The Truth about Starbucks' latte

On September 6, 2018, Starbucks opened its first and only shop in the fashion capital of Italy: Milan. 
The Starbucks in Milan, though, is different from the ones in the United States and the rest of the world. In Italy, coffee is not a drink, it's an art, it's an experience, and, more importantly, it's a culture. In fact, the only reason the Starbucks shop in Milan became so popular, is because it of its location: the the former post office on Via Cardusio, one of the best ones in the city.

Truth is, no Italian is willing to pay 5$ for one espresso, and you can trust me on this. Coffee is integrated in Italian's people everyday life and no one is willing to spend that amount for a drink that they will consume several times a day, as it is normal for Italians to have coffee after every meal (and yes, that includes dinner too) and during the day too. 
Additionally, Italian people don't bother with drinks such as frappucinos and lattes, since they are considered more as a dessert rather than "coffee". In fact, the very word "latte" in Italian means "milk". So, here comes the question: why does Starbucks calls many of its drinks Italian names that don't even match what the drink is? Truth is, the real names on the Starbucks espresso menu are actually correct, is the people who shorten them or misunderstand them. 
A "latte", for most American people, is conceived as a coffee drink made with steamed milk and espresso (as defined by Wikipedia.com not .it, see the difference?). An American "latte" in Italy is called "cappuccino". Another example of this Italian coffee terminology used wrong is shown also in the very simple conception of coffee or iced coffee for Americans. To be defined as just coffee, it means it has to be black, no milk, no foam or anything else, otherwise it would be called "caffe latte" or "caffe macchiato". I cannot tell you how many times I have seen American people drinking a caffe latte or a cappuccino and calling it coffee. Would you drink Coca Cola and call it Pepsi? Of course not. Then why are you drinking milk with half a shot of espresso and calling it coffee? Or, more importantly, why are you drinking a cappuccino and calling it latte? Does it sound cooler when someone talks Italian? We can maybe think so considering some of the cup sizes at Starbucks are in Italian, such as Grande and Venti (which, by the way, means "twenty", not big).

Comments

  1. UnknownJanuary 23, 2019 at 1:55 PM

    Totally agree with you!

    ReplyDelete
  2. AM. DadakJanuary 24, 2019 at 8:02 AM

    your last parenthetical comment sent me down a research rabbit hole for a few minutes. I haven't found a specific article I like about the size names (most are general and not really linguistically interesting), it looks like there is a venti connection with twenty: that size is 20 ounces. So then the trenta is......actually trentuno, 31 ounces.

    ReplyDelete

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