There are many things you need to know before having a coffee in Italy. It might seem easy to make good coffee, but in reality it is very complicated.

First of all you take the coffee at the “bar”. It is true that you prepare it at home as well with your “moca” and that now there are a lot of machines that can make it, but it is not by chance that the advertisement  reads: "As good as the bar."
The bar is the place where you start the day, where you meet friends, where you can relax between one client and another. It must be selected very carefully because the bar represents who you are; it tells people a lot about ourselves. There are the posh bars where you go to show off and to display who you know, there is the bar near home at which you go and meet old friends, and there is the bar where you work.

Coffee in Italy is always considered only ESPRESSO.  Every Italian takes it in his own way, but that is still the only coffee.  All the others have come later and to be honest are not really Italian.
So the espresso, which normally reaches half of the little cup, might actually be:
macchiato caldo – with a splash of hot milk
macchiato freddo – with a splash of cold milk
con poca schiuma – with a little foam
Lungo – long = diluted with some more water
Ristretto - concentrated
Doppio - doubled
Corretto – with some alcohol
In tazza grande con acqua calda a parte – in a big cup with hot water on the side

Now you can also have American coffee, orzo coffee, decaffeinated coffee or coffee with milk, but it is better to order it whispering so that nobody can hear you.

Now there are two recommendations when it comes to coffee:

1. One can say that all Italians know coffee well, but you can certainly say that the "PhD” for coffee must be given to Neapolitans. So, NEVER try to take one of them to that bar you know where you think the coffee is good, because they are certainly used to a better one!

2. A real Italian will NEVER have a cappuccino after a meal, nor during the day.
The cappuccino is exclusively for breakfast accompanying a croissant.
If you order one at other occasions, you show everyone that you are a foreigner!