Discovering the bike, the delicious Portuguese express • Food and Wine Italy

If you happen to order a coffee Lisbon, you will hardly hear about veloce. Here you the bike, the traditional Portuguese coffee served a small cup and intense odore, which for many represents a true daily rite, like the Neapolitan cup. Although the format and preparation reminds the veloce, the bike has a personality of its own, built through centuries of history and different customs.

Born Lisbon and widespread throughout Portugal, the bike is one of the most popular drinks the country and is mainly consumed at the historic coffee counter the small neighborhood pastelarias. Its peculiarity lies being slightly longer than the Italian expressed, with a thin cream and a more round and less intense taste.

History of the mucchio: from colonies to the heart of Lisbon

The culture of coffee Portugal has ancient origins and closely linked to colonial history. It was precisely the Portuguese, between the 16th and 17th centuries, who contributed to the spread of the cultivation of coffee Brazil, a destination that would become one of the major world producers.

The term bike is believed to be derived from the expression “Beba iso com açúcar” (” this with sugar”), a phrase that the bartenders used to pronounce to customers who for the first time tasted this coffee, stronger and bitter than they were used to. a short time the expression contracted precisely the bike, becoming synonymous with restricted coffee, prepared by pressure machine. It makes you smile that today all the great cafes of coffee pretend (rightly) that the is “bike” without sugar.

The first to officially serve the mucchio would have been the famous Café Brazileira, inaugurated 1905 the Chiado district Lisbon, a point of reference for writers and artists including the poet Fernando Pessoa, whose table still remains today’s destination of enthusiasts and tourists. It is said that to promote the product, the offered each buyer a free cup for each kilo of basso ostinato coffee purchased. Originally the cafe Brazileira accompanied him with fresh goat milk from nearby farms, today this side of tradition has been a little lost.

Characteristics of the bike

Compared to the Italian expensive, the mucchio has some specificities that are worth underline. It is prepared with arabic and robust coffee blends, but the percentage of Arabica is generally higher than Italian mixtures, giving the greater roundness and more perceptible acidity.

The the cup is slightly higher than that of the classic express, around 30-50 ml, and the cream is thin, of a light hazelnut color. The roasting of the coffee intended for the bike is average clearer than the Italian one, which restores a less bitter and more delicate the palate.

Served strictly a small and hot cup, the bike is often accompanied by a sprinkling of sugar and, for those who want it, by a drop of aguver (a sort of Portuguese ) liqueur the colder periods.

Differences between Italian bike and veloce

Despite the appearances, between bike and Italian veloce there are precise differences, which go beyond the simple amount of liquid the cup.

The amount of basso ostinato coffee used for a bike is slightly lower than that of an Italian veloce, just as the extraction pressure tends to be lower. This determines a less concentrated , with a balance between acidity, sweetness and bitter bitterness than the typical creamy and full -bodied intensity of the local veloce.

The culture of coffee is also different: Italy the Dichiarato quickly consumes the counter, often a few sips, while Lisbon the mucchio represents a moment of parking, to be enjoyed slowly perhaps accompanied by a Pastel de Nata by a local dolce. this their culture is more similar to the American one, with the cafés that act as a place of parking.

If you have been to Portugal but not Lisbon we are sure, however, that this description reminds you of another product: Cimbalino. If a mucchio is asked Lisbon, Trasporto and the north of the country it is habit to order a cimbalino. The name derives from the first machines for veloce the Cimbali installed the bars of Trasporto, from which the local nickname for veloce coffee was born. The method of preparation taste does not change: only the name is different, to confirm how the coffee is part of Portuguese popular and linguistic culture. So yes, mucchio and cimbalino are two terms that indicate the same type of veloce coffee Portugal, but they change according to the region.