Specialty coffee in Naples

In Naples coffee is sweet by default: the barista whips the sugar with the first drops of espresso into a thick pale cream and only then lets the rest run in underneath. If you want it without sugar you have to say amaro and take the look from behind the bar. The price stays around a euro, because since 1911 coffee has been listed in Italy among essential goods with an officially set maximum, and in the south it can be cheaper still than in the north. Hence the dark roast and the solid share of robusta in the blends: at that price the bean has to be cheap, and the sugar will cover the rest anyway.