How to drink Espresso the Italian way

This is how a lot of people start their day, with a hot cup of coffee. But are you doing it right? I'm here in Trieste, Italy, the unofficial capital of espresso. We want to find out the do's and don'ts of Italian coffee culture, how to make the perfect espresso, and what makes Trieste such a unique place for coffee lovers. This is Marco Bazzara. He's a professional roaster, coffee expert, and my teacher today in All Things Espresso. Tell me the biggest common mistakes people make with espresso. The biggest mistake is the pronunciation. Espresso is not the right one, but espresso it is. What's another common mistake? The second one is the way we drink coffee. You can drink it slowly, or maybe you can spray just a bit of liquid on your tongue. Oh, okay. Yeah, it's a technician way to define the quality of coffee. Yeah, yeah. Oh, it's strong. Ah, what are you doing? No. Why are you adding some sugar in your cup? Okay. Problem is that you change the aroma's perception. What do I do if I want something a little lighter? You can take a cappuccino, why not? This is a very small cappuccino. This isn't what I'm used to. In Trieste, we used to drink a cappuccino like this one. So in a small cup. The main goal is to perceive the cream as much velvety as you can, and the full body perception. Let's have a try. That's a bit lighter. The sweeter it is, the better it will be. It's said that the residents of Trieste drink an average of about 1,500 cups of coffee per year. That's twice the national Italian average. Trieste is the Mediterranean's main coffee port and a hub for the coffee industry. In the city center, there's a cafe on every corner and most locals can't imagine a day without their coffee. I like my coffee cold in the summer because I can't live without coffee. So in summer, I have to drink it cold. Like this one, caffè shakerato. I like the espresso, the normal one. And yeah, I'm a student, so I need a lot of coffees. The way I enjoy my coffee is a capo in B, which is basically our version of a macchiato, which is served in a small wine glass. It's just traditional of the territory. When it comes to the roasting process, picking the right beans is essential for a good espresso. So what are we looking for in a good espresso bean? We are looking for the good color. So when we roast our coffee, we do need to use a light-medium profile because only using this kind of profile, we can enhance all the aromas inside the bean. What kind of bean is this for espresso? This is a mix of the two main coffee species. So we have 60% of arabica and 40% of robusta. How do I identify a bad espresso? It's quite easy to identify a bad espresso because the more robusta we use, for example, bad robusta quality, the worse will be the bitterness sensation on our tongue. While Italians love their coffee, what makes people here outspoken experts? I think that one of the most representative things in our city is that our citizens are not properly a coffee expert, but do drink coffee every day. So they can have an espresso every morning in a bar. That's what we do. And that is what gives Trieste its coffee reputation. Trieste is definitely the place to come for espresso, but there are certain things to remember, for example. But remember, the taste is in the tongue of the beholder.