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Rating: Third Wave establishment, Florence
No, don’t be fooled, there isn’t a Ditta Artigianale Caffè here in Rome. This is one of the locales in Florence. I had the nice opportunity of visiting and trying this café, and well, I couldn’t keep myself from reviewing it. So this is one of two cafes owned by Francesco Sanapo, an Italian bariasta champion, and one of the movers of specialty coffees here in Italy. He’s quite busy and every now and then pops up in Rome as well. Well, I’m not going to lather it heavily here. It is a cool place, straight up hip, and something definitely not found in Rome. What a pity! If you’re in Florence, you should hit up this place, it’s nicer than the one on the east side of the river. This one is roomier, multi-level and simply lets your coffee breathe. The baristas were very nice and willing to speak about the coffee at lengths. Something you rarely, if ever, get in Rome.
But, that’s how it rolls:
Presentation: Nice cup. No water offered. The cup was clean, somewhat of a vintage 1950s hip wanna-be feel, don’t mind it. The crap inside better be good if it’ll pull this off ok. The spoon was on the mark, a real simple, yet elegant and also fitting to the cup.
Temperature of Cup: Not too hot. Warm, not boiling. Good.
Quantity: Short shot, very nice. You’d never see a 3rd wave establishment in the US give you an espresso like this. Starting to get good.
Temperature: On the mark. Bravo!
Volume/Consistency: It was light, oily in a very elastic and bright sense. It was silky, smooth, just right. Sirupy is the word I was looking for!
Crema: Very light, also elastic, added to the drinking experience. Persisted throughout the whole time I drank it.
Odor: Not very fragrant I admit, I was expecting more.
Taste: Ahh… very nice. The best espresso I’ve had in Italy so far. Hands down. Very citrucy, very bright, tangy, playful, light and not nutty nor heavy. It was like a tart lemon curd. Very nice!
Overall: I was simply enjoying life, once again, after I had this coffee. I felt like I was simply not in Italy, enjoying a third wave light roasted, nicely blended coffee. Is that bad to admit? Hell no, damn roasters in Rome need to get their act together and roast lighter and freaking invest some time into learning the art of what their doing!
The setup: They had the typical La Marzocco machine… boring… but whatever, it’s ‘hip’ and what else would a Florentine third wave café have? The grinders… ahh.. yes Mahlkönig, one of the if not the best grinders! The coffee, was the ‘Jump’ espresso mix. See here for description, essentially a sharp blend that was very nicely executed for me. See below for the menu (read the ‘international’ section) and other ‘hipster’ trinkets the sold there. Definitely worth going to Florence just for this coffee!
Ditta Artigianale
Via dei Neri 30-32
50122 Firenze