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Rating: Poor, low-quality Roman coffee
The Antico Caffè di Marte is on a busy byway just crossing the ponte Sant’Angelo southwards from the Castel Sant’Angelo. There’s a fierce fight over who owns the street, the cars or pedestrians here. Every time a car passes by, people seem to think that indeed this is not a street at all. Either way the place tries to get your business by having a series of street hustlers draw your attention to it. And, indeed there are folk who are so tired from the heat and walk, and so exhausted from whining spouses and kids that any small budge will convince them. And voila.
So I walked in here and this is what I got:
Presentation: A Lavazza cup. I wasn’t too excited but at least the coffee should have been of a ‘standard’ quality. But it didn’t turn out to be Lavazza after all! No water was offered, it was too busy. So busy that it was impossible for me to ever pay for the coffee. I had to kind of toss my euro to the cashier and leave! The barista was a nice young guy who didn’t have that idiot’s Roman attitude that is so common in the tourist industry here. He seemed like he would have obliged to a glass of water ‘sans’ cost.
Temperature of Cup: It was surprisingly OK, not boiling hot and tourist burning temperature.
Quantity: Short, concise, less than a full one ounce espresso.
Temperature: It was at a good temperature, again, a surprise.
Volume/Consistency: It was chalky, pasty, rancid oily. And somehow patchy and watery.
Crema: The crema moved from a deep brown to a lighter color. Looked OK, but uninventive, not alive, and simply, giving out its life ghost.
Odor: Charred coffee smell.
Taste: Bitter, so bitter it was touching on the rancid, and probably, indeed it was rancid. It wasn’t pleasant to drink and simply didn’t do it for me. I tried to finish it, and almost did, but it wasn't worth it.
Overall: Well, I asked the barista if this was indeed Lavazza, and he confirmed that it wasn’t. But the funny thing is that he described the coffee as having a lot of ‘balls’. Yeah, but does that make it any good? The barista of course didn’t have a say in the matter, he was just there to take orders as quickly as possible and to spit them out as quickly as possible. Nothing more, and all for a glorious 500 euro a month, if that.
The setup: They had a bare-bones La Cimbani and an ugly looking BNG grinder that looks like it hasn’t changed a bit from the 1970s. The coffee turned out to be Caffè Braccio. This is a rather young (1998) establishment roasting out of the Casalotti neighborhood of Rome (east and outside the Raccordo freeway). I’m sure their coffee could be better represented.
Antico Caffè di Marte
Via del Banco di Santo Spirito 7
00186 Roma