GRAN CAFFÈ ODERISI, VIA ODERISI DA GUBBIO 116, 00146 ROMA

Rating: Good, great Roman coffee

I had seen this café by chance as I walked across two large buildings. It’s a small street and I was struck by the name, it is Gran Caffè Oderisi (FB page here). From the perspective I had, it looked like an oxymoron. The store was small, it looked very humble yet tidy and well, caught my attention. Only after I walked in and saw that the entrance I took was effectively the ‘back door’ I realized that the café is not so small, and that it’s main façade gives out the busy Oderisi da Gubbio avenue. I was the only person in the place, and I got the full attention of the cashier and the barista. The place is very slender and long (see below) and it encompasses the whole bottom locale facing on two different streets. It has a very clean and tidy appearance and not opulent. Simply proper.

I asked for a coffee and this is what they gave me:

Presentation: Yup, off to a good start. It’s a brand that I find is generally good. Last time I had it near the Prati area it wasn’t too good, but let’s see here. The cup was clean, it had a small stain on the ceramic edge that I tried to take off but wouldn’t budge, so it was ‘cooked’ on. No stress, the spoon was also to size. The cup is generally a bit too big for my tasted, but all was in order. No water was offered even though I was the only person in the room and they didn’t seem busy.

Temperature of Cup: It was almost cold, but let’s say tepid. The cup was taken from the second ‘floor’ of cups placed on the machine. I can see that the temperature of their brew is on the very lower limit, probably 90 celcius…

Quantity: A bit long for me, but the cup is large so not sure how to gage it properly.

Temperature: It was warm, not cold, but not boiling. It was excellent, a bit on the lower side, and I was happy.

Volume/Consistency: It was very light, silky, thin, but not runny nor crappy. It had a very consistent silky thin texture that coupled with the temperature, worked great!

Crema: The crema was generally light, uniform in texture and persisted for about half of the 5 sips I took to finish this drink. It was rich and not grainy looking. Very good extraction here.

Odor: There was a warm dark-roasted coffee smell emanating from the cup and it helped out with the overall experience.

Taste: Yup, it was good. It was bitter but not over the top. The silkiness and the temperature opened the coffee up for some great mild taste. It buttery in taste and there was a slight tinge of acidity.

Overall: I felt like I was having a butterscotch drink here. It was really terrific and the lightness of it added to this in a very positive way. Simple one of the best coffees I’ve had in this neighborhood.

The setup: The setup was spartan and beautiful in its simplicity. They had a Royal Espresso machine using the lovely and still iconic E61 group heads. The grinder was a nice Fiorenzato, and well … the coffee was Gran Caffè Santos. It had been a very long time since I’ve had this coffee. All the places that serve it seem to be clustered in the Monteverde neighborhood. But yes, exceptionally good here!!