The Cappuccinoas we know it today, is typical Italian drink. Yet his origin and its first name probably they are not Italian, at least not completely. According to the most well-known theories, in fact, the cappuccino (at least an early version called Kapuziner) was allegedly invented in the Austrian city of Vienna. It would also seem that the name of the drink may derive from the brown color of the habit of the religious order of Capuchin Friars Minor, a branch of the Franciscan order founded in the 16th century, which is why we call it that. But what exactly connects this drink to the friars?
The first versions of the latte can be traced already during the 17th century in Europe, but these variations were very different from the modern cappuccino. There Kapuziner in Austria it is probably the most direct ancestor of the cappuccino, a drink that emerged in Vienna in the late 17th century, consisting of infused coffee mixed with a small amount of cream or milk and sometimes sugar. There are rumors about its origin anecdotes And legendsso the true history (and etymology of the name) remains unknown.
In one of the most widespread versions, however, it is said that the first “cappuccino” was invented in 1683 from the friar Marco d'Avianosent to Vienna as a diplomat by Pope Innocent XI to support the formation of an anti-Turkish alliance. The monk would have found the coffee too bitter and would have diluted it with milk/cream. The name Kapuziner and therefore “cappuccino” would therefore depend on the association of the drink with the monastic order of its inventor, the Capuchin Friars Minor, whose tunic is a brown very similar to that of caffè latte.
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So is cappuccino Austrian or could it be Austrian? No, the drink as we know it today only began to take shape in 20th century, in Italy, with the advent of espresso machines. These machines allowed coffee to be extracted under pressure, obtaining a more intense flavor and a thick crema on the surface of the coffee. The first successful model was patented by Luigi Bezzera in 1901 and improved by Desire Pavoni, which began marketing them. This method of brewing coffee created the basis for the drink that would incorporate steamed milk to become the cappuccino.
