Check back soon
Once posts are published, you’ll see them here.
Rating: Standard, mid-range Roman coffee
Well, it seems that the Ar Baretto Caffè doesn’t exist outside of the Piazza Augusto Righi. I can’t find it online anywhere. But I was there, and had coffee there. The reason why I say it doesn’t exist, is that when I ordered a coffee, the barista/owner, said that her cash register ran out of paper and that she was alone in the bar and unable to go buy another roll. Well, she didn’t say that to me, but to another customer, who told her, in an accent I couldn’t place, that no stress, that she’s one of the only baristas who actually gives out a receipt in this neighborhood. Well.. since I’ve been to every café here, that’s not necessarily true- or maybe it is, since when people see me photographing the coffee, they freak out and think I’m some type of hidden consumer inspector… well… maybe this is what it’s all about in the end no? The bar was open when I walked by. When I walked in, the barista, a rather good looking woman in her mid thirties was sitting at a table, in a beige Adidas jogging outfit, and was complaining to her mom about somebody not taking care of her daughter. She came to serve me on the phone, and poured out this coffee on the phone, and proceeded to sit down again, while on the phone. It was only us two for about 10 minutes until this other guy came in. The whole time she was on the phone. By the time she cut the conversation, the other guy had just walked in. It was nice. The sun was pushing in through the windows.
This is what she gave me:
Presentation: Just a straight-up cup of Negresco Caffè. She had five bags of the stuff next to the coffee machine. No water offered, the spoon too small, and perfect, to disturb the composition.
Temperature of Cup: All good. Not boiling, I thought that this would be an interesting cup of Negresco, as it’s usually just ripping hot.
Quantity: Short, good. Less than an ounce.
Temperature: Ahh.. also good!
Volume/Consistency: Thickish, sandy almost, but not heavy. Not chalky, a but more crunchy than this.
Crema: Almost perfect, but a slight over-extraction to this cup. It was dark brown, whet, and elastic. Looked like paint.
Odor: There was a dark dark daaark coffee smell here. The barista, while on the phone, ground some coffee and poured it into the porta filter.
Taste: It was very bitter, but not over the top. It was flat, but not offensive. It had no real finish, and was simply a cup of dark-roasted, not necessarily heavy Roman coffee.
Overall: It wasn’t a horrible coffee. It was OK, it was mid- to lower-end Roman coffee. But it wasn’t crap. And given that Negresco coffee tends to be served or chosen by people that do very poorly, this is a step above other Negresco Caffè brewers.
The setup: They had a three-group E-61 based anonymous machine, I couldn’t figure out who it was made by. The grinder, I also couldn’t see. The coffee was Caffè Negresco. A local Roman roasted brew.
Ar Baretto Caffè
Piazza Augusto Righi 24
00146 Roma