Check back soon
Once posts are published, you’ll see them here.
Rating: Standard, lower end version of Santos Caffè
The Vela Caffè stands along the via Fonteiana, a street littered with cafes. There’s few other streets here in Rome with so many in such a short distance! The avenue is hugging the lower end of the Vila Pamphilj and has a lot of competition. I was interested in tasting their coffee because they brew Santos Caffè. Let’s see how they do.
Asking for a coffee gets you the following:
Presentation: Nice bright red cup. The cafe inside is all red, so it goes well with the decor. I like where the Santos logo is at, and we’re off to a decent start. No water offered.
Temperature of Cup: It was good, not super hot. Took it off the top of the coffee.
Quantity: It was a bit too much coffee in the cup for my taste. Te cup was rather round and large so, a big espresso.
Temperature: Here’s the first surprise, it was very hot, almost burnt my tongue.
Volume/Consistency: Quite a thin brew, too much water in this espresso as it was very watery.
Crema: The Crema was quite thin, while I liked the darker-ish color, it was flimsy and yet more persistent than I thought… However, it reminded me of varnish, or something else, some piece of furniture… see for yourself below:
Odor: A very slight odor, not very aromatic. I’m used to characterless coffee now…
Taste: Not bitter. Good, very strong, but watery… so the bitterness is counterbalanced. I think with half a spoonful of sugar or even a quarter of a spoon this would make a very pleasant coffee.
Overall: Decent lower-end version of the Santos roasts. Just down the street there is the ‘Voglia di Caffè’ bar which does an outstanding job with this roaster. However, if you drink it with sugar or as a cappuccino in the morning, it might be spectacular. And, if you’re lazy and have this below your apartment, it’s a good deal, but for a straight espresso, I’d be willing to walk two minutes to the other place.
Their setup is similar to Voglia di Caffè, and other decent cafes on this thoroughfare. Meaning a potent coffee served out of a E61 group head. Here it’s the Zola II by Grimac, a Bolognese manufacturer that churns out a good mix of solid machines. The grinder seemed to be a Gaggia- Hence all is in order for a decent coffee. What we’re dealing with is a different taste, a different opinion of that that Traditional Roman espresso is.
The locale is nice, there’s some chairs on the outside and also inside.
It’s clean and gives you a place to chill and read.
Vela Caffè,
Caffetteria Gastronomia
di Parisi E. C. e Fabio Tony, S.N.C
Via Fonteiana, 46
00152 Roma