It can be enveloping and warm like a hug, but it can also be strong and pungent. If not prepared properly, it tastes almost burnt. With a drop of milk it softens, but with sugar it transforms. Every cup is a journey: its bean comes from far away, but has found its favorite home in the boot of the Mediterranean. Coffee. Long, short, double. Ceramic or glass, standing or sitting. At home or at the bar. A ritual.

A good coffee is home–for us Italians, a form of love. Legend has it that in the late 1500s, Pope Clement VIII, among the first great lovers of coffee, blessed coffee in order to not leave this delicious drink to unbelievers. Since then, coffee has spread throughout Italy, becoming the national symbol of relaxation, a harbinger of conviviality and the heart around which to exchange opinions and ideas.