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Author

Valentina Palange

"Valentina Palange is 40 years old. She was born in Taranto and lives in Milan. She works in Continua a leggere"

Valentina Palange is 40 years old. She was born in Taranto and lives in Milan. She works in coffee communication, creates content, and is a social media strategy consultant.
With more than ten years of experience, in 2018 she started the Instagram page “Specialty PaL” to help more people discover real coffee culture.
She first discovered coffee by chance, after trying different jobs: she started in sales, then worked behind the counter in coffee shops, where she could mix theory and practice and learn more and more about coffee.
In 2024 she took part in the National Barista Championships organized by the Specialty Coffee Association, ranking fourth, and in the same year she became the Italian AeroPress Champion - one of the most internationally appreciated brewing methods.
She holds a degree in Performing Arts (Theater major) from the University of Bologna and pursued a Master’s in Corporate Communication.
She is also active on TikTok with her profile “La Tarantina Espatriata”, where, besides talking about coffee, she shares the feelings of those living far from their hometown. “Coffee in Italy Sucks” is her debut book.

Author's books

Coffee in Italy sucks. A journey through awareness, false myths and cruel truths

21.67$

In Italy, we pride ourselves on being coffee experts, but for that very reason, few of us truly take time to understand what’s in our cup. I myself only started learning about coffee by chance, just as I was turning thirty. Back then, I didn’t even like coffee – It tasted bitter as poison, left me with stomach aches and a racing heart.
But a decade later, I realized the real problem wasn’t me. It was the kind of coffee served in most Italian cafés.
This book isn’t a manual. It’s a personal journey, a confession, and sometimes an accusation, moving between distant and familiar worlds: from captivating tales about brewing traditions to the harsh realities of social exploitation along the supply chain.
It covers everything from where coffee is produced, to the café in your neighborhood, and even the shady business deals where the true value of coffee is hidden behind (often fake) gifts exchanged between coffee roasters and traditional bars.
Inside, you’ll discover recipes to try at home, true but little-known stories, myths ready to be busted, and one question that keeps returning:
“What are we really drinking?”