Italians love coffee and the country is responsible for introducing the beverage to the rest of Europe. It was the Venetian Republic that first brought the beans to Italy from the Middle East. Venetians instantly fell in love with the brew, but soon the Catholic Church became involved. In 1600, wary of the association with the Ottoman Empire, clerics asked Pope Clement VIII to ban the beans.

To form a fair verdict, he asked to taste it. The Pope remarked, “This Satan’s drink is so delicious that it would be a pity to let the infidels have exclusive use of it.” The moment has come to known as the ‘baptism of coffee.’ With the Pope’s approval, Italian coffee culture was not only born, it was actually blessed. The appetite for the drink grew and the first Italian coffee house opened in Venice around 1675. A century later, there were 218 coffee shops in Venice.