In Italy most people drink their coffee on their feet, tossing down an espresso or a caffè macchiato at the bar; but here you can take your coffee at a slower pace. Wherever you go in Rome the barista plays an important role and they can make or break the business.

‘You might meet your friends or take a coffee with work colleagues, but your rapport with the barista is critical,’ says Daniele, a blogger visiting Barnum for the first time.

‘If they are good, they will remember you and also remember the kind of coffee you like. It’s all about social relations.’

For many Italians a coffee can conjure up memories of childhood experiences, romantic encounters or travel adventures. One friend confided that as a child he always woke up to a steaming cup of coffee his mother lovingly left beside his bed, while another admits the coffee machine is the first thing she packs in the suitcase when she goes abroad because she doesn’t trust the coffee or the baristas.

Italians may not have invented coffee. They’re not even the most fervent coffee drinkers in Europe (that’d be the Finns). But somewhere along the way they adopted it as their own and perhaps that’s why they are responsible for the ‘Italianisation’ of the coffee we drink today. How could we order a cappuccino, caffè latte or doppio espresso anywhere in the world without the vocabulary the Italians so kindly provided? (Worth noting: if you order a ‘latte’ in Italy you may well get a glass of milk.)

Maybe a long menu of new-style flavoured American coffees will find favour with Italy’s Instagram generation. But as the best baristas know, the range of coffee they serve is already as diverse as their customers.