National Cappuccino Day is observed annually on November 8. A nice hot cup of cappuccino is perfect on a frosty morning, meeting with friends or just to enjoy a creamy cuppa.
Traditionally prepared with espresso, hot milk, and steamed-milk foam, a cappuccino is an Italian coffee drink.
The word cappuccino comes from the Capuchin friars and is the diminutive form of cappuccio in Italian, meaning hood or something that covers the head. This popular coffee beverage got its name not from the hood on their habits but from the color of the hooded robes that the friars wore. (The Capuchin friars is an Order of friars in the Catholic Church, among the chief offshoots of the Franciscans.)
- In 1945 Achille Gaggia invented the modern espresso machine which further popularized the cappuccino.
- The Mid 1990s – Cappuccino was made more widely available to North Americans as upscale coffee houses sprang up.
- Late 1990′s to Early 2000′s – Cappuccinos became popular in the United States concurrent with the boom in the American coffee industry.
- The start of 21st Century – A modified short-cut version of the cappuccino started being served at fast-food chains.
- While steaming the milk you must pay close attention to attain the correct ratio of foam, thus making the cappuccino one of the most difficult espresso-based beverages to make properly.
- A skilled barista may create artistic shapes while he/she is pouring milk on top of the espresso coffee.
- In Italy, the average barista is 48 years old.
- The steamed foam served with cappuccino serves as an insulator and allows the liquid to retain its heat for a longer period of time.
- In Italy, cappuccino is traditionally consumed once a day with breakfast.
- During World War II cappuccino machines were improved and many restaurants began serving the beverage.
- The top layer of the foam is where you usually encounter the strong flavors giving a special taste to cappuccino. Ginger, cinnamon and cocoa in powder form, are the most popular choices.
- Cappuccino is rumored to have been named after Marco d’Aviano: a friar who led the resistance to the Turkish siege of Vienna in 1683.
- The first use of cappuccino in English is recorded in 1948 in a work about San Francisco.
- Kopi Luwak is considered to be the rarest and most expensive coffee in the world. It is grown in Indonesia, and is about 50 dollars a cup, or 400 dollars a pound.
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