Italy’s coffee capital? It’s hard to go past this cafe-loving city

It’s 7am on a weekday in Trieste’s main railway station and the coffee bar is packed. A queue stretches out from the cash register as commuters line up to order a quick “capo” before heading out from the station to work or to platforms for their trains.

The baristas have the timing and grace of ballerinas. They move effortlessly between machine and customer, and no one has to wait more than a minute or two for their coffee, yet there’s still always time for a friendly greeting or brief conversation.

It may not be one of the grand cafes that Trieste is famous for, but it’s symbolic of how the ritual of drinking coffee is embedded here. Even at a railway station, the coffee can’t be faulted. And the theatre of it all deserves a standing ovation.

Caffe San Marco, a long-time haunt of intellectuals, radicals, businesspeople and writers.Credit:

While this scene might be common in many places in Italy, Trieste takes it to another level. “Triestini have coffee in their blood,” says Fabrizio Polojaz, recent president of the Trieste Coffee Association, the city’s main industry group. We’re chatting in Caffe San Marco. Founded in 1914, the elegant liberty style (art nouveau) cafe and bookshop has long been a meeting place for intellectuals, radicals, businesspeople and writers. Trieste’s greatest writers considered the city’s cafes their second homes, and when Irish writer James Joyce moved here in 1904, he did the same. The cafes are still the centre of public life.

The Caffe degli Specchi – a place to watch the world go by. Credit:

While Triestini also subscribe to the Italian habit of standing at the bar to quickly down an espresso, Trieste has its own distinct coffee culture; like many places in central Europe, coffee is also a drink to be enjoyed at a table with friends. It even has its own vocabulary. That “capo” being drunk at the station is the Trieste version of a macchiato. An espresso is a “nero”. A decaf coffee is a “deca”. Just want a little bit of milk in your coffee? Ask for a “goccia”. If you want your macchiato (or any other coffee) in a glass, you need to ask for it “in b”, meaning “in a bicchiere” (a glass). The variations are many, but working out your order is half the fun. Get it right and you’re likely to be rewarded with a nod of appreciation and a warm smile.

Presnitz – a soft pastry roll filled with dried fruit and Marsala wine.Credit:

Coffee helped make Trieste the city it is today, explains Polojaz. The evidence is everywhere. In its grand squares overlooking the Gulf of Trieste, the 18th- and 19th-century headquarters of major banks, insurance companies and global coffee agents still dominate the city, testament to the wealth and power of the port and the impact of the coffee trade.

The grand Caffe degli Specchi, established in 1839 on the Piazza Unità d’Italia, Trieste’s massive square directly facing the sea, is the place to watch the world go by. Inside, an expansive cake counter includes some of Trieste’s famous pastries – the putizza, a yeast dough filled with dried fruits, spices and rum; pinza, a sweet yeast cake often eaten with cheese and meat; and presnitz – a soft pastry roll filled with dried fruit and Marsala wine. Here, the menu comes with options that would be at home in any Viennese cafe – think coffee piled high with whipped cream, with added chocolate and/or alcohol.

At Antico Caffe Torinese, the exquisite 1919 interior was designed by a ship’s cabinetmaker and the tiny interior includes a crystal chandelier, a large art nouveau counter and brass fittings. At Caffe Tommaseo, Trieste’s oldest surviving coffee house, it’s easy to imagine how the prosperous 19th-century citizens of the city would have spent many hours socialising in its elegant rooms. Pirona pasticceria was apparently Joyce’s favourite coffee spot – it’s said his novel Ulysses was mostly written here.

While the city is steeped in coffee tradition, it’s more than just a living coffee museum. IllyCaffe, Italy’s third-largest coffee company, has its headquarters here and a coffee university. More than 700 roasters operate in the city. An annual coffee festival brings the industry and consumers together for a month of events every October, and there are even a handful of new cafes bravely offering alternatives to espresso.

Where coffee is a way of life: Caffe Tommaseo.Credit:

In 2022, the International Coffee Association’s per capita coffee consumption for Italy was listed at 5.4 kilograms. In Trieste, it’s widely claimed local consumption is almost double that figure.

As orders at the station’s coffee bar come thick and fast, it’s easy to believe it. Another “capo” for me, please.

THE DETAILS

VISIT
Trieste has its own international airport and is less than two hours from Venice by train. The Friuli-Venezia Giulia tourist card is available for 48 hours or one week (€30/€45) and offers free entry to more than a dozen museums, and discounts to many other attractions and experiences. Many of the city’s walking tours include Trieste’s historic cafes. The Trieste Coffee dive! Espresso tasting ($64.60) offers an in-depth guide to the city’s coffee culture and history and includes a tasting of five espressos. getyourguide.com/trieste-l1131

FLY
Singapore Airlines flies to Milan from Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney with local air, train and bus connections to Trieste.

STAY
The cosy Hotel James Joyce is housed in an 18th-century building in Trieste’s historic quarter and is in walking distance of many of the city’s historic cafes, the port, and the city’s new literature museum. Rooms from $174

hoteljamesjoyce.com

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The writer travelled at her own expense.