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Rating: Standard, mid-range Roman coffee
The Gran Caffè Roma on the Via Vittorio Veneto (in the Municipio I area, as there are quite a few cafes with this same name here in Rome) was a show of conservative class. The locale has a logo that reminds me of the best 1950s cafe’s (think of Tomeucci, etc), it’s got lots of wall-to-wall dark wooden paneling, oil paintings, mirrors and vaulted ceilings, and darkly lit interior. It’s in a rich neighborhood, and aims to play the part. It wasn’t pompous, and it’s staff very courteous. The setting was very nice with ample outside seating. Although I’m not particular to these kinds of cafes, this wasn’t bad at all and did the trick.
Walking into the left door of the cafe you’re met immediately with a coffee machine and the bar. The bar has this dark blue lighting that made my coffee look green. Here’s what I was given when I asked for coffee:
Presentation: No water was offered, I had a feeling that given the high-tourist area, it might have been charged. But not sure. I didn’t ask, nor did I see it given to others. The cup was clean, quite large and fluted, a new design I haven’t seen before, and also was custom printed for the locale. It had a blue ribbon along the outside with a very fancy stylized ‘GCR’ on it. It came with a candy that consisted of chocolate on the outside and a coffee bean in its interior.
Temperature of Cup: Very good temperature. Not super hot, nor tepid cold. It was warm and reflected a good boiler temperature of the machine. We’re off to a good start after all!
Quantity: It was a relatively short shot. The illusion is that it was shorter than it really was, but the espresso was a full one.
Temperature: Also very good temperature. On the spot. Nice warmer espresso, but not boiling.
Volume/Consistency: It was an odd experience. It was on the thin side, not oily, but rather towards the sandy-grainy texture. It had a tendency of being silky if you let the espresso move through your mouth.
Crema: It was dark, thin, cakey and tended to break into ‘ice-bergs’ of crema. Yet it was persistent throughout the drinking of it. The thickness of it gave signs of a relatively decent oil content.
Odor: No smell as usual. Even though the coffee was ground on the spot, no smell.
Taste: It was very very bitter. If you’re not used to this level of bitterness, then I’d make you jump, but it wasn’t rancid in any way. It had strong acidic tones, sharp, and stout.
Overall: It was decent. It’s strong acidic profile made it difficult to transform this into an outstanding Roman coffee. But given that it wasn’t rancid, had some volume to it, and decent crema, places it in a good consistent category of being a mid-range drink.
The setup: There was a what appears to be a three-group Synchro Diadema-Impera espesso machine, with a grinder that I couldn’t make out. Looked like an older Nuova Simonelli? The tamper was a plastic one that might have come stock on the machine. The coffee being roasted, was Universal Caffè, a Pescara-based roaster that I’ve encountered just one other time here in Rome.
Gran Caffè Roma
Pizzetta S.R.L.
Via Vittorio Veneto 30
00187 Roma
Tel. 06 6482 4248