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Rating: Standard, solid middle-range Roman coffee
The Pelosi Bar Caffè (in the Portuense neighborhood) is on a street that is literally packed-packed with cafes. There’s a four-block stretch of the Oderisi da Gubbio avenue that has tons of cafes on it. I’m amazed that they all seem to be surviving! This is at the southern end of the street as it heads northwards towards the Trastevere train station. It is a monolocale and the owner-barista seems very nice. When I walked in, he was discussing the loudness of the remodeling folk working upstairs …. other people seemed to be complaining too. Let’s see what he served me.
Asking for a coffee got me this:
Presentation: It was a nice fluted-rounded upwards cup. Classic and I liked it. The cup had a rather square rim edge that I also found very nice. No water was offered, he was too busy discussing how crazy the upstairs folk were… The spoon was a bit large, but good enough to stir every damned drop of sugar Romans might pour in there.
Temperature of Cup: Ow! It was hot-hot! Yup, very hot cup, it was white because of the heat it emanated!!
Quantity: It was a rather full-long espresso shot. It could have been a bit shorter, about .25 of an ounce shorter in my opinion.
Temperature: By the time I took a sip (which was after listening to the barista-owner discuss all the different types of sounds coming from upstairs) – the coffee was good. Still warm, still on the upper end of what I’d like it to be.
Volume/Consistency: It was thin, not heavy, light, and felt like it could have come from an aeropress or something of the sort.
Crema: It was darker than the photo, it was over extracted (look at that long light-brown streak in the center) and yet it was persistent, and not rancid in taste.
Odor: There was a thin veil of dark-roasted coffee. No fruits, no hidden botanical gems in this cup.
Taste: It was nutty, so indeed there was some type of other taste than charred-bean. It was nutty and bitter, but not rancid in any way. It got more intense the more I drank it, and the complexity of taste got better.
Overall: It was decent shot, had it been a bit thicker and a bit cooler, I’m sure more of the bean’s tastes could have come out, and would have pushed the drink up above the rest and into the very good Roman coffee. As it is, it was decent, and you won’t be disappointed.
The setup: It was a very nice setup. Simple as that. The machine was a 1980s box styled Gaggia with a like-boxy Gaggia grinder. Solid quality. And I actually almost never see these machines here in Rome, go figure! The nice thing was how he had the cups covered with the cloth. This is care, and care for the cups being darned hot! This is expected of Roman coffee cups, so he was singing to the choir here.
The beans being served were these:
This is Bravi Caffè. It was a new Roaster to me, and they’re located in Monterotondo just north of Rome. They seem to be a decent roaster as this cup was definitely worth repeating!
Bar Pelosi Loreto Caffè
Di Loreto Pelosi
Via Oderisi da Gubbio 269
00146 Roma