The cappuccino is not, as many will believe, an invention of the Italians, but comes originally from Austria.
The “Kapuziner”, a Viennese coffee house speciality, is a mocha that is mixed with a few drops of whipped cream, giving the drink a colour reminiscent of the light brown habit of the Capuchin monks.
During the First World War many Austrian soldiers were stationed in Italy. There, too, they did not want to do without their usual specialities and it was above all Viennese coffee that they longed for.
So the Italians quickly learned to appreciate this drink and used the word cappuccino, which comes from the Italian word “capuccio” (hood).
When the first espresso machines with steam pressure appeared, resourceful coffee house owners finally developed the idea of a less opulent Kapuziner variant, the classic cappuccino with foamed milk.
Today the cappuccino is usually drunk the Italian way with milk foam. The variant from Germany with a whipped cream cap instead of foamed milk is known in Austria as the “Franziskaner” and in Italy as the “Cappuccino con panna”.