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Italians are well known for frowning at tourists and their ill-timed coffee requests – but not Italy’s oldest barista, Anna Possi.
The 100-year-old, who has been running a cafe above Lake Maggiore in northern Italy for more than half a century, has no objection to the controversial cappuccino after noon – traditionally a no-go in Italy.
“Who am I to tell my guests when to drink which coffee?” Possi says. “Everyone can do as they please.”
The question of whether a cappuccino – an espresso in a larger cup with frothed milk – can still be drunk after noon is one of the big issues in the coffee world.

An afternoon latte, cappuccino or flat white is common in many countries, but in Italy, where there are more than 130,000 coffee bars, coffee with milk after midday is frowned upon in many parts.
As a rule, only espresso is drunk in the afternoons. However, the rules have been relaxed considerably in recent years, not least because of the many tourists.
The owner of the Bar Centrale in the village of Nebbiuno, who has been tending the coffee machine there since 1958, has a relaxed view of such matters.
“I also have regulars who like to have a cappuccino after midnight,” Possi says. “And they get it, no matter what time it is.”

What matters more than the time of day is when and what you have eaten. She does not recommend a coffee with an orange juice.
The same goes for a coffee right after lunch. The stomach is too full, she says.
All this no longer affects Nonna Anna (“Grandma Anna”) herself. She stopped drinking coffee in the mid-1970s to keep her blood pressure down.


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Drinking a cappuccino – an espresso with frothed milk – is frowned upon in Italian coffee culture. But 100-year-old barista Anna Possi says, “everyone can do as they please”. Photo: Shutterstock

Anna Possi outside Bar Centrale in Nebbiuno, northern Italy. Photo: courtesy of Anna Possi

Possi has been serving at Bar Centrale since 1958. Photo: courtesy of Anna Possi

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Food & Drink

Coffee with milk in the afternoon is a no-no for many Italians. Not Anna Possi, a barista since 1958 who’ll happily pour it past midnight


Coffee with milk in the afternoon is a no-no for many Italians. Not Anna Possi, a barista since 1958 who’ll happily pour it past midnight.


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