Caffé Leccese is about to replace your iced latte order + the first ever national Moka Pot day!

The only place I’d want to have my first Caffé leccese outside of Lecce, Puglia, is Bread and Salt Bakery in Jersey City. I’ve gone back multiple times for their version made with homemade almond crema whirled perfectly into a shot of espresso and poured over ice chips. It lived in Lecce, Puglia, for about 3 months in college and never discovered it there! So when I tried my little discovery in Jersey, I was over-the-moon excited. And it has become one of my favorite espresso beverages, so much so that I served it as a specialità during my first Ciao Caffé pop-up. It was definitely a hit, and I loved the curiosity it evoked.

While Caffè Leccese is a slight investment to curate at home, I do recommend it! When learning to make it, I initially thought the almond paste got stirred directly into the hot espresso, which is yummy too. Instead, you’re supposed to blend the paste with water to create “almond milk,” which gets poured over ice and then combined with espresso. I recommend making the almond milk slightly more viscous, closer to half-and-half consistency.

Here’s where to get the good stuff…

I’ve tried both Caffè Sicilia and Mandorla d’Avola from Guistamo.com. Each product is made with Sicilian almonds, sugar, and water, and they’re both great.

I typically make caffé leccese with espresso, but recently used my Bialetti Moka, which made a stronger coffee. And, it’s one of the oldest ways to brew. If you do use your own, it’s recommended to use medium ground coffee for better water permeability. I’m still figuring out how these things work and used a finer ground this time- oops– but, pretty good I suppose!

The Moka pots were the symbol of the Italian Winter Olympics! It’s all making sense now…

This year, we celebrate the first National Moka pot day, which occurred on April 21st. The Bialetti Moka pot was invented by Italian engineer Alfonso Bialetti in the early 1930s. If you’re unfamiliar with Bialetti, I assure you you’re already familiar with it. It’s hard not to recognize that little cartoon caricature on the front, which people call l’ omino coi baffi,” meaning “the little man with the mustache.” It was apparently designed after Alfonso’s son! Using a moka pot is the next best option (in my opinion) to using an espresso machine or coffee maker.