top of page
Roasters In Rome
Check back soon
Once posts are published, you’ll see them here.
Lastest Posts

LETTERARIO CAFFÈ, VIA OSTIENSE 83-95, 00154 ROMA


Rating: Standard, low-end South-Italian coffee


I had walked passed the Caffè Letterario maybe, what? 10 or 15 times, it was never open. Either because it was August, or because on that day they didn’t open, or because it was too early, who knows. But this time, I tried my luck, yet again, and voilà, it was open!! Supposedly it's open from 10am to 2am... A friend of mine had told me about this place, and how it was the closest thing to what I described as the ‘café life’ in the US, i.e., a place to hang out as long as you want on one and single cup of coffee. So yes, definitely ultra chill, lots of outlets everywhere, free Wi-Fi, and definitely cool. I loved the locale, and when possible I think it’ll be a new place to work outside of the office. It’s better than the Anti-Café in the San Giovanni area because you don’t have the crazy overhead (but also, no access to the free buffet that the Anti-Café has). Either way. Let’s see what I got.


The older barista, who seemed to be close to retirement age, and definitely cool and chill about everything gave me this:

Presentation: A nice, alternative, thoughtful design on the cup. Fun. Water was given in a plastic cup after I asked. All was in order.


Temperature of Cup: It was rather cold, yes, cold!


Quantity: Short shot in a large espresso cup. Good.


Temperature: The espresso was lukewarm, which was nice for a change


Volume/Consistency: It was thin, not heavy, no oils and simply seemed too watery.


Crema: It was very light, uniform, and extremely thin. It started to die and dissipate immediately, by the time I started to drink it, it was already gone!


Odor: No real odor here.


Taste: It was bitter, burnt taste, and again bitter. It wasn’t rancid, but simply seemed flimsy and nothing to hold it up.

Overall: I had some work to do, so I decided not to finish it. But it wasn’t a horrible espresso, simply a low-end coffee.


The setup: The espresso machine was a Spartan, and not really loved Wega (which I like!) and there was a Mazzer/Astoria black grinder that would do any job under any condition. The coffee was the south-Italian calabrian Guglielmo Caffè. This wasn’t their best incarnation, so one shouldn’t judge from this café. The thing that’s good here is the ambience. It’s got electronic ambient music, chill dimmed lights and books galore to read and chill. Definitely worth checking their opening hours!​

Caffè Letterario S.R.L.

Via Ostiense 83-95

00154 Roma

© 2015 Coffee In Rome

bottom of page