MARIO TORNATORA CAFFÈ, VIA ODERISI DA GUBBIO 27-29, 00146 ROMA

Rating: Standard, low-end Roman coffee

The Mario Tornatora Caffè lies along the Via Oderisi da Gubbio, crowded in by tons of other cafes. That it still manages to eek out its existence, is a feat in and of itself. There are literally two to three cafes on each block in this small stretch of street here. The place is very large, but shallow in terms of walking room. It spreads over two locales, with the left hand side having a lot of tables. The rest is dedicated to a long bar and a very wide pastries selection. It is after all, a pastries first and coffee second. However, the two massive espresso machines they have wouldn’t make you believe coffee is second.

Let’s see what they gave me:

Presentation: Nice clean crisp cup. It had its own logo, no frills and yet, I liked it very much. No water given, although I’m sure here the barista, if I could have gotten their attention again, would have obliged.

Temperature of Cup: Really extremely hot cup, simply too darn hot!

Quantity: It was a short shot, very short, and I was glad.

Temperature: The coffee was still very hot long after I tried to wait it out. It must have been nearly boiling when it came out, and then the cup itself didn’t help cool it down any.

Volume/Consistency: Thin, not oily, cutting, light. It was a coffee typical for a pastries place here in Rome.

Crema: It was cakey, crunchy looking and yet not holding oils or the like. It didn’t add to the experience of drinking it.

Odor: Very dark roasted coffee smell. It was deeply dark roasted smelling.

Taste: It was bitter at the front, tart, sharp, cutting and flat. It wasn’t the best of drinking experiences.

Overall: However, it wasn’t rancid, and after the cooling down of the coffee, it was a normal, low-end experience. Wasn’t the very worst, but this is typical now when you go to a pastries place. Sharply bitter coffee to counterbalance the sweets.

The setup: They had a very nice group of large Wega Sphera espresso machines, two back to back to crank out coffee like mad. The grinders were Mazzers and the coffee being served was the Roman-based roaster Morganti Caffè. I have always tasted very tart strong and bitter coffees from them, maybe I’m trying them at the wrong place?