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Rating: Standard, mid-range Roman coffee
Right next to the Conca d’Oro metro exit, and in the thick of the North Eastern Monte Sacro area of Rome is a hip cafe that’s a throwback to a 1950s US styled diner, à la 2015’s hip mode. The Conca Caffè sits on a corner, is very much a Roman ‘bazaar’ coffee shop (i.e. smokes, bus tickets, phone cards, cum coffee, appetizers, etc), yet has a fun black, white and red interior that gives is an interesting tone. The coffee was decent, and the machine, well, a throwback to the 50-60s also, so we’re in good hands here.
It was evening when I walked in, and the machine was of course still on and ready. Either way, the nice barista shot me this thing:
Presentation: Clean cup, clean small spoon, no water offered. When I asked for some water, I realized later that I had to pay for it! A nice .40c for water, half of what the coffee costs. It was sparkling and a full brimming cup, which a lot cheaper than a bottled water. Not bad, but then again, other places offer a glass for free.
Temperature of cup: It was hot, quite hot, and maybe because it was sitting on the machine all afternoon. After a decent minute I was able to approach the coffee with my lips.
Quantity: As you can see, the cup was rather awkward, it had lots of curves, and volume and body, but the espresso was short, and compact. I was happy. At this hour I didn’t want to dive into a double long espresso.
Temperature: Ah, it was good. With the one minute mark it settled into place and it was great to drink. Not hot as hell, I could go have dinner and still taste everything I ate!
Volume/Consistency: This is interesting here, it felt like drinking a sandy, thickish, crunchy kind of coffee. It was of course not sludge, but it had a quite thick amount of grinds in the brew. Interesting, not bad.
Crema: It was decent. It looked thickish, it had a some character of oils and it’s past tropical life in there. And it was consistent and persistent.
Odor: Yup! It did indeed smell. It had a darkly roasted smell, no fruits, no citrus, no spices, just straight-up dark-roasted coffee of some concoction.
Taste: Well this sandy like taste was all it had. It was rather flat- deeply bitter as we know, but not rancid. Just a standard straight, non room for debate solid coffee.
Overall: The smell of freshly ground coffee helped this coffee. The taste spectrum was narrow, but the crema good and it looked like this coffee brand could show some real promise. I’ll see if I can find other cafes brewing this coffee. It was a decent cup and maybe a bit better than just run of the mill Roman coffee.
The setup: They had a very beautiful Faema E61 modern edition. I liked especially the rack on top of the machine for the cups. The grinder was also famea, and for some reason I just don’t dig its shape… just not pretty. The coffee being served was Caffè Miami, I have seen this elsewhere as I walk through town, but haven’t been able to find their web presence. I’ll assume it’s Roman for the time being as it’s logo, etc. seems very local by comparison to the other Roman roasters.
Conca Caffè,
Angelone Lucia
Via Conca d’Oro 124
00141 Roma