CHIOSCO BAR CAFFÈ, VIA DEL CASTRO PRETORIO 6, 00185 ROMA

Rating: Standard, mid to upper range Roman coffee

I suppose that’s why I started this site, because I was sure that in some small recess of Rome’s 1000s of cafes, there’d be some folk who’d be serving third wave coffee. And well, there are and we’ve seen them, just a few, a fraction of a percent, actually like 2 or 3…. but they’re there. And what we’re discovering here is that Rome, also has very decent coffee where you least expect it. Take this for example- The Chiosco Bar Caffè. It’s literally just a converted newspaper stand into an outside café. I walked in, thinking well,.. if they have a machine then great (in Oregon these types of places are all over, serving great coffee no?). So I walked in and they did, and this is what happened.

After ordering a café, and making sure that if I sat ‘outside’ I’d be charged the crazy triple price hike, I took the coffee at the counter:

Presentation: The barista, who looked like the owner, served me this nice cup. It was clean, no water offered, and had a spoon that seemed fit for this shape container. All in order. The shape of the cup was not necessarily too big.

Temperature of Cup: It was a super hot hot cup. Yup, the machine seems to have been on all day with little use. Well, it was Saturday and it was mid morning!

Quantity: It was a great short shot. Happy about this!

Temperature: The coffee was also quite warm, but it was good by the time that I took it.

Volume/Consistency: It was very surprising. I was expecting a thin, ragged, runny java, but instead I got a silky delicate and oily concoction that was way better than most fancy establishments serve here in Rome. The trick was letting the coffee cool down.

Crema: It was a bit over extracted, ever so slightly, and it was a short shot at that. So…. But it was persistent, it wasn’t too cakey or artificial and dark and oily. I felt that with every sip, it gave a significant contribution to my experience.

Odor: Very dark roasted coffee smell, bravo! Although I would have liked to get a sense of those beautiful coffee flowers, it’s impossible in this ‘kind’ of Roman coffee.

Taste: It was a dark heavy bitter front end, as I expected. But it wasn’t over the top, it wasn’t too overwhelming. Then it opened up to the oily, buttery rich coffee, a lot milder in taste, with a finish that was nutty and slick. The bitterness gave way to an open clean taste that was great.

Overall: It was a decent experience. Better, a lot better than 50% of places I’ve had, and one of the better here in this street right next to Termini. I guess it serves all the government folks that are working during the week at the Ministry of Interior and Defense that are just across the street. But whatever, if you’re in this area, just walk one or two more blocks south from the entrance to Termini and give it a try. Totally worth it.

The setup: They had a spartan Rancilio Z11 CD two group espresso machine, along with a Rancilio grinder. All set for some good coffee. It wasn’t an E61 based machine, but if tuned properly it can create some creamy espresso. The coffee was Caffè Moca Roma this is a Pomezia based roaster (South-West of Rome, just 10 mins away in a car). They do very decent roasting with usually a more complex type of flavor than Marziali or Negresco, for example.