Cappuccino

Cappuccino originated in post-World War II Italy, when Achille Gaggia perfected the machine that made it possible. In 1938 he filed his first patent for the "Lampo" system, a steam-free espresso method, and in 1947 he patented an improved lever-and-piston design that forced hot water through the grounds at up to 8–9 atmospheres of pressure. By 1948 his company had built the first Gaggia Classica, mixing or topping the espresso coffee with steamed milk or cream to create the thick, foamy layer Gaggia proudly called "crema caffè naturale" (natural coffee cream).

The name Cappuccino comes from the resemblance of its color to the robes of the Roman monks of the Capuchin order — a branch of the Franciscans founded in the 16th century — which is light/darkish brown with a white hood.

The first use of cappuccino in English was recorded in 1948, in Robert O'Brien's book about San Francisco. He described a drink served at a café called La Tosca on Grant Avenue as "gray, like the robe of a capuchin monk, and made of chocolate that is laced with brandy or rum, and heated by steam forced through coffee."

Cappuccino's true ancestor was the Kapuziner, a coffee-and-cream drink that became fashionable in 18th-century Vienna. Its light brown hue reminded Viennese drinkers of the same Capuchin robes, and when the drink and its name eventually crossed into Italy, "Kapuziner" was simply translated into Italian as "cappuccino."

Italians treat cappuccino strictly as a breakfast drink, usually paired with a croissant, and it's considered almost a faux pas to order one after 11 a.m. or after a meal, since hot milk is thought to sit too heavily on a full stomach.

The same Capuchin friars also gave their name to the monkey of South America, so named in 1785 because early European explorers thought the dark fur on top of its head resembled the friars' hoods — meaning the coffee, the monkey, and the monks all trace back to the same word.

Latte art — the pouring of steamed milk to leave a pattern on top of an espresso — was popularised by barista David Schomer of Espresso Vivace, working in Seattle, who perfected the heart design in 1989 and the rosette a few years later; the cappuccino's dense foam remains one of the favourite canvases for the technique.

Rome's Capuchin Crypt, beneath the church of Santa Maria della Concezione, is decorated with the bones of more than 4,000 Capuchin monks arranged into elaborate patterns; the Marquis de Sade, who visited in 1775, called it the most extraordinary sight he had ever seen.

James Michael Tyler, an actor working as a background extra, only got the role of Gunther the barista in Friends — one of the most popular sitcoms in TV history — because he was the only extra on set who actually knew how to work an espresso machine; the real machine, however, was too loud to ever be switched on during filming. He went on to appear in more than 180 of the show's 236 episodes and continued receiving residuals from his work on the show until his death in 2021.