At first sight, almost every person gets confused by the name.
If you see Marocchino on a café menu, it’s easy to think it’s Moroccan. But in fact, that’s wrong! This beautiful coffee beverage comes from Italy, specifically the Northern part of Italy, and it has no historical ties to Morocco whatsoever.
The comical thing is that the odd name has nothing to do with geography.
Instead, the name was created from a comment made 50+ years ago when someone remarked on how pretty the drink was when presented. That random conversation led to one of Italy’s most delightful coffee drinks having its name.
The Marocchino began as a local specialty long before it became very popular in Italian cafés.
In the 1950s, an espresso, chocolate, and milk foam based coffee drink began to be served in a café in Alessandria, a town in Northern Italy’s Piedmont region. The café was located directly across the street from the well-known Borsalino Hat Factory, which creates world-famous hats out of the finest straw.
One day, a visitor at the factory noticed how brown the delicious drink looked when it was prepared.
The first thing that struck him was the resemblance between the drink’s look and feel of Borsalino hat’s dark brown leather lining inside the hat. He expressed how it resembled a “marocchino”, referring to the distinctive leather and not the country in North Africa.
It quickly became known by that name.
Customers continued to request this drink by this name, and eventually, it became part of Italy’s coffee tradition.
Aside from its history, the drink is special because of how well the various flavours blend harmoniously.
Unlike much larger milk-based coffee beverages, a marocchino is served in a smaller glass (generally around 70-80 ml). Each of the different components has its own purpose, and because of this, although the final drink is very rich, it isn’t overly busy.
The drink is prepared by first placing a layer of dark chocolate (unsweetened) on the bottom of the glass, followed by a shot of espresso made with a quality bean, etc… Finally, a light layer of silky foam from the milk is applied to the top, which is topped off with a sprinkle of cocoa.
The end result is a very elegant presentation.
The resultant layers create a striking contrast between dark brown espresso, white foam and a dusting of cocoa over the top. When placing this drink on the table, even before you have sipped it, the visual presence of the drink will encourage you to enjoy it!
The flavor profile of a Marocchino, a unique blend of espresso and chocolate mixed with milk foam, is what separates it from a cappuccino or latte!
At its most basic, the Marocchino’s flavor is defined by the espresso, which will be the most present aspect of your drink. The chocolate is quite mild compared to espresso, so you won’t have as much of a sugar rush from your Marocchino as you would from either a cappuccino or latte. Finally, the milk foam rounds out the flavor by adding just enough creaminess; this combination results in an extremely smooth and well-balanced beverage.
Many of the traditional Italian beverages today have evolved over time and many regions within Italy have their own versions, yet many of them still maintain the same conceptual idea behind them. For instance, in Italy’s Puglia region, the beverage is called Espressino. In other parts of Italy, especially the Campania region, some cafés serve the Marocchino under the name of Vetrino (meaning “little window” in Italian), which references the small, clear glass traditionally used for serving this drink.
Despite having various names for the same beverage, the basic components remain virtually the same. Each of these variations consists of 4 basic components—espresso, chocolate, milk foam, and cocoa—that represent an example of how much simpler is to just use basic ingredients rather than going to extremes with extravagant named beverages.
So, if you ever visit Italy and find Marocchino listed at a café, don’t confuse it for a Moroccan specialty because it’s certainly not Moroccan! In fact, Marocchinos “came” from Italy with a unique Italian explanation; thus, discussing the meaning of a name does not represent reality in the case of Marocchino.
