VALERIOTI BAR CAFFÈ, VIALE VENTUNO APRILE 67A, 00162 ROMA

Rating: Standard, mid-range Palombini coffee

Walking north of Piazza Bologna on the Viale Ventuno Aprile you run into the Valerioti Bar Caffè. It’s a thin, narrow and long monolocale that is very elegant without the fuss of lots of other cafes. It has very nice marble floors, wood paneling and mirrors (yes, mirrors are a must in any Roman establishment!), but it is not too gaudy nor heavy. The barista/owner was a middle aged guy that was super chill, relaxed and let you do your thing without wanting you to get out the door as soon as possible. There were some tables outside and folks relaxing on them, and then some in the interior. Everything spoke of calm and relax.

This is what I got after asking for a coffee:

Presentation: Clean sharp cup. No water offered, and the cup is a familiar one. Rather voluminous for my tastes.

Temperature of Cup: it was very hot, this is probably a requirement if you’re going to serve Palombini. Either way too hot.

Quantity: It was good, a solid espresso, not more than that.

Temperature: The drink itself was warmer than the cup! Yikes!! I did have to wait an extra long time just because when the cup was a bit cooler, the espresso itself was still too warm.

Volume/Consistency: Light, not heavy, thin, a bit powdery in texture, as if chalky but not heavy.

Crema: It seemed darker than in the picture, and it was persistent. It was thin and I felt it didn’t give the espresso more body.

Odor: Dark roasted coffee smell, hey I’ll take what I get.

Taste: It was bitter as this cup typically is, but it wasn’t over the top. It was punchy, strong, but the light aspect of it made it bearable and controlled.

Overall: It was decent. Most folk don’t like thick espresso as I do, so it was good. It held its own, and except for the fact that it was uber-hot, it was like any other mid-range Roman coffee.

The setup: The machine was an older La Cimbali, they had a Mazzer grinder hidden to the side of it, and you can see on the far left that they had a hopper doser with preground decaf coffee to make sure it would be nice and stale! The coffee is the EUR based Palombini Caffè, they roast extra dark char-black coffee that is typically hair splitting (or mouth splitting) for being so deeply bitter. But folks here like that so, go figure!