Affaogato-whata?

It's time to talk GELATO.

But wait, isn't this a coffee blog?
SI! It is! And what's better than when the two unite? Nada.

Pitango is a gelateria with locations around DC, VA, and MD, including:

• CAPITOL HILL - 660 Pennsylvania Ave. SE, Washington, DC 20003
• LOGAN CIRICLE - 1451 P Street, NW, Washington, DC 20005
• PENN QUARTER (my go-to location) - 413 7th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20004
• RESTON TOWN CENTER - 11942 Democracy Drive, Reston, VA 20190
• BALTIMORE'S FELLS POINT - 802 South Broadway, Baltimore, MD 21231

After living in Rome for four months, traveling to all the best and most delicious gelaterias Italy has to offer, and consuming approximately three tons of gelato, I would say I know good gelato when I taste it. But during my stay in Italy, I never saw gelato, (or espresso for that matter,) served the way Pitango does it. They call it, affogato.

Affaogato is discribed as, "The ultimate dessert-snack-energy-booster," and that's exactly what it is. A scoop of gelato is placed into a ceramic brown cappuccino cup and then topped with two shots of espresso. Pitango uses the finest espresso resulting in a beautify bitter-sweet taste. For many Americans, espresso is too potent to handle. The Italians, they love it.

With affaogato, Pitango caters to the American need for something a little bit sweeter in their cup of coffee. By adding a dollop of gelato the ice cream acts as a sweetener and creamer, slowly melting into the rich and delightfully bitter espresso. You can sip on your espresso and spoon out the gelato at the same time making for a caffeinated treat to wake up the scenes.

And when I say caffeinated, I mean CAFFEINATED. When I have had the affaogato at Pitango I leave feeling like I just went out for coffee flavored cocktails. I personally love the feeling of "givemeanythingtodoandiwilldoitIhavesomuchenergylookathowfastiamtypingwowthatwasgood!" But if you don't, I am sure you can get your affaogato made with decaf espresso.

Pitango recommends adding a chocolate or hazelnut gelato to the Affaogato. I have tried both, and while both are good, I prefer to add stracciatella, which is vanilla chocolate chip, (theirs has chocolate shavings instead, which is even better!)

I have also heard rumors that you can make a faux affaogato using Guinness in the place of espresso and Guinness ice cream in the place of gelato. Happy hour anyone? (But seriously let me know I am so down to try it!)