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[HB]

If anything, you have to admire her tenacity, suffering setbacks in her trek through US cafes in search of the best cappuccinos. However Amy's stories are not like one of my whiny diatribes on the pathetic state of most cafes, it's "a very serious attempt to find the best cappuccino in the world. (And an occasional, only moderately serious attempt to understand American culture.)" And if that wasn't enough, she's also filmed a documentary on the same subject, The Perfect Cappuccino, excerpted below:

The Perfect Cappuccino
by Amy Ferraris (the cappuccino review blog)

...And every time I go into a new coffee shop here in America, I feel like Charlie Brown trying to kick the football. All previous experience indicates that what I'm about to do will be a disaster, but I let myself get suckered into it anyway. American cappuccinos are typically way too large, far too hot, and served in paper cups whose steep sides make it impossible to fully experience the cappuccino in a single sip. They're also topped with stiff peaks that would be more at home on a key lime pie than a cup of coffee. Occasionally, they have been befouled with cinnamon.

But I can't stop searching. (cont'd)

Below is an update from Amy:

"The Perfect Cappuccino" is still a work in progress. I'm mostly done shooting and have begun editing, so I expect it to be completed by the end of 2007. But it's being independently produced and financed (which means that I pay for it with my savings from my more lucrative reality-TV editing gigs) so... I have no idea when it will be coming to a theater near you. A good outcome would be for it to screen at festivals in 2008 and then do either a small theatrical run or find a broadcast deal and eventually find a home-video distributor. But who knows? Anyone interested in following the project and/or being made aware of screenings and news can go to http://www.cappuccinomovie.com and sign up on the mailing list. I also welcome outside commentary on my blog. I love hearing from other people who are as into this stuff as I am! (After having spent most of my adult life feeling like maybe I am a lunatic for being THIS interested in microfoam, coffee shops, etc.)

[HB]

James Hoffman (King Seven) writes a popular blog and most of the entries are as serious as you'd expect from a WBC champion. However, last week's entry gives a small personal insight, rooted in his use of language:

I just can't do it.
by James Hoffman (jimseven.net)

I am trying not to be curmudgeonly here, but I am a bit squeemish about how we use the Italian coffee words we've borrowed. I know it may be technically correct to say two cappuccini but that rather assumes I am speaking Italian. Which I rarely do even within Italy1...

I am not out to lambast those that do - but it does sound very odd to talk about baristi, cappuccini and the like. Even though we are rarely brewing espresso to Italian conventions it seems odd that once we anglify2 the words they are still exempt from our rules of grammar.

Am I wrong? Should I be using Italian plurals? Should I really not worry about this sort of thing?

Blog entry January 23, 2008