Turin’s numerous historic cafes all serve bicerin, but Caffe Al Bicerin, which opened its doors on Piazza della Consolata in 1763, lays claim to inventing the drink — and its recipe is a closely guarded secret. Said to have been inspired by an 18th-century drink known as a bavareisa — a speciality of all of the grand cafes in Turin at the time — bicerin was made with hot, melted chocolate, milk, sugar syrup and coffee, and served in a large glass. Variations were soon born. In one, the ingredients (chocolate, coffee and milk) were served separately, while in others just two of the three ingredients were combined. For example, coffee and milk created a drink like today's cappuccino, known locally as pur e fiur (‘pure and flower’), or coffee and hot chocolate were combined for pur e barba (‘pure and chocolate’). But the original bavareisa ingredients, served together 'n poc 'd tut (‘a little of everything’), in layers, in a smaller glass with cream in place of the milk, quickly became Al Bicerin’s most popular drink. By 1852, in their guide to Turin, Guglielmo Stefani and Domenico Mondo wrote that ‘bicchierino’ is ‘the favourite drink of the morning: ministers, magistrates, professors, shopkeepers, farm owners, milliners, peddlers, country people, etc, all of them happily spend their three coins to economically refuel their stomachs’.