Caffè crema
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Caffè crema (Italian: "cream coffee") refers to two different coffee drinks: * An old name for
espresso Espresso (, ) is a coffee-brewing method of Italian origin, in which a small amount of nearly boiling water (about ) is forced under of pressure through finely-ground coffee beans. Espresso can be made with a wide variety of coffee beans and ...
(1940s and 1950s). * A long espresso drink served primarily in Germany, Switzerland and Austria and northern Italy (1980s onwards), along the Italian/Swiss and Italian/Austrian border.How to make cafe cremas
May 26, 2005
In Germany it is generally known as a "Café Crème" or just "Kaffee" and is generally the default type of black coffee served, unless there is a filter machine. As a colorful term it generally means "espresso", while in technical discussions, referring to the long drink, it may more narrowly be referred to as ''Swiss'' caffè crema. In addition, there is also Italian iced crema caffè. Variant terms include "crema caffè" and the
hyperforeignism A hyperforeignism is a type of qualitative hypercorrection that involves speakers misidentifying the distribution of a pattern found in loanwords and extending it to other environments, including words and phrases not borrowed from the language th ...
"café crema" – is French, while and are Italian; thus "café crema" mixes French and Italian.


Synonym for espresso

"Caffè crema", and the English
calque In linguistics, a calque () or loan translation is a word or phrase borrowed from another language by literal word-for-word or root-for-root translation. When used as a verb, "to calque" means to borrow a word or phrase from another language wh ...
"cream coffee", was the original term for modern
espresso Espresso (, ) is a coffee-brewing method of Italian origin, in which a small amount of nearly boiling water (about ) is forced under of pressure through finely-ground coffee beans. Espresso can be made with a wide variety of coffee beans and ...
, produced by hot water under pressure, coined in 1948 by
Gaggia Gaggia is an Italian manufacturer of coffee machines, especially espresso machine, in addition to small kitchen appliances. The company is owned by Saeco. History The founder, Giovanni Achille Gaggia (1895–1961), applied for a patent ( ...
to describe the light brown foam (''crema'') on espresso. The term has fallen out of use in favor of "espresso". As a colorful synonym for "espresso", the term and variants find occasional use in coffee branding, as in "
Jacobs Jacobs may refer to: Businesses and organisations *Jacob's, a brand name for several lines of biscuits and crackers in Ireland and the UK *Jacobs (coffee), a brand of coffee * Jacobs Aircraft Engine Company, former American aircraft engine compan ...
Caffè Crema" and "
Kenco Kenco is a British brand of instant, roast and ground coffee sold by JDE Peet's in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Originally known as the Kenya Coffee Company, they started distributing coffee to Britain in 1923. Shortly after, they opened a co ...
Café Crema". In
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
''caffè crema'' is sometimes used for a crema rich espresso.


Swiss drink

The term "caffè crema" also refers to a long espresso drink, popular since the 1980s in Switzerland and northern Italy. It is generally served as the standard "café traditionnel" in Belgium. It is produced by running of water when brewing an espresso, primarily by using a coarser grind. It is similar to a
caffè Americano Caffè Americano (also known as Americano or American; ; es, café americano, lit=American coffee) is a type of coffee drink prepared by diluting an espresso with hot water, giving it a similar strength to, but different flavor from, traditional ...
or a
long black A long black is a style of coffee commonly found in Australia and New Zealand. It is similar to an Americano, but with a stronger aroma and taste. A long black is made by pouring a double-shot of espresso or ristretto over hot water. Typical ...
, except that these latter are diluted espresso, and consist of making ("pulling") a normal (short) espresso shot and combining it with hot water. By contrast, a caffè crema extracts differently, and thus has a different flavor profile. As a long, brewed rather than diluted, espresso, caffè crema is the long end of the
ristretto Ristretto () is a "short shot" (30 ml from a double basket) of a more highly concentrated espresso coffee. It is made with the same amount of ground coffee, but extracted with a finer grind (also in from 20 to 30 seconds) using half as much water. ...
– normale –
lungo Lungo (Italian for "long") is a coffee beverage made by using an espresso machine to make an Italian-style coffee – short black (a single espresso shot) with more water (generally twice as much), resulting in a larger coffee, a ''lungo''. A no ...
– caffè crema range, and is significantly longer than a lungo, generally twice as long. Rough brewing ratios of ristretto, normale, lungo, and caffè crema are 1:2:3:6 – a doppio ristretto will be approximately 1 oz/30 ml (crema increases the volume), normale 2 oz/60 ml, lungo 3 oz/90 ml, and caffè crema 6 oz/180 ml. However, volumes of caffè crema can vary significantly, from 4–8 oz (120 ml–240 ml) for a double shot, depending on how it is brewed and taste, and there is no widely agreed standard measure in the English-speaking world. In terms of solubles concentration, a caffè crema is approximately midway between a lungo and non-pressure brewed coffee, such as drip or press. The motivation for the caffè crema is that it produces a traditional large cup of coffee, just as brewed coffee does: the small size of espresso is due to the original
Gaggia Gaggia is an Italian manufacturer of coffee machines, especially espresso machine, in addition to small kitchen appliances. The company is owned by Saeco. History The founder, Giovanni Achille Gaggia (1895–1961), applied for a patent ( ...
lever espresso machine of 1948 requiring manual pressure, and thus a single (solo) espresso of was the maximum that could practically be extracted. The development of pump-driven espresso in the 1961 Faema removed this restriction, but by then a taste had developed for the short espresso, and these continued to be produced on the new machines, long caffè crema only emerging in the 1980s. The caffè crema is not a common drink in the
English-speaking world Speakers of English are also known as Anglophones, and the countries where English is natively spoken by the majority of the population are termed the '' Anglosphere''. Over two billion people speak English , making English the largest languag ...
and is virtually never available in cafés because of the need to significantly change the grind compared to standard espresso. Cafés instead serve Americanos or long blacks. The caffè crema was briefly used in Australia in the 1980s, but was replaced by the long black.


Brewing method

As the caffè crema is very uncommon in the English-speaking world, and not widely available outside of home brewing, there are few English-language resources on how to brew it, nor consistency in what precisely is understood by this. What is generally done is to coarsen the grind, but otherwise extract in much the same way as espresso, stopping the shot when it blonds, as is usual for espresso – the coarser grind resulting in greater volume, but the extraction taking approximately the same time (25–30 seconds). Some variants include tamping less or extracting for slightly longer (35–40 seconds), and coarser grinds generally result in less mass of grinds fitting into a given filter basket, leading some to prefer using triple-shot baskets to allow sufficient coffee. One can make a caffè crema in a commercial setting by using the existing filter grind, which is approximately correct, in the espresso machine and otherwise brewing normally, but this would be a very unusual request.


Crema caffè

In Italy, during the summer, traditional cafés (called , without final ''s'', in
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...
) commonly serve an iced, creamy variant of espresso called ''crema caffè'', ''crema fredda di caffè'', "Caffè del nonno" and so on. This requires a special spinning apparatus making it constantly creamy, without ice scales. It can be served straight or with ''panna'' ( milk cream).


See also

*
Caffè Americano Caffè Americano (also known as Americano or American; ; es, café americano, lit=American coffee) is a type of coffee drink prepared by diluting an espresso with hot water, giving it a similar strength to, but different flavor from, traditional ...
– hot water added to espresso *
List of coffee drinks Coffee drinks are made by brewing water with ground coffee beans. The brewing is either done slowly by drip, filter, French press, ''cafetière'' or percolator, or done very quickly under pressure by an espresso machine. When put under the pr ...
*
List of hot beverages This list of hot drinks comprises drinks that are typically served hot. Drinks are liquids specifically prepared for human consumption. __TOC__ Hot drinks Indonesia India There are many hot beverages that originated from India that have gai ...
*
Long black A long black is a style of coffee commonly found in Australia and New Zealand. It is similar to an Americano, but with a stronger aroma and taste. A long black is made by pouring a double-shot of espresso or ristretto over hot water. Typical ...
– famous in Australia *
Lungo Lungo (Italian for "long") is a coffee beverage made by using an espresso machine to make an Italian-style coffee – short black (a single espresso shot) with more water (generally twice as much), resulting in a larger coffee, a ''lungo''. A no ...
– a shorter version of long espresso


References

*
Espresso Has No Crema


Coffee drinks Coffee in Italy {{Coffee in Italy