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COFFEE TIME CAFFÈ, VIALE TRASTEVERE 179, 00153 ROMA


Rating: Poor, very low-end Lavazza coffee



Coffee Time sits right at busy corner on the west end of Trastevere, on the Viale Trastevere. When I walked in it was packed at least 12 to 15 people deep all crowded around the small space between the bar on the right and the tables and wall on the left. I had to literally stand almost at the door to have my coffee. Nice I thought. The locale was a greyish or faded blue color, and had tons of b/w photos of old movie stars on its walls. It had a ad hoc (so typical here) feeling to the décor that aged with the chaning tastes of the owners. Either way, when the barista saw me step in, he was methodical in his eagerness give me my fix. I squeezed in and he gave me a professional nod and I said ‘yes, a coffee’. The transaction was simple as that.​

This is what came up:​

​Presentation: A sharp, sleek cup of Lavazza Caffè. It was too busy fort he barista to offer me a cup of water. But he was very nice to all the regulars there, so I’m sure he would’ve obliged with a glass. The cup was small, fluted towards the outside, a shape I really like.


Temperature of Cup: Wow. Hot, darn hot, and boy was it hot. The barista looked at my cup at least 3 times to see if I had had it. I just fumbled on my phone thinking about how hot this cup was.


Quantity: At first I thought it was short. I thought it wasn’t too full and as I waited for it to cool, I thought that probably, if I had poured it out on a measuring cup, it would have been a nice 30ml – or straight one ounce cup. However, when I started drinking it, it seemed interminable… slowly I sipped and sipped to no avail…


Temperature: By the time I had it, which again, was probably a good five minutes, the espresso was good and I could drink it comfortably.


Volume/Consistency: Thin thin… boy was it thin. I felt it was a filter coffee sitting there in this little cup!


Crema: It was a bit marbled, turbulent as if it was going to let off a bit of rain underneath. But it wasn’t persistent, and thinned out very quickly. It clung very tightly to the rim of the cup and this was probably the reason why it thinned out so quickly and why it didn’t add to the texture of the drink.​

Odor: No real odor, nope.


Taste: Very flat, no real depth. All bitter, and not flavor. It was rancid at the end, and simply didn’t open up, even with the temperature down to near freezing as I left it- it simply was flat.​

Overall: To be honest, I tried to finish it, and I actually almost did, but it just wasn’t there. It was an espresso that had no life from the get go. What probably was going on here was that the grinder isn’t grinding properly, so the setup is not tuned properly. Thus, you get a runny espresso, without any body. The temperature was the trick to get the crema squirting out, but the soul- the oily properties of the espresso were gone, never had a chance to make it there in the cup.


The setup: It was nice, especially because it was just a bit different than most Lavazza packages which fork out a new La Cimbali that isn’t really aesthetically pleasing as an espresso machine. It was an older La Cimbali M29 Basic. Did its job OK. The Grinder was an old Mazzer workhorse that looks like its glory days were quite some years ago. The coffee yes, Lavazza.​


Coffee Time Morgante Marcello

Viale Trastevere 179

Roma

Tel. 06 581 6190

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