What Is a Marocchino Coffee?

A marocchino is a small Italian coffee made of espresso, cocoa and milk foam, served in a little glass that has usually been dusted with cocoa inside. It comes from Piedmont in the north west of Italy, and it tastes like a very grown-up version of a chocolate coffee: bitter, soft and barely sweet.

The build

• A small glass, around 100ml, with a light dusting of unsweetened cocoa inside, or a thin smear of chocolate or hazelnut spread.
• A single espresso poured over it.
• A layer of milk foam, spooned or poured on top, rather than a glass full of steamed milk.
• More cocoa sifted over the foam to finish.

The glass matters because the layers are part of the drink. You see the dark coffee, the pale foam and the cocoa on top before they blur together, and you drink it within a few minutes while they still taste distinct.

Where the name comes from

The drink is usually traced to Alessandria in Piedmont. The common explanation for the name is colour: marocchino, meaning Moroccan, was the word for a brown leather, and the finished drink is that shade of brown. The story often tied to it involves the strips of that leather used inside the hats made in the same town. Like most coffee origin stories it is repeated far more often than it is documented, but the link to the colour is the part nobody disputes.

A marocchino is not a mocha

Both combine coffee and chocolate, and that is where the likeness ends.

• Size. A marocchino is a small glass. A mocha is a large cup, closer to a latte.
• Chocolate. Cocoa powder or a thin smear of spread against a sweet sauce or syrup.
• Milk. A cap of foam against a cup full of steamed milk.
• Sweetness. The marocchino is barely sweet unless you add sugar. The mocha is a dessert.

If you have been disappointed by chain mochas, this is probably the drink you were hoping for. The full comparison with its larger cousin is in cappuccino vs mocha.

Its neighbour in Turin

Piedmont has a second coffee and chocolate tradition, the bicerin of Turin: espresso, thick drinking chocolate and cream, layered in a small glass and not stirred. It is richer and sweeter than a marocchino, closer to a hot chocolate with coffee in it, and the two are easy to confuse if you only know that the region likes coffee and chocolate together.

Making one at home

1. Dust the glass. Sift a little unsweetened cocoa into a small, warmed glass and tilt it so the powder clings to the sides. For a richer version, smear a teaspoon of hazelnut spread on the bottom instead.
2. Add the coffee. An espresso is traditional. Strong coffee from a moka pot works well and is how many Italian homes would make it.
3. Top with foam. Froth a small amount of milk until it is thick and spoonable, and lay it over the coffee. The texture you are after is described in what good steamed milk is, though here a slightly stiffer foam is fine.
4. Finish with cocoa, and drink it soon.

Use real unsweetened cocoa rather than a hot chocolate mix. The mix is mostly sugar and turns the drink into something else.

Ordering one

In the north of Italy you can simply ask for un marocchino at the bar, and it is a common mid-morning or afternoon order. Further south, and in most cafes outside Italy, it is rarely on the menu, but any barista with cocoa and a steam wand can build it if you describe it: a single espresso with cocoa and a little foam, in a small glass.