Check back soon
Once posts are published, you’ll see them here.
Rating: Poor, low-end Roman coffee
This, I must say, is shabby-chic taken to the extreme. Whereas the Appia Antica Caffè was all about subtle charm and playing off decadence in a fun way, this is an extreme, a bad extreme. I know the whole fascinating thing of the Appia Antica is the decrepit buildings, but come on… the outside of the L’Incontro Bar Caffè looks like it’ll fall apart any minute! Walking into this, I had a bad feeling from the start. But I was surprised by the interior. Totally normal and modern as any 1980s Roman cafe is. The owner and barista (seemed father and daughter) were very nice, quiet, and sober. The coffee, even more sobering. Let’s see why.
Asking for a coffee got this placed in front of me:
Presentation: No water offered, none served, probably would have given to me. But here we’re grading on presentation, and it wasn’t anything special. I recognized the brand, and I’ve had some excellent coffees from this… so I got my hopes up!
Temperature of Cup: It was super hot, yeah, Roman backwaters type of hot. Crazy hot.
Quantity: Short shot. Nice and to the point. If this was going to be painful, it was going to be quick about it.
Temperature: Yup! Still damned hot even after a full 3 minutes.
Volume/Consistency: Thin, razor, stainless steel with miraculous rust on it thin.
Crema: Also equally thin, non persistent, had some signs of life in it though. Like a long light brown streak running through it.
Odor: Humidity from the interior, does that count?
Taste: Man, it was spicy! It was metallic in taste, oh yeah, rancid in every way!
Overall: Well it was bad coffee. Quite poor and I simply couldn’t finish it. As you can see I got close, but the farther down the shot I went (which is already a mistake with this drink as it’s supposed to be downed all in one or two goes…) but whatever, the more I drank the worse it got.
The setup: They had a proprietary La Cimbali looking Gima Caffè three group machine going with a Mazzer grinder. Could be doing better I say. The coffee is a local Roman roaster Gima Caffè. Some of the best coffees I’ve had have been from them… so I know it’s all about the setup here and attention (or lack of it) to the final product.
Snack Bar Tabacchi
L’Incontro
Monsagrati Claudio
Via Appia Antica 64, 00179 Roma