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Rating: Standard, mid-range normal Roman coffee
The Bar Gioachino Belli Caffè in Trastevere is in a prime location, both at the entrance of Trastevere, near the Dante House, and right in front of a taxi rest area. So it’s always packed with attitude filled guys (and some ladies who tend to stay outside as they know better…) but anyways, filled with taxi drivers who are thirsting for better paying tourists. Whatever the beat might be at this place, it’s got a kicking espresso machine, and an OK espresso.
I walked in and was surprised by the eclectic mix of styles and junk all over the place inside. It’s a cafe, bar, pizzeria, whatever you want, it’s there. The barista was really nice and politely gave me the following:
Presentation: Nice clean cup, bowl shaped, and water was given after I asked. All in order here.
Temperature of Cup: So let’s start, the cup was super hot, had to wait over two minutes…
Quantity: It looked quite short in the cup, but when I drank it, it felt very long.
Temperature: It was still hot when I drank it, too hot.
Volume/Consistency: It was a rather thickish espresso that showed that the machine / grind combo was dialed in OK.
Crema: It was dark and I was happy, but then there was this nice bubbly blond top to it that didn’t square. There were traces of oil…
Odor: Che?
Taste: It was very very stout, and very bitter, it was tending to go towards the rancid but never got there. The taste was flat even though the espresso had body.
Overall: Overall it was a middle-run, decent Roman coffee with all the traits of Rome. Super bitter, boiling damned hot coffee all coming together to give you a good kick in the ass…. given that the place was full of bickering Taxi drivers, I can see why the coffee or the drivers were this way!
The setup: The espresso machine was nice, it was a San Remo Roma TCS model in white that broke my heart seeing it used for such a flat coffee. The grinder looked like a San Remo SR50 Economy model in silver. The coffee being roasted is a Roman based Caffè Gran Brazil which I’ve had here in a lot better versions than here.
Gioachino Belli Caffè,
Bar Belli Corsan S.R.L.
Piazza Giuseppe Gioachino Belli, 4
00153 Roma