Neapolitan coffee culture gets special treatment

Coffee brewing - Naples style – sets rigid standards thanks to a new Academy

Coffee has a special place in Neapolitan culture and is rightfully considered one of the city’s symbols, resistant to new waves and sticking to its traditions. In that light, there is some welcome news with the announcement that a Neapolitan Coffee Academy will start operating in that city from September this year.

It will be a collaboration between the MedEATerranea Association and Caffè Borbone. The former is a well-known organization that has spearheaded efforts around preserving and formalizing Italian gastronomic heritage, as a distinctive brand for the country that helps to uniquely place it in the mind of the global tourist. The latter is a company that is considered to be the standard-bearer of Neapolitan espresso.

What will the Academy’s activities entail?

The new institution will be located in the laboratories of the MedEATerranea Academy inside the Mostra d’Oltremare of the Fuorigrotta suburb (Swimming pool pavilion, on the first floor).

To outsiders, the city’s coffee scene remains stuck somewhere in the 1950s and that is exactly what makes it so appealing in a world that is in all other respects hellbent on constant change and reinvention. Most cafes in Naples do not even have seats, and customers sip their coffee quickly standing on foot.

The coffee, which is prepared using old-style lever-operated machines by baristas who know and understand their craft is meant to be tasty, excellently crafted and affordable – rarely priced over a euro.

So, the intent of the project is to create an exclusive centre dedicated to the study and dissemination of the many aspects inherent in the production and consumption of coffee, seen not only as a mass consumption beverage but also as a social aggregator and as a long-established product in the culture and traditions of the city of Naples. 

Its programme will feature paths aimed at training, retraining or professionally updating operators in the sector, with particular attention to young people in the Neapolitan area. Periodically, the Academy will also host “edutainment” initiatives, opening the doors to consumers, journalists and food bloggers, both Italian and international. Collaborations and memoranda of understanding with universities and research centres are also envisaged.