RIMMEL CAFFÈ, VIA GARGANO 31, 00141 ROMA

Rating: Standard, low end Roman coffee

The Rimmel Caffè, overlooking the minuscule Piazza Monte Baldo (which is a block away from Piazza Monte Sacro, always seemed to be closed when I passed by it. It’s name was inviting, I imagined a chic-pad for the horridly always black-clad Roman girls that are trying to be ‘chic’ by always wearing black on black on black, with of course lots of Rimmel. But well, when this place was indeed opened, I did find two baristas there, both ladies, which looked like a mother and daughter duo. Both had the same cool and reserved demeanor, and were busy counting the change at the cash register. The interior was rather large, green colored paneling of sorts and white tile floors. All clean, calm, and relaxing.

This is what I got:

Presentation: Yup, I saw this coming, it was on the outside of the café, but I hoped it wouldn’t be true. A cup of Caffè Negresco. Let’s see what happens. The cup was clean, the spoon to measure. No water was offered even though nobody was in a rush and I was the only client in the place, for the entirety of the 7 minutes I spent in there.

Temperature of Cup: Hot, way to hot. Not scalding, but nearly so.

Quantity: A short tad of a solid espresso, this was good.

Temperature: Very hot as well. Had to put in a good 2 minutes of wait time to have it comfortably.

Volume/Consistency: Thin, slicing, sharp and watery at the same time. That’s a virtue, but not necessarily one I would prefer in a coffee.

Crema: It was thin, entirely uniform and it started to disappear almost immediately after I was served the coffee. It didn’t add to the drinking experience.

Odor: Indeed I found some, but it was all charred coffee, very pungent.

Taste: It was very bitter, and quickly opened to rancid. It was then, sharp and not pleasant.

Overall: I couldn’t mind finishing it. I will admit that after I walked out of the bar, leaving the espresso ‘almost’ finished, I could imagine a nutty flavor suddenly appearing in my mouth. But this was definitely not what I experience inside the bar while I tried to savor the coffee. It was just a poor roman espresso.

The setup: They had a tight three group Royal Espresso Diadema E61 based espresso machine, then they had an Astoria grinder (vintage kind), and the coffee was the Roman based roaster Caffè Negresco ‘Miscela Forno’. Which is a ‘Oven mix’.. mamma mia! Dark roasted heaven. This is expressly char-roasted-charm.