If you have ever been to Salento, you certainly discovered that in this splendid land coffee can be served in a truly unique way: Salentino coffee. It is a summer drink made of three simple ingredients: coffee, ice, and almond milk.
- The Origins of Salentino Coffee
- How to Prepare Salentino Coffee
- 1. The first thing to do is prepare a glass, like the one in the photo, with plenty of ice cubes taken directly from the freezer.
- 2. Add almond syrup as needed, in a way that the coffee does not become too sweet or not sweet enough.
- 3. Immediately after, prepare an espresso coffee, the classic bar coffee. Pour the still hot coffee into the glass containing the ice and almond syrup.
- 4. Serve the resulting drink with a straw.
- Tips for a Good Salentino Coffee
- Where to Taste Salentino Coffee
The Origins of Salentino Coffee
The origins of Salentino coffee are Spanish. It was the “Café del Tiempo” in Valencia that first served coffee with ice and the addition of lemon. But already in the 1600s, during the Spanish rule in Salento, this drink took root in the area. At first and until a couple of centuries ago, Salentino coffee was served in the same way as the Spanish one, with a slice of lemon or fresh mint.
The variation, adding almond milk instead of lemon and especially sugar, made this drink earn the originality that sealed its fame.
How to Prepare Salentino Coffee
1. The first thing to do is prepare a glass, like the one in the photo, with plenty of ice cubes taken directly from the freezer.
2. Add almond syrup as needed, in a way that the coffee does not become too sweet or not sweet enough.
3. Immediately after, prepare an espresso coffee, the classic bar coffee. Pour the still hot coffee into the glass containing the ice and almond syrup.
4. Serve the resulting drink with a straw.
Tips for a Good Salentino Coffee
- Almond milk should be handmade. Almond syrup produced in Southern Italy with local products is also fine.
- The ice must still be solid; do not use melted ice as it could dilute the coffee too much.
Where to Taste Salentino Coffee
The Salentino coffee is easily available in all bars, pastry shops, even non-traditional ones in Salento. It’s excellent paired with Caffè Quarto, a roastery from Lecce which, although distributed throughout Italy and even in some foreign countries, finds its greatest popularity “at home”.
We suggest tasting the “Salentino coffee” with the “pasticciotto“. It is a type of shortcrust pastry filled with custard cream, invented in 1745, according to tradition, by the pastry shop of the Ascalone family from Galatina, during the celebrations of Saint Paul, the healer of those possessed by the tarantula.
