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Rating: Standard, very good quality Roman coffee
The Mazzaroni Caffè is one of those place you're glad to discover. For locals it's a no-brainer of a choice. But man, it's great to run into one of these places out of the blue. The logo of the store is right up there with the bigger brands down town (Tazza d'Oro, Sant'Eustachio, etc), and well, it's a whole different world in a very positive sense. It exhudes late 60s early 70s Italian coffee culture and the interior, as expected, is still stuck in that time period. The place was humming with tons of people, and lots of fun and jovial conversation between the two baristas and the clientele, who besides speaking to the baristas could be heard grieving their problems to their friends.
After I paid at the register, I got the following nice thing placed on the bar:
Presentation: Water was not given immediately but it was given to me very quickly and courteously when I asked for it. The cup was fluted (my favorite shape nowadays) clean, and the spoon had seen some action, but it was clean. The cup of water served was rather generous, so all in shape.
Temperature of Cup: It was at a good temperature. I was happy.
Quantity: Yup, short shot. We're in a good coffee neighborhood!
Temperature: Yup, again, good. On the mark. And man, I was getting ready for some nice coffee this morning!
Volume/Consistency: Silky, smooth, it felt as if I was having a macchiato... it was that thick and silky! Man, again, was I happy!
Crema: The crema was lightish, no signs of deep oils in there, but it was thin, and the mark of a good extraction, persistent.
Odor: No odor in this place. I smelled only a slight fragrance of deeply roasted coffee. But ever every so slight.
Taste: It was very lightly bitter. It was mild, smooth, and no tones of rancidness or pungent death in its midst.
Overall: I was very glad. It wasn't oily nor sirupy. It wasn't a third wave complex coffee where we can pick out beautiful tones of distant flowers blossoming in the tropical rainforest. Nope, just straight up bitter coffee. However, it was silky at its best. As you can see from the last photo, the crema wasn't adding any trick's to it. It was all in the extraction and it was a good shot.
The setup: They had a nice and oft seen combination of La Cimbali espresso machine with a like-brand grinder. The coffee I had to ask, and it was the same as the Nino Caffè in Ciampino, Golden Brazil Caffè, which in the Ciampino iteration is very good, one of the best Roman espressos I've had. So no wonder this is silky and rich.
Here's a shot of the interior, lively and full of people. There was a large selection of pastries and apparently later in the day, dishes, plates, etc. All cafes here in Rome tend to reinvent themselves to optimize business.
Bar Gelateria Gastronomia Mazzaroni Caffè,
di Sole Catering S.R.L.
Via della Magliana 207
00146 Roma