SIMON BAR CAFFÈ, VIA SANTA MARIA MAGGIORE 182-183, 00185 ROMA

Rating: Standard, mid to upper range Roman coffee

The Simon Caffè, cum Snack Bar Caffè Circi, is yet another one of those 1970s feeling cafes. It’s probably a 1990s re-mod job, but damn, does it feel ‘vintage’. I walked in and the cashier was talking to a very Mafioso looking guy, who had a very kind voice, and listened to her lament about taxes and the like. The barista was busy cleaning the setup, which was nice. Both cashier and barista started discussing the lack of funds in their life, and well… as you’ll see from the photo below, every penny counts. Most baristas, who tend to work part time, earn about 650 euros a month. Nothing. So when you’re in Rome, leave a tip on the receipt.

Either way, this is what I got served:

Presentation: Nice clean, round green-print on white cup. Water was very kindly given after I asked. The spoon was OK, old, faded, used.

Temperature of Cup: Scalding damned hot! No more comments.

Quantity: It was a solid espresso, not ristretto, nor long.

Temperature: Well after a good 3 minutes, and rushing it to get cold (i.e., swishing it in the cup and blowing), it was decently warm, still too hot.

Volume/Consistency: it was a thick espresso. I was expecting thin, sharply cutting drink, but nope, it had consistency, volume and feel. It had a thick syrupy texture that coated very evenly the whole interior of my mouth.

Crema: It was slightly over-extracted. Gong from dark to light, but not too much, so it was good. It was quite thin, and by the time I waited for it to cool it had disspated in the center.

Odor: Dark roasted smell, it was nice.

Taste: It was strong, bitter up front that opened to a flat-non descript middle, and had a finish that made my tongue tingle. Really! I don’t know what it is about Circi, but surely they do something that really makes my mouth have this unpleasant tingly sensation as if I’m slowly killing million of taste buds with each sip.

Overall: It was a very bitter, balanced, non rancid, mid to upper range espresso. It was on the heavy side, so this is for those who like their espresso to be like a ‘meal’.

The setup: it was very nice, enviable for me now. It was a Royal Espresso machine Monza model. The grinder was a massively solid and massively large flat-burr grinder Anfim. The coffee, well as you know, it was Classico Caffè Circi. This is a local-based roaster that tends to have extra pungent dark-roasted coffee… it was quite decent this time!