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Rating: Standard, OK Roman coffee served
The Rossi Bar Caffè is a nice find at the south-end of the Portuense area. Its got lots of glass, clean white-plastic wicker chairs and a comfortable relaxed atmosphere to it. I found a few people lounging about, and even somebody with a laptop clicking away at their daily work. It was a nice change of pace from the grab and go frenetic pace of 90% of Roman coffee houses. Also, the fact that there wasn’t music blaring in your ear might have given the whole ensemble a more laid back, chill out attitude to it. I dug it.
Asking for a cup of Joe got me the following:
Presentation: It was quiet and I could have asked, but I didn’t, and the barista didn’t offer a cup of water. No hurt in that, but not there. I liked the small, compact packaging of the coffee. I felt like I was getting some type of special chocolate for some reason!
Temperature of Cup: Yikes, that’s a damned hot chocolate! The cup was very hot. Reminded me that this indeed is something to be taken seriously…
Quantity: I was happy with the very short-short shot. The cup was already very small to start with and this was good. It was definitely a ristretto by US standards.
Temperature: Coffee was very hot, even after waiting a bit for the cup to calm down.
Volume/Consistency: Hmm… here the effects of the high temperature became telling. It was a very watery espresso. It was paper thin in my opinion.
Crema: It was very light, grainy, and cookie cutter like consistency. Not inviting in my opinion.
Odor: Yes, there was smell here, but it was a rancid, sharp smell.
Taste: Like the consistence, it had a thin taste – the espresso had a bitter flat taste, not rancid, but somehow chalky … However, I will say that all of the flavor of this espresso was left for the very very last few drops in the cup (yeah, those you see in the picture below!). I wasn’t necessarily loving this espresso, but I said, ‘what the hell’ and I finished it. And the last half teaspoon turned out the best of the whole ordeal! It was oily, and had a deep dark coffee taste.
Overall: So it wasn’t a bad coffee, it was normal, regular and also at the end, surprising. I guess the fact that by the very end the coffee had cooled down enough for some flavor to be felt, and maybe that time which elapsed from the first sip to the last let all the coffee particles sediment down on the bottom changed the darn thing!
The setup: They had the typical La Cimbali duo setup. In this instance a M29 Basic LaCimbali machine. It was ok, and did the job. However, I was interested in the coffee, and I was glad to find out it was that old Roman pal of mine La Marziali Caffè. That explains what I was tasting! This coffee is already notorious in my book for kicking my ass every time I have one… It’s just too pungent and dark for my taste, and I’m yet to have a coffee house serve me this type of poison and convince me it’s good! But here we are, and now we know.
Either way, the bar is a good retreat to chill and enjoy the morning.
Rossi Bar Caffè
Bar Pasticceria Gelateria Tavolacala Ladies & C. S.R.L.
Via dei Colli Portuensi, 565
00151 Roma