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Rating: Standard, normal quality Bologna-roasted coffee in Rome
The Desideri e Caffè cafe in the Monteverde neighborhood is an interesting phenomenon, it is always packed with people. There are always people on the tables outside, inside, and always quite a lot of traffic at the bar. It is about 20 seconds walking distance from the Crismi cafe, which as I said, is a spectacular cafe. Let’s see what’s the deal here.
Asking for a coffee gets you this:
Presentation: So no water offered, but I’m sure I could have had one if asked. I took this at a table as the bar was too crowed. Nice cup with the name of the coffee being roasted.
Temperature of Cup: Ok, detail number one: the cup was extremely hot, had to wait quite a while for it to cool down.
Quantity: You might not be able to tell, but the cup was rather large, and the espresso quite long in this cup.
Temperature: By the time I drank it, the espresso was already at a proper temperature. But who knows if it was too warm before?
Volume/Consistency: The volume was too much for me, the espresso quite watery in my opinion.
Crema: The crema was very light, again reflecting an over-extraction. But it was a bit caky, which was also interesting.
Odor: No real odor as with all the Roman espressos… sad fact, but true!
Taste: Very Bitter, not rancid. So, no fruit, no extra extraordinary flavors here.
Overall: Not bad, not offensive, and I guess what makes this place so popular is its nice atmosphere. The baristas were in constant dialogue with all the clients, speaking about their groceries, their doctor visits, to voicing their own complaints about working too much, etc… So this might be the equation here. And a big difference between Crismi and this place is the decor and the fact that there is space in its interior for tables and a nice contoured bar. So people have a place to spend time in. This place seems to not mind if young and old people lounge around for 45 minutes doing nothing… so that’s a plus.
The setup: They had a very wonderful brand new Faema that is totally programmable and adjustable, so their espressos should have been better. Grinder appears to be some type of like branded Faema grinder. Not sure.
The coffee being served was from Club Kavé a Bologna based roaster. So the bar seems to be quite proud of this with lots of paraphernalia to show for it. Unfortunately, their interpretation of the coffee beans wasn’t anything exciting. Crismi Bar just next door is undisputedly better.
Here are some photos of the interior. In the evening of course there are drinks served, but it’s only open until 9pm so…
Desideri e Caffè,
Desideri Mauro
Via F. Ozanam, 25
00152 Roma