[A] Caffe corretto - sounds familiar

[Robert Carnegie]

Seen today at <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-31585550>

"20 years ago about half the coffees people ordered
were caffe corretto - espresso with a 1cl shot of
grappa. A shot of grappa may also be drunk alongside
the coffee as an ammazzacaffe (literally, a "coffee
killer") the idea being that the alcohol - which has
sedative properties - contrasts with and cancels out
the effect of the caffeine - a stimulant."

This is in Italy and "according to alcohol historian
Fulvio Piccinino" - and I think that may be /after/
Terry Pratchett wrote about a similar idea.
But which book was it in?? And does it need an
annotation? (Since I can't find one.)

The Italian concept seems to be that nowadays it's
unacceptable to turn up to work drunk, and unbearable
not to.

[larry]

Kn'rd (usuaualy spelt knurd in Ankh-Morkporkian.)

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=knurd

Reference is Jingo.

[Adam Sampson]

Robert Carnegie <rja.ca...@gmail.com> writes:

> This is in Italy and "according to alcohol historian Fulvio Piccinino"
> - and I think that may be /after/ Terry Pratchett wrote about a
> similar idea. But which book was it in?? And does it need an
> annotation? (Since I can't find one.)

You're probably thinking of Sourcery:

| The occupants watched it for some time, sipping their coffee laced
| with desert orakh. This drink, made from cacti sap and scorpion venom,
| is one of the most virulent alcoholic beverages in the universe, but
| the desert nomads don't drink it for its intoxicating effects. They
| use it because they need something to mitigate the effect of Klatchian
| coffee.

The same idea gets mentioned later in Men at Arms:

| Klatchian coffee has an even bigger sobering effect than an unexpected
| brown envelope from the tax man. In fact, coffee enthusiasts take the
| precaution of getting thoroughly drunk before touching the stuff,
| because Klatchian coffee takes you back through sobriety and, if
| you're not careful, out the other side, where the mind of man should
| not go.

--
Adam Sampson <a...@offog.org> <http://offog.org/>

[Robert Carnegie]

I thought _Sourcery_, but I'm not seeing anything
at <http://www.lspace.org/books/apf/index.html>

I rarely drink coffee or alcohol. Is consuming the
two together unremarkable - from one cup or from two?
I've heard of "Irish coffee" as another case, but
"caffe corretto" seemed to be meant as special...
oh, hang on:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caff%C3%A8_corretto>

"In Spain, a similar drink is known as carajillo,
and in Sweden, Norway and Denmark as kaffekask,
karsk and kaffepunch, (although "karsk" or kaffe
is in fact coffee added to moonshine to make the
moonshine palatable, rather than liquor added to
coffee for flavor) respectively."

Maybe everyone /is/ at it? Or is the one drink
to neutralise the other a possible specific
reference?

It's early in the canon, so it might be not so
carefully done.

An Islamic country (which a Discworld country
usually isn't) is unlikely to use alcohol
except medicinally, but as a remedy for the
coffee, it could technically qualify as medicine.

Having said that, "Arabian Tea" is quite something.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khat>

[Richard Bos]

Robert Carnegie <rja.ca...@gmail.com> wrote:

> I rarely drink coffee or alcohol. Is consuming the
> two together unremarkable - from one cup or from two?
> I've heard of "Irish coffee" as another case, but
> "caffe corretto" seemed to be meant as special...
> oh, hang on:
> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caff%C3%A8_corretto>

It's entirely unremarkable as a special drink for after dinner. In the
Netherlands, if it's not Irish coffee it's usually made with brandy or
beerenburg, and often, as in Irish coffee, with cream on top. Personally
I don't drink coffee and find Irish coffee just about palatable but a
waste of the whiskey and cream, but it's a popular drink. Not one for
everyday consumption, though.

> "In Spain, a similar drink is known as carajillo,
> and in Sweden, Norway and Denmark as kaffekask,
> karsk and kaffepunch, (although "karsk" or kaffe
> is in fact coffee added to moonshine to make the
> moonshine palatable, rather than liquor added to
> coffee for flavor) respectively."
>
> Maybe everyone /is/ at it? Or is the one drink
> to neutralise the other a possible specific
> reference?

Dunno, but unless your coffee really is _extremely_ strong you're just
flavouring the drink and nobody is fooled.

Richard