Check back soon
Once posts are published, you’ll see them here.
Rating: Standard, low-end Roman Coffee
The area around the Pyramid of Cestius (ca. 12BC) has a lot of very good cafes, it’s got the Tram Depot stop about a block away with its really tasteful and near Third Wave coffee roast. And then literally on the other side of the avenue there’s the Café du Parc serving a really excellent cup of Tintori Caffè. I was interested to see what beans were roasted here. Well, to my surprise, the La Piramide Bar Caffè indeed sported what was a new roaster for me. They had their coffee prominently displayed on a vitrine on the outside of the store. See below for more images and info, but before that, let’s get to the point, how the hell was it!
Asking for a coffee, I got this:
Presentation: But before getting this, I had to wait for the barista in her mid to late 40s to finish her cigarette she was having outside of the bar. She was really cool about me interrupting her break, and seemed to no mind at all to pull a shot for me. The cup was clean, small, and fluted up and out as I like it. It reminded me of the Tintori Caffè cup or the Marziali Caffè brand of beans cups. The spoon was small, a bit flimsy, but all in order. No water offered.
Temperature of Cup: It was warm but not scalding, things started off OK.
Quantity: Short shot, the cup was short, and this was probably under an ounce for sure.
Temperature: The espresso itself was also good. We’re doing OK on all parameters so far.
Volume/Consistency: It was thin, not oily, not heavy, nor rich. It was too thin for my liking.
Crema: Darker than pictured, and grainy, sandy – cakey looking. Persistent and added to the drink, but not substantially.
Odor: No real smell, this is normal.
Taste: It was very flat, simple, and bitter. No complexity, nothing to ruminate about while I drank it. It was direct, not cutting either nor sharp.
Overall: It was an OK coffee, nothing particular about it, and had I not known it was by a different roaster, I would have guessed a ‘normal’ roman espresso roaster like Fantini or the like. But as such, it was a low end Roman coffee. But should we try this coffee in some other place?
The setup: Spartan, as most places here. It was an old beat up and faithful La Spaziale espresso machine. The grinder looked like an older 1980s Rancillio or something of the sort. The coffee being served was a new one for me. It’s called Ciamei Caffè.
Now let’s first look at the marketing items that were outside on display:
As you can see they offer different cups on display and types of bags. It turns out this a Roman-based roaster that is roasting out of a store close by to the Termini train station. I’ll have a good reason to go visit this area again!
La Piramide Bar Caffè
Bar Tabacchi La Piramide
Claudio Zarra SNC
Viale Della Piramide Cestia 73
00153 Roma
Tel. 06 574 3897