LITTLE COFFEE CAFFÈ, VIA ALESSANDRO CRUTO 38, 00146 ROMA

Rating: Standard, solid mid-range Roman coffee

Yup, the Little Coffee Caffè was small. It is in a side street off the Via Marconi and in the vicinity of about another 10 cafes. However, it stood out. It was super small. One table in the back, that’s it. I had to literally squeeze myself through a rather big guy that was at the bar next to the door. Seemed like a natural thing to squeeze into this locale. Inside was a duo of what seemed to be father and soon. The son looking like he was in his late 20s and father in his late 50s. Don’t make this duo here in Italy anymore, as folks have kids nowadays in their 40s… so it’ll be tough times in the next generation to see something like this again! But whatever, the interior was clean, a bit ‘homey’ feeling, and yet everything behind the bar was exact, professional and clean. The father took my order, started the coffee and the son finished pouring it and serving it on the counter.

This is the puck o’ Java that I got:

Presentation: First, it was served with a cup of water, immediately and without having asked. Nice. Then, this, a brand I don’t necessarily love, but I am open to being convinced. The cup was clean, spoon to measure and I was in for a good time of a ride here. I really liked the color of the marble bar…

Temperature of Cup: It was very warm, not scalding, but quite warm and on the border of too hot.

Quantity: It was a short shot, very concise and to the point. I was glad.

Temperature: It was cooler than the hot, there was a pretty big temperature difference, and that wasn’t necessarily nice. But How the heck did the cup get so warm?!

Volume/Consistency: Silky, controlled and a small gamut of existence but it was like tasting a very finely cut prosciutto in your mouth, that type of silkiness- one with definite consistency. A bit oily and I liked this.

Crema: Creamy, oily, very dark, under-extracted, grainy and persistent. Although it looked quite ‘rancid’ to my eyes, it actually really helped with the drinking experience, adding loads of texture to each sip.

Odor: It was deeply dark roasted coffee. I can live with this, as long as there’s some aroma rising out of my cup.

Taste: It was bitter up front, but it wasn’t a kick, or a straight teeth-knocking punch, it was slap of some kind. A strong slap of bitterness opened up to the characteristic flat-taste of dark coffee that is so pervasive, and then, and here it’s typical Circi coffee, there was some tingling in my tongue. Why this happens I’m not sure… but not the most comforting feeling when your tongue goes numb after drinking coffee…

Overall: It was a very solid, and definitely drinkable and repeatable espresso. It was solid, good and to the point. I would definitely stop by here without a flinch.

The setup: A setup that is very enviable. A beautiful Royal Espreso machine, E61 based groups that squirt out creamy stuff, with a nice extra large flat burr grinder Anfim… nice nice! The coffee being brewed was one that I’m starting to appreciate more and more lately, it’s the ultra strong and deeply powerful Classico Caffè Circi. I usually get a cup full of rancidness with this Rome-based roaster, but here it was very good. Not the best iteration of it, but way better than 90% of what I’ve been served with the label as ‘Circi’. The interesting thing is that on the outside there was the label of Caffè Perù Roma, meaning, some time back, they used to serve this stuff. Caffè Perù Roma is a down-town Rome based roaster... I'll have to check it out!