a270/1234564593-bibicaffe-bottle_shot.jpg I just tried my first bottle of Bibicaffe, a “sparkling espresso drink” from Calabria, Italy. (Apparently it’s nearly 70 years old, so yes, I’m late to the party.) The woman at DeLaurenti, where they sell for $2.19, said “people are obsessed” with this drink. My first reaction was, “Yum!” but now I can’t decide which side of the delicious/cloying continuum it falls on. In either case, I’m gonna be wired this afternoon.

34 replies on “Good in a Gross Way, or Gross in a Good Way?”

  5. That’s good stuff. The little Campari sodas are great too (and the bottle is a design icon), as is Sanbitter and the many flavors of Crodino. I doubt you’ll find them at DeLaurenti’s; you’ll have to go to a city with Italians in it. I got a few eight-packs when I was last in Vancouver, BC. Can’t go wrong with a tiny bottle.

  12. Tastes a hell of a lot better than any of those damn “energy drinks.”
    _________________________________________

    Energy Drinks – 3x the sugar, 3x the caffeine and 3x the ass flavor

  17. It’s not cloying because it’s only a few ounces. American palates more accustomed to 64-ounce Big Gulps aren’t really attuned to the pleasures of the Little Sip, but it’s much cleaner and more refreshing to have a short sharp shock than a gallon of goo in your belly. That’s why a decent espresso is a tiny shot, not a “vente latte”. The best of these little drinks are even smaller, 100ml, and bitter as all fuck, which makes saliva flow and stimulates the appetite.

  23. Delicious, but I also thought that of Coke Black which approximated the flavor of Bibicaffe.

    Carbonated espresso drink from a boutique Italian-sounding manufacturer=acceptable. Carbonated espresso drink from a major American soft drink manufacturer=footnote in soft drink history.

  24. they used to serve ’em at the cap hill piecora’s years ago -now they’re kinda hard to find.

    always over ice with half-and-half!

    and yeah, you shouldn’t be paying more than two bucks a pop outside of a restaurant or cafe.

  26. I used to work at Delaurenti, and we drank one of those every day around 3 or 4, it was the perfect drink for that time of day. Its best over ice and a bit of half and half. yum!

  28. You know, ECB, I like a lot of the stuff you write. I respect what you have to say, even when I disagree. That said, you really don’t have to analyze every single moment of your life. It’s just a bottle of worthless crap meant to distract you from that two minutes of life you could be paying attention to. When’s the last time you had some pure enjoyment that you didn’t second guess while you were doing it?

  29. they had those similar ones in the skinny yellow cans at grocery outlet on MLK about a year ago for .50 each. i don’t think they’ve had them in since.

  31. One time when I was on tour some people we stayed with gave us five cases of Bibicaffe. I drank twelve in one day. After the first few, they start losing their impact. Also, they taste really horrible when they’ve been sitting in a hot van for a few days.

  32. What’s not to like? There are so many shitty bottled and canned drinks out there. I like to drink this poured over crushed ice on hot summer days. A little half-and-half is good with it, but not necessary.

  33. Not cloying, because there’s not enough of it to outstay its welcome (unless you drink three in a row, but don’t do that).
    For what it’s worth, K won’t drink them any more, she says she got terribly sick after drinking one years ago. That’s fine. More for me!

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