Coffee and apéritif are two traditions in Italy

Greetings to all, friends!

I live in Italy. And there are two pleasant traditions here that I really like.

The first is Italian coffee. During the pre-covid, almost every Italian went to the bar in the morning and ordered a cup of coffee-a stretto and a croissant.

Coffee in Italy is a really serious business. Considering the fact that all Italian bars and restaurants are the major buyers of coffee, the annual turnover of coffee was over 2 billion euro.

Bars open very early, almost from 6 o'clock in the morning, because all working Italians do not have breakfast at home, and according to tradition, in the morning they stop by the bar before work to drink a cup of delicious and fragrant coffee, read the news, have a few words with the bartender and other visitors and go to work in a good mood!

 

During the covid period, bars were closed, people did not go to the bar and drank less coffee. But now life is returning to its former course and again everyone is sitting at the tables of a summer cafe and drinking coffee.

The second tradition is an aperitif. You can usually drink it before lunch and before dinner. Order an alcoholic or non-alcoholic cocktail at the bar, order a coke or water, someone likes something and they will bring you small snacks. If someone is on a diet, he just makes do with an aperitif and does not eat lunch or dinner.

 

Someone can drink an aperitif, and then order dinner. I usually go to an apéritif with my girlfriend, order a non-alcoholic cocktail and eat snacks, but I don't have dinner because it's enough for me.

 

The price can vary from 6 to 17 euro per person.

What traditions do you have in your countries?