Bicerin

Bicerin

Bicerin from Turin, Italy
Type	Chocolate beverage
Country of origin	Italy
Region of origin	Piedmont
Ingredients	Espresso, drinking chocolate, milk

Bicerin (Piedmontese: [bitʃeˈriŋ]) is a traditional hot drink native to Turin, Italy, made of ganache (a type of thick hot chocolate), espresso, and frothed milk, served layered in a small glass.

Origin

Caffè al Bicerin, a historic coffeehouse of Turin that traditionally serves bicerin.

The word bicerin (Piedmontese for 'small glass') is the equivalent of Italian bicchierino (diminutive of bicchiere, lit. 'glass').

This coffee beverage has existed since the 18th century and was praised by Alexandre Dumas in 1852. It is believed to be based on the 17th-century drink bavarèisa ('Bavarian'): the key distinction is that in a bicerin the three components are carefully layered in the glass rather than being mixed together.

Caffè al Bicerin, which sits across from the Santuario della Consolata in Turin's piazza della Consolata, has been serving the drink since the 18th century. Local lore suggests that bicerin was invented at Caffė al Bicerin or at Caffė Fiorio c. 1704.

Liqueur

The Vincenzi Family Distillery in Turin also produces a chocolate hazelnut liqueur under this name.

See also

• Piedmontese cuisine
• List of coffee drinks
• List of chocolate drinks
• Espressino and marocchino – similar drinks

External links

• Bicerin at prodottitipici.it (in Italian) (archived 27 September 2006)