DORIA CAFFÈ, VIA DELLA GATTA 1A, 00186 ROMA

Rating: Standard, normal mid to lower end Lavazza

The Doria Caffè is a fancy in that old world, renaissance-baroque kind of sense. It’s got high vaulted gothic ceilings, lots of wood paneling, a large fountain and statue inside and mirrors, and what not inside. You feel as if you’ve walked into a fancy restaurant. But it appears it somewhat is as well… here in Rome a caffè is well… a bit of everything. Coffee is unfortunately just a topping, a mandadory punctuation in an otherwise other experience. Well… given that its part of the Doria Pamphilj palace… no duh I thought. It makes sense that it’s all Renaissance ‘glam’…. So do take this into consideration.

When I asked for coffee at the bar which was right to the left of the entrance, this is what the barista gave me:

Presentation: Nice Lavazza cup. It’s the standard, but look at it here, white on white. Nice, and I’m glad somebody finally picked this design, it’s very cool, subtle, and simply fresh. I liked it. The spoon wasn’t as fancy as the décor in the place, but I’d do, I don’t put sugar in these drinks so we’re OK. No water was offered, even though the place was dead empty… I must admit that the barista was cleaning when I got in, and here in Rome, hospitality translates into “Be happy if I look at you and then eventually give you what you ordered”, that’s ‘Roman’ hospitality… seems to me like a bunch of spoilt tourist industry idiots to me!

Temperature of Cup: Whatever, the coffee, the coffee! The temperature was good. It was brewed at 92C and that’s a nice lower end spectrum, I was happy. The cups were warm, on the high end of the scale, but not scalding.

Quantity: It was a nice concise shot. Short, and just right.

Temperature: The espresso was indeed good. I was glad and happy to continue drinking.

Volume/Consistency: It was thinner than I expected with the size and crema I saw. I guess too little coffee in the portafilter, as it wasn’t an auto dose grinder. It wasn’t runny, but definitely not oily or as saturated as we’d like. It was thin and repeatable, had a transparent consistency to it.

Crema: It was dark, thus why I thought the above. It was persistent, grainy, thin, yet… it didn’t add to the drinking experience.

Odor: Yeah! It was there, but was it anything other than darkly brewed, hair growing rogain for men smell? Nope. But at least the grounds were fresh. That’s positive.

Taste: It was very bitter all up front, and then opened to a flat straightforward uncomplicated taste of dark roasted coffee. This then gave way to an acidic, metallic taste that wasn’t very pleasing, not at all.

Overall: Beside this, it was a run-of-the-mill experience. Nothing bad, nothing exceptional. It’s a pity, because the place is right next to a library and it could have tons of clientele every day had it had a more fancy espresso. Yet I have the felling, with a 1 euro price tag on the espresso, that this place aims at more upscale tourists- seeking to prolong their museum experience and looking to eat something in a memorable place, than a café that grinds out java for interested seekers.

The setup: Well… I like it. A La Cimbali that is super nice, no need to give an explanation. The grinder was lackluster, totally, (an older La Cimbali) and the coffee, Lavazza- which if honed in, can be quite a decent, standard thing, but a lot better than what was served to me.