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Rating: Standard, mid-range Roman coffee
According to their website, this is the original Caffè Trombetta. The one opened back in the late 19th century and surviving to this day. It is sitting directly in front of the East side of Termini station so it gets hundreds of thousands of customers every year. Guaranteed. So what does this mean for coffee? A recent comment here on this post mentioned fast food culture, I would agree that here we have a fast coffee (no slow food here in Rome’s coffee culture!) example. Read on…
Paying first (as in most touristy places it is a must here in Rome), and showing the receipt got me this:
Presentation: Nice clean crisp white cup, not extremely large, not small to my liking, but good. The spoon was some generic Italian or Chinese remake, and no water was served. However, an Italian guy next to me asked for water and it was given to him in a plastic disposable cup.
Temperature of Cup: Surprise number 1- it was at a great temperature. Nice touch, and nice start!
Quantity: It was a rather short shot for the size of the cup, so I was also happy.
Temperature: The coffee was at a very good temperature. All good so far.
Volume/Consistency: Hmm… not runny, not watery, rather smooth and silky. Great!
Crema: The Crema was dark, had a beautiful sheen to it, like fresh nail polish and yet showed some traces of oil, but nothing complex. We’re talking dark brown neon lights here (see how it reflects light in the picture)… and yet, it wasn’t persistent.
Odor: No real odor that I could perceive, I could imagine it, but really… it wasn’t there!
Taste: Very bitter, but not rancid. Deeply bitter, stout, robust coffee.
Overall: Overall, it was not as rich in taste as a better ‘Roman’ espresso can be. This was solid good quality, and a bar that set it at the mid-range espresso here in Rome. Lots of places serving decent coffee, and this is one of them. Is this coffee different than others? Well it’s not as bad as Danesi, nor as acutely pungent as Marziali, so it is indeed more round and soft. Yet still very one dimensional in terms of complexity of taste. Like most Roman food, it is simple ingredients, each holding their own on the plate.
The setup: They had an impressive group of machines. Two four-group La Cimbali M39’s set up along the very long bar. They had like-brand grinders, and each machine had a dedicated barista. It was nice. Ready for massive action! The coffee, well… of courseTrombetta.
The nice thing about this bar is that if you have coffee after 4pm, you pay less. It’s just .70 cents a pop! they have posters everywhere letting you know…
Caffè Trombetta, S.P.A.
Via Marsala 46/54, 00185 Roma
