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Rating: Standard, serving Circi coffee; Own roast is quite good
The Antico Caffè e Torrefazione del Brasile is another one of those Roman wonder-places. If you’ve read any other posts here you know this is not about praising everything that is ‘Roman’, but simply about trying to get a straight-forward view on what’s being poured into the cup we drink as coffee. Here’s another one of those peculiar places, and yes it happens to be in the hipster-land of Monti just south west of Termini station. The peculiar thing about this locale, is that it gives out a mixed message to its clients. Since this is a roaster, a torrefazione, I was expecting to walk in and drink its own brew. Let’s see what’s going on.
Asking for a coffee got me this thing:
Presentation: Hello? What? What’s on the cup? Yup, loud and clear, a brand. Well, the cup was clean, crisp, no dishwasher machine scars. It was semi-round, semi-fluted, it was decent, and not extremely large. No water was offered, and I’m not sure if I’d have to pay for it or not as the barista addressed me immediately in English even after I ordered in Italian (well who the hell knows how my Italian accent is!).
Temperature of Cup: It was there, present let me say. It was warm, but not scalding hot.
Quantity: Full espresso, a little long in my opinion, especially with the size of the cup. I’d liked have it a bit shorter.
Temperature: Yup, spot on by this time, so we’re doing OK. Even though I’m disappointed at the logo, I still go forward.
Volume/Temperature: Ahh yesss…. Watery heaven here. Thin is in at this place.
Crema: It was darkish, thin as well, and non persistent. Not really remarkable.
Odor: Wow, I was waiting for a freshly roasted coffee smell, but yet again, I’m surprised to actually not smell anything at a roaster. I guess I’m just too conditioned by US coffee houses where you smell coffee (hell, even at a gas station in the morning you smell more coffee than I did here!).
Taste: Well, it was bitter, and the thinness accentuated this a bit. But it was not rancid. It had a low oil profile, so this didn’t help.
Overall: It was a normal, run-of-the-mill espresso. I’ve had better from this brand, and I guess the whole experience was just – standard. Nothing less, you won’t get served junk here, but you won’t be standing at the bar thinking ‘holy crap, what a great espresso!’ either.
The setup: They had a very decent three group astoria machine, with what looks to be a Mazzer grinder and another for decaf that looks to be from the 1980s and maybe a Gaggia, not sure.
The coffee being served, was indeed Classico Caffè Circi. I asked the barista what coffee they were serving and he said indeed it was Circi. I then asked, what’s the story with the coffee they ‘roast’, was it Circi as well? And he said no, that they roast their own coffee to sell. I asked why didn’t they serve the coffee they roast, and I got an answer that Circi does a mix for them… yeah. He could have said that the espresso machine and it’s maintenance comes free of charge if they buy from a distributor….
Whatever, here’s what they were selling:
Four different types:
Miscela Famiglia (Family Blend): 100% Robusta beans, and 1.5 euro per 100g.
Miscela Bar (Bar Blend): 50% Arabica/50% Robusta beans, and 1.6 euro per 100g.
Caffè del Papa (The Pope’s Coffee): 70% Arabica/30% Robusta and it cost 1.80 euro per 100g
Gemme del Brasile (Gems of Brazil): 100% Arabica, and it costs 2 euro per 100g.
I asked how often they roast and the guy said, as often as necessary. I asked every week, every day, etc.. and he said when it runs out. Great! So some of these beans have been probably sitting around in these bins for quite some time. But he did say that they had the toasting machine in the cafe, so all the equipment is there.
I purchased 100g of the 2 euro Gemme del Brasile blend. This is what the packaging looks like:
A peek at the beans shows some consistency and an even darker roast.
Here’s what I’ve ground it to:
Went for a short espresso. I brewed it at ca. 90 degrees celcius, and it was a very good espresso. It was silky, slightly bitter taste, and no tones at all of any rancidness. When I ground the coffee the lifeless no-smelling beans blossomed with warm tones of wood and coffee (not complex, but fragrant any way!). Its creamyness made it one of the best coffees I’ve had so far here in Rome from a traditional roaster. Bravo!
Here are some pictures of the place:
Antico Caffè del Brasile, S.R.L.
Via dei Serpenti 23
00184 Roma
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