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Rating: Standard, solidly decent Roman coffee
As I walked through this boulevard, long away from touristy crowds and deep in a working class neighborhood I stumbled onto paradise itself… or so the name of the bar says: Paradiso Terrestre Caffè. Yup, it’s here on earth and it’s represented by a coffee bar! How cool is this?! Well, walking it, it was all that you can expect from a workingman’s cafe in southern Rome. It was stuck in the late 70s early 80s, and it had a super relaxed calm atmosphere. The coffee, man it was solid decent. Read on.
Asking for a coffee got me this:
Presentation: Well… actually I didn’t get that. I actually got a macchiato because the barista didn’t understand me. So when he gave me the macchiato, he said ‘you did ask for a macchiato, no?’ and I said… nope. So he apologized profusely and went ahead to pour this for me. It was in a shape of cup that I like, fluted, and clean, and all there. Water was served automatically and in a nice decently sized glass of water. But then there was the cup itself. It merits some attention.
Yeah, a little tree.. i guess it’s the tree of the forbidden fruit? who knows. In the 70s the surely would have known.
Temperature of Cup: It was great, spot on.
Quantity: Nice short shot, I was happy. With a little tree on my cup, things couldn’t be better.
Temperature: Ah, yes, they were better, it was at a great brewing temperature and I could savor the entire coffee without getting my tongue burnt.
Volume/Consistency: it wasn’t thick, nor necessarily silky. Let’s say it had some slight consistency to it, but on the watery side.
Crema: It was brownish, not very dark, nor was it necessarily thick. It was however persistent and held its own.
Odor: Nope, just darkly roasted figments of my imagination.
Taste: It was bitter of course, very bitter. Not rancid, nor any hints of metallic taste of any sort. Since it was watery the bitterness went smoothly away with each sip. It got lighter as I drank it.
Overall: Given that locals drink their espressos with 2 or at most 3 sips, the fact that I sit on mine and give a good 4-6 sips says a lot about how I perceive the coffee. Very differently. But had it had any type of oily thickness or consistency it would have been in the upper echelons of Roman coffee. As is however, it’s a decent coffee that you can’t go wrong with.
The setup: They had a nice La Cimbali M39, with a Mazzer grinder. And the brew being squirted out of the machine was Biondi Caffè. This is an East-Roman (20km out) roaster. it was a decent representation of their stuff. I’m sure it could be fined tuned for a better brew.
The interior was very lively, check out the Romanista shirts (even on their Ginseng coffee brewer there’s a decal of a Roma soccer player).
Snack Bar Paradiso Terrestre
di Cocciatelli Armando S.A.S.
Via della Magliana, 265
00146 Roma