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The Great Italian Café on WealthTV

The Great Italian Café is a six part series showcasing the history of coffee. From the birthplace in Veneto we follow our intrepid traveling espresso connoisseur - Paul Khoury - through to Milano, Bologna and Torino, where we explore the best cafés in the region and review their historical significance. The series concludes with a look at Melbourne, Australia. Where we meet the authentic forefathers of Australian expresso Culture.

Next Episode: Venice
Airs: May 21st at 4:30 PM ET

Featured Italian Beverages

  • Espresso
  • Latte
  • Nespresso Cappucino
  • Cappuccino
  • Cafe Moka
  • Flat White
  • Hotshot with Galeano
  • Iced Coffee
  • Creme Steve la Orange
  • Cremino
  • Cafe al Bianco
A standard Lavazza espresso is 7 grams of freshly ground coffee, extracted to 25-30ml within 25-30 seconds. A perfect espresso always has a 5mm hazel 'crema' and is the heart of every espresso-based drink. A 'ristretto' is a short extraction of 15-20mls used for weak drinks and a 'doppio' is a 14g dose of coffee, extracted to 25-30ml for strong drinks.
Served in a glass, a caffé latte is an espresso with steamed milk added. Pour the steamed milk carefully to ensure a 1cm head of foam.

This company uses a capsule system to preserve single portions of carefully selected coffee beans, ensuring that consumers can select from a wide variety of fresh coffee bean blends with many different flavours to choose from.

For a cappuccino prepare in the same was a specified in the cappuccino section, using one of these capsules for the coffee. The company recommends their blends such as Ristretto, Arpeggio or Decaffeinato Intenso for this coffee drink.

To find out more or to order Nespresso premium coffee blend capsules, visit www.nespresso.com

Known as the most popular espresso-based drink, the cappuccino is an espresso with perfectly steamed milk. The milk should be steamed to 60°C, giving it a pouring temperature of 65-70°C and a texture of fine, dense bubbles. When adding steamed milk, pour so that the milk drops through the foam to give the perfect balance of milk and espresso and a domed shape in the cup. Dust lightly with chocolate powder for a professional finish.
Café Moka is different from an espresso, in that it is traditionally a lighter a less intense coffee, traditionally enjoyed by Italians as their morning breverage, with or without a small amount of milk. Previously made with a percolator or stovetop coffee maker, self contained models are now available and provide a less dangerous alternative. Coarsely ground coffee is placed in middle chamber, with heat-pressured water from the bottom passing through the top compartment, where a full bodied, slightly bitter brew is created.
An espresso with steamed milk added, a flat white must have a very thin layer of crema and a greater proportion of steamed milk. Pour to ensure just the milk is added, instead of foam.
Place equal parts of Vodka, Vanilla Liquor, Amaretto, and freshly brewed espresso shot, two two parts Galeano, Shake with ice, and strain into a Martini Glass. Garnish with Vanilla ice cream, ground coffee beans and mint.
Serve a doppio shot of freshly brewed espresso coffee, with a generous scoop of good quality vanilla ice cream or gelato. The coffee then is poured over the ice cream according to the desired strength and eaten with a spoon. A cool refreshing alternative to a hot drink in summer.
Place one 30ml shot of espresso coffee in a glass mug, and top with steamed milk and 2 cm of dense froth. Peel one quarter of an orange and squeeze the skin above the coffee so that the oil is released in a fine mist, and the coffee has a sweet slightly orange flavour. Garnish with finely chopped orange peel and serve hot.
Place one 30ml espresso shot in a tall glass mug and top with 60ml cream mixture (made with equal parts thickened cream and low fat milk, and one tsp sugar). Top with 150ml steamed low fat milk and froth.
In a small glass cup place 5 sugared almonds, 10 mills maple syrup and white chocolate syrup (made with melted white chocolate and milk). Pour one shot of espresso on top, and serve with a spoon.

 

Episodes Descriptions

  • Venice
  • Treviso
  • Milan
  • Turin
  • Bologna
  • Melbourne

One of the all time great destinations for the world traveller is the ancient city of Venice in the Veneto region. Nearly 400 years ago coffee was introduced to Italy via this wonderful city, which has ultimately led to the current explosion of coffee consumption through bars, café’s and in the home.

This waterlogged city is Italy at its seductive best …… with history and culture seeping from the decaying buildings, and Gondolas gliding along the canals, everywhere you go the smell of freshly ground coffee lingers.

This lagoon in the north east of Italy served as a home for hunters and fishermen 2000 years ago but history would see it become one of the most vital trading ports in the ancient world.

It’s almost impossible to imagine an Italy without coffee and it’s unique espresso culture.

The success of those first Venetian traders has helped developed the nation into such a wonderful cultural phenomenon and coffee is so much a part of its rich tapestry.

Thankfully for us the Italians went on to spend hundreds of years brewing, drinking and perfecting coffee and nowhere is their passion more obvious than here in Venice.

This picturesque region in the north is one of the richest postcodes in Italy. Abundant with Renaissance palaces and great works of art, Treviso is historically renown for its ample wine production, yet today is equally celebrated known for it’s food, coffee and comfortable way of life.

Located a short distance from Venice where the Italian coffee story began, beans were quickly welcomed by local traders who soon saw the potential in providing the new beverage to an increasingly infatuated public. Today, this trend continues in the form of a culture that embraces food like no other, and a number of influential coffee dynasties that continue to serve traditional Italian espresso.

One of these is the Goppion family, whose popular cafe is just a forefront to the selecting, sorting and roasting, of coffee beans. Learn how seven generations of this family have developed coffee making perfection and meet with other traditional coffee patrons to discover the best cafés Treviso has on offer.

Milan is the capital of Style and Fashion, and it’s coffee is no exception. Known historically as the creative centre of Italy, innovation continues in every aspect of life; from fashion and architecture, through to all forms of café and coffee culture.

The birthplace of the espresso and the lever driven machine, this invention is the perfect example of the Milanese combination of practicality with innovation, whereby a spring mechanism creates a better quality, more aromatic brew.

This obsession with style and innovation can be further seen in numerous café’s and businesses where Milan locals seek to push the boundaries of coffee, to create unique coffee experiences. Though many centuries have arrived since coffee was first brought to the people of Milan, their fascination with the magic bean has never waned, and nowhere is this more evident in this city where new ways of making and enjoying coffee constantly being explored

Join Paul as he explores the cafés in the fashion capital of the world and discovers how the city that invented espresso is still finding distinctive ways to serve coffee and contribute to it’s unique coffee culture.

This transformed region started it’s days as Italy’s industrial centre to now being a centre for modern art and the home to the 2006 Winter Olympics.

With Celtic origins and a past that includes it’s role as defensive Roman camping ground, Turin is now a city with a young vibrant coffee culture that has undergone radical change.

Home to the house of Savoy, a noble family who settled the city and constructed many of the landmark buildings, Turin’s café’s have long been nurturing grounds for intellectuals, writers and poets to meet and discuss ideas. However they also functioned as places for and social and political development, and in times of conflict authorities knew they only needed to head to the coffee temples to discover the peoples mood and thoughts.

Providing 60% of Italy’s coffee needs, this city is home to one of the most major coffee labels, who not only process the beans, but run education courses on coffee and constantly explore new and exiting ways to enjoy it. However people here take coffee seriously more seriously than just a drink, and consider it a way of staying together, this being most evident in the way particular coffee blends are referred to personally as “my coffee”. This philosophy is further evident in Turin’s cocoa creations, and the attention applied to the process of creating drinking chocolate and coffee combinations.

Being one of Europe’s finest baroque cities, hear why Turin is Italian renaissance at it’s very best, and boasts coffee that tastes like it was made in heaven.

Home to Europe’s first University, Bologna continues to nurture it’s striving student population, which keeps the heart of this city young and dynamic. Well-educated and hungry for new ideas, its inhabitants rely on coffee to stimulate the mind and take full advantage of the excellent quality available.

Most importantly Bologna lays claim to the worlds best barista, whose presence and commitment to coffee no doubt raises the standards of those around him. Equally famous for being home to the Ferrari, even this car manufacturer operates it’s own café, where not only speed but also a complete coffee experience is on order. These values are mirrored throughout Bologna’s cafes, restaurants and bars, where even the combination of coffee and alcohol is thought through carefully and presented exceptionally.

The eclectic mix of culture and academia makes this city a wonderful place to potter around. Find out why this Bologna is one of the most attractive and sought after places in Northern Europe.

Lygon Street in Melbourne has long been considered little Italy in Australia. Home to many prominent Italian vendors such as Cafe Di Stasio and Florentino it nurtures a thriving coffee culture, where commitment and quality is among the worlds best.

However as a nation Australia has not always been privileged to enjoy the vast array of Italian food and drink now available, and significant figures have contributed greatly to our shift from “pie and tea” to enjoying the abundance of goods on offer today. Hear from the Pioneers of all things Italian, and discover how they nurtured our love affair with the flavors and style of this European country, and introduced espresso coffee to a progressively sophisticated clientele.

The coffee capital of Australia, discover how Melbourne’s great cafés came to be and the influence they’ve had over the entire region.

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