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Rating: Standard, low-end Roman coffee
The Viminale Bar Caffè is right next to the Ministry of Interior affairs, and sits on the northern border of the Esquilino neighborhood. It has all the trappings of a classical stereotipical Italian caffe: Lots of B/W photos on the walls of politicians and famous people who’ve walked in its doors, some art, lots of wood panelling, and two skinny young baristas that are nice and willing to pick an argument over politics with the local bureaucrats. Let’s see what’s going on with their brew.
I asked for a coffee at the right hand side of the bar, in order to better see their coffee machine and I got this:​
​Presentation: The cup was clean, there was a drip on the left hand-side of the cup, which is weird because the espresso was brewed only for me. So a bit sloppy, but nothing wrong with that. The cup was rather large, the spoon normal and to size, and I was happy to see the logo of a coffee brand sitting there speaking to me.
Temperature of Cup: It was good, not hot, not cold, good to go.
Quantity: It was a perfect sized shot, especially in the big cup.
Temperature: Touching the espresso let me know it was brewed at the right temperature.
Volume/Consistency: It was thin, light, no oils in it. It would have been better had it been cold…
Crema: It was light not textured, look like somebody painted it there with just one color. It reflected the consistency of the coffee. Flat and not interesting.​
Odor: Ahh.. yeah, that beautiful smell of charred dead coffee! But it did have a odor, so yes..
Taste: It was a very burnt coffee. That’s the main quality of this espresso. It was thin, had no taste profile, and the most prominent flavor was a raspy bitterness attempting to reach the rancid.​
​Overall: However, it wasn’t rancid. It reminded me of Starbucks espresso at its best- uninteresting and deeply bitter. Overall, it was drinkable, but simply a low-end espresso. I guess this is the norm when you serve coffee to politicians and bureaucrats, at least this is the trend I’m noticing!
The setup: Boy another La Marzocco! But this one was cared for as any other random Faema, simply used, and abused, which is fit here in Rome where Hipsterland cafes haven’t caught on yet… The grinder looked like an old La Cimbali, but couldn’t tell. The coffee being served… well I had to ask. They had a Caffè Perù logo on their cup, they Hag Caffè cups on the machine, and Caffè Circi sugar bags… So I asked the barista and he said indeed it was Circi. That explains a lot, doesn’t it? Boy do I want to be convinced that this is a great tasting roaster… but still haven’t been convinced by any coffee shop I’ve tasted so far!​
Viminale Bar Caffè,
Pepi Maurilio
Via del Viminale 47-49
00184 Roma
Tel. 06 486 941