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Rating: Good, very good Roman coffee
Here’s a real nice surprise, and right in the heart of Rome. Now let me put a caveat, what I write, I write from the point of view of having had more than 200 espressi here in Rome. Of it’s your first Roman espresso you might think I’m babbling nonsense about this one, but read on. The Caffè Constantino is right near the Piazza Venezia, and right next to the forum, etc. simply downtown. In this area you’d expect what I’ve encountered a lot, which is shady coffee passing by as ‘good’ Roman coffee. Not here. The place is simple, not pretentious, and has a very friendly family running it. Let’s get to it.
Asking for a coffee got me a smile and this:
Presentation: A clean cup. Rather new looking. The spoon was just to size. No water offered, and maybe I’d have to pay for it if asked. Another client next to me had to pay for his water, but it was indeed in a bottle… so not sure.
Temperature of Cup: It was good, on the spot, not hot, not boiling, not scalding. Thank god…
Quantity: Short espresso, the cup was rather large as normal for this brand. Still, it wasn’t a ristretto but a solid espresso.
Temperature: Good, on the spot.
Volume/Consistency: It was silky, smooth, thickish, not sludgy, but soft and consistent. It had a volume that I could move around in my mouth and feel its displacement. It had oils and wasn’t petroleum…
Crema: The Crema was boy, very dark, looked like a cup of chocolate. Before I tasted it I thought I’d get an immediate stomach ache from this, but fortunately I didn’t. It was very persistent, and it was stubborn. It was a bit cakey and kept its presence in the middle of the espresso cup the whole way. I had to really tilt the cup up to get at the last piece of crema at the end.
Odor: Hm.. dark roasted coffee, what a nice surprise!
Taste: Very bitter, very stout, very very strong. Here’s where the caveat comes in. If you’re not used to the straight out potent coffee, this cup would have seemed just stratospherically bitter. It wasn’t rancid, very strong. It was chocolaty in flavor and sharp. However, it was very controlled in its acidity and it never got to being rancid.
Overall: Overall, it is indeed the best Circi brand coffee I’ve tasted in Rome. Until this experience, I really had my doubts about Circi Caffè. My opinion is changed, in a very positive sense.
The setup: Here’s where I think the barista took full potential of his instruments. They had a beautiful Royal Espresso Galileo espresso machine. The grinder was a heavy-set Anfim grinder that kicks out great stuff. If you do a search, there was a bar that had the same setup, the same coffee, and had absolutely terrible coffee. Here it was the complete opposite! What a great cup. Everything tuned to make a wonderful cup! And this is the roman base Circi Caffè to boot! I’ve had such bitter coffee from them that I never thought I’d get great coffee from this roaster.
Caffè Constantino
Federico Constantino
Via IV Novembre 142
00187 Roma
Tel. 06 678 5491