Rating: Standard, mid-range coffee
Right as you exit Termini station, and move to the left-hand side toward the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, or toward the Monti area and its semi-hip locales, you run right into the Gusto Napoli Caffè. It is the typical roman coffee locale, feeling more like a 7-Eleven on steroids than anything else. Next to it used to sit the famous Paraná Caffè, an establishment that is still in Rome, but who’s main locale has changed places. Now this place seems to be thriving. The staff are very friendly, and kick out tons of espressi an hour. So instead of a local Roman coffee, we get an ‘immigrant’ coffee, a Neapolitan in Rome. The area has tons of ethnic food locales and you can get mean Falafel, Shawarma, and whatnot just across the street from this locale.
Paying at the glass-protected maximum security-like bank teller cashier, gets you a receipt that is then placed on the counter, and asking for a coffee got me this:
Presentation: Water was served immediately, I was very glad, it was early and a punch of bitterness without anything to wash it down is harsh. Glass wasn’t super large, it was clean and all in order. The cup came with a nice Moreno logo on it, and was short, stout and fun. The spoon looked like a 1950s era relic, was a bit flimsy, but still fitting.
Temperature of Cup: Was very good temperature, the cup was taken from the top of the machine and it proved to be in the perfect temperature.
Quantity: It was a rather full espresso. The cup wasn’t small by any standards, but wasn’t US gargantuan either. It was bit longer than I would have liked.
Temperature: The espresso itself was good, it was warm and not going over into the piping hot temperature range.
Volume/Consistency: It wasn’t thick, but it was silky. It had a particular consistency that was high in coffee bean itself. It was sandy in the softest sense. It was Ok.
fCrema: It was light brown, didn’t show any signs of oily life or of live beans in the mix. Dark-roasted heaven here. The crema started to dissipate very quickly.
Odor: No odor here, nor anywhere within a 10 mile radius of any coffee shop here in Rome! Man are folks missing out on the experience of waking up and smelling the coffee!!
Taste: Ti was very soft actually, it wasn’t even bitter, it was light in its taste profile, and the silkyness of it made it a very mild taste experience. It didn’t have any kind of complex taste profile, but it was still decent robust coffee.
Overall: Given that it was a rather inconspicuous experience, this is just a regular mid-range Roman coffee. Nothing outstanding, nothing offensive. Middle of the road quality. And that’s not a bad thing given the amount of foot traffic this place receives!
The setup: And this is evidenced by the setup- they had a beautiful San Marco 4-group lever machine, with a Mazzer grinder, and then..
Another machine that is a semi-automatic Astoria looking thing! It is actually a BFC Lira machine (thanks to Marko for spotting this!)
Man can they crank out espressi!! The brand being brewed was a new one for me, it is Caffè Moreno a Neapolitan based Roaster. I like the brand’s logo:
The Vesuvius right next to the cup of coffee that looks like a charred turd with stench visibly emanating from it! Seriously, it is fun and semi-vintage looking, which might be ‘cool’ for some.
Gusto Napoli Caffè
C & F Sn.C
Via Daniele Manin 5-7
00185 Roma
Tel. 06 488 1703
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