 1950s, most Italians consumed coffee at home, in the traditional moka pot—first built by engineer Alfonso Bialetti in 1933, and now an icon of Italian design worldwide. The Italian espresso with a layer of foam on top, the result of a patent registered by bar owner Achille Gaggia in 1947.
From Venice to Palermo, espresso is still consumed standing at the bar, in the original “American” way. You order and wait about 30 seconds as the café worker efficiently runs through a rehearsed set of gestures: put the cup under the machine, start the machine, place the plate on the bar, stop machine, serve coffee, attend to the next customer. You pour the espresso down your throat in one shot.
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Popular Italian wisdom holds that the best coffee is served at gas stations along the highways, simply because the quality of the espresso is best when produced by a machine that churns out hundreds of coffees each day.
Choice is limited in Italy, and that’s a good thing: You can have a liscio (espresso), a ristretto (little water and little caffeine), a lungo (a bit more water), a macchiato (with a sip of milk), a corretto (“corrected” with a slosh of grappa), and of course a cappuccino (only before lunch). Each is available only in a single size.
Some barmen give you a cockeyed grin if you ask for a moccaccino (cappuccino with cream and chocolate). And any foreigner asking for a latte will be served a straight glass of milk, which is the direct translation of the word in Italian.
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Request details about the Italian coffee we import to Ireland using the form below!