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Rating: Poor, low-end Roman Coffee
So here’s where one of those instances of great locale and great potential don’t really add up. Trastevere is exploding with tourists 24×7 and this place sits right in front of the super cool San Crisogono church… but all of this isn’t enough to spark the imagination of the bar owners. I was hoping to go into another cafe, but it was surprisingly closed. So I kept on walking on the street and found this place. The Melting Pot Caffè. I’m all for melting pots, it’s where things happen and creativity abounds. But in this case, a melting pot is the wrong metaphor for the coffee, as it’s the grimy kind of brew that’s resultant here. The staff were friendly enough, but just like on the exterior you can’t see the cafe’s name (had to wait for the receipt to find out what the name was), this place is just unfortunately nondescript.
Asking for a coffee got a polite cup of java placed on the counter:
Presentation: The cup was placed gently on the counter, and all was in order. There was a coffee drip from the espresso being milked for another client at the same time. No problem. The water was given to me also very kindly after I asked.
Temperature of Cup: Boy was it hot, it was super hot, a la Palombini EUR hot!
Quantity: The shot was small given the barrel-like cup. I was happy.
Temperature: The coffee was still scalding even after I waited a good 3-4 minutes. There were plenty Italians in the bar asking for coffees to go, which was interesting, and also telling the barista what their weekly ‘tab’ was…
Volume/Consistency: Watery, not much more to add to this.
Crema: Razor-thin, non persistent. Some texture which was nice to look at, but it didn’t hold up.
Odor: Humid Rome from the street, nothing else.
Taste: Rancid, bitter going over to a very rancid experience.
Overall: Yup, it was bad, so bad that I couldn’t finish it. I have built up quite a stomach for bad coffee, but this just didn’t cut it. It was rancid, watery, and I felt like the water was probably bad too.
The setup: As you can see, they had a La Cimbali M22 Premium mid 80s espresso machine with a similar 80s La Cimbali grinder. The coffee being served was Tazza d’Oro, at its worst I’m afraid!
Bar Caffetteria Melting Pot S.R.L.S
Piazza Sidney Sonnino, 33/35
00153 Roma