A coffee rich in history, rounded, delicate and with vanilla and chocolatey aromas. A drink with a long tradition that was sipped in some of the most important and ancient cafés in Italy and Europe: this is the coffee of the Veneto. It is also thanks to seaside and commercial cities like Venice – and with it to the whole of Veneto which has long been an integral part of the lagoon’s economy – that Italy and Europe can enjoy a precious drink like coffee . Two characteristics have in fact made this land unique: the fact of being the eastern frontier, a European bulwark before the Ottoman Empire, and the ability to once establish itself as a large international port mainly suited to trade.
If enterprising explorers had already told Europe about the virtues of the drink in the 16th century, Venetian traders were among the first to bring the exotic grains with their energizing and invigorating virtues to the continent. To this we must add a historical fact of no less importance: in 1683 Vienna was liberated from the Turks thanks to a coalition in which the Republic of Venice was also involved. The routed Ottomans abandoned 500 bags of coffee which were then collected by the Polish Franz Kolschitzky, who opened the first coffee shop in the Habsburg capital. But other stories say that, again in 1683, it was Venice that opened the first European café.
In any case, the Serenissima was among the first to undertake the coffee trade and thanks to this experience the roasters were able to acquire familiarity with the raw coffee and develop that enviable knowledge in the art of blending recognized today by all. The same one that today brings to the bar a rather light, rounded, slightly bitter, delicate roasted coffee with vanilla and chocolatey aromas.
Traditional cuisine has also pushed local tastes towards this type of coffee. If Venice is in fact a rich maritime city with therefore typical culinary characteristics, the areas of Veneto which for a long time served the Serenissima were instead characterized by an agricultural economy and peasant culture and the habit of simple foods such as polenta (consumed at midday and at dinner), vegetables and boiled meats have led the population towards the consumption of a relatively acidic and spicy coffee.
Luigi Odello
From Italian espresso Specialist (Taster Study Center)
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