BEETHOVEN BAR CAFFÈ, VIALE BEETHOVEN 54, 00144 ROMA

Rating: Poor, low-end Roman coffee

I liked the correspondence between the name of the Café, Beethoven Bar and the barista that greeted me while walking in. It was a stringy middle aged fellow, kind of pissed off and tempestuous. Don’t get me wrong, he was nice, but seemed angry at life, or at the fact that he was stuck working- when in reality, he should have really been writing mad symphonies that would change the world, like Beethoven… His manner of chucking the saucer for the coffees onto the bar and crisp sound the spoons made when they hit the saucer from a distance of 8 inches or more was inspiring.​

The coffee her served me was this:​

​Presentation: No water offered to me, but he gave some to two guys that seemed regulars when they came up to the bar. The cup was clean, sharp, shinny, no complaints. The logo of Caffè Vicerè, however, made me skeptical from the get go…

Temperature of Cup: Super hot, point down.

Quantity: Very short for the size of cup, point in the positive.

Temperature: By the time I had it, it was OK. So non added, nor taken away.

Volume/Consistency: Watery, no thickness, no body, runny … point off.

Crema: Dark crema, not thick nor persistent. It was very oily however, extremely dark. I would say neutral pointwise.​

​Odor: no odor, nope. Minus one.

Taste: rancid. Simple as that. It was so bitter that it immediately spilled over onto the rancid side. Another minus.​

​Overall: It just doesn’t add up. I would say that while the crema and its consistency were interesting, the coffee itself was just too much. It was too rancid, and gave me no incentive to finish it. And I didn’t, and that’s the definition for me of a poor coffee.

The setup: The three-group La Cimbali machine was great, there was either a Mazzer or Fiorenzato grinder tugged away behind it (probably the latter), and the setup was good enough to fine tune their beans to something decent, good, and definitely in the above average range. But it wasn’t. The Vicerè Caffee was still not impressive. Reminds me of my Palombini or Marziali experiences.​

But to be fair, the ambience with its profusion of yellow color and yellow marble accents everywhere was nice. It seemed like a place more for a quick lunch than a savory espresso.​

Beethoven Bar Caffè

Rosati 2008 S.R.L.

Viale Beethoven, 54

00144 Roma