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CARMA BAR CAFFÈ, VIA APPIA NUOVA 24, 00183 ROMA
Rating: Standard, decent Lavazza Coffee
The Carma Bar Caffè is right on the Via Appia, and between Saint John Lateran and Piazza dei Re di Roma. As I walked in, a girl from one of the clothes shops apparently took her break and was right behind me. Suddenly, all the guys in the room got silent and simply watched her walk up to the bar. After she ordered, everybody started to talk again. It was very theatrical, but well, amusing. The barista then took my order and immediately gave me a cup of water without asking. Very nice. Behind me, and talking to the owner, was a Lavazza representative trying, at all costs to convince the guy to get a new espresso machine. The regular discussion of maintenance and cleaning, etc would be provided by a Lavazza technician. The owner, was quite happy with his Faema and was pretty firm on not letting the guy have an in on convincing him. Either way, while everybody was staring at the scantly clothed black hair-blue eyed lady with evocative tattoos peeking from here and there, I looked at the locale. It was bathed in gold color marble that gave it a warm interior, but also one of a certain greasiness or grit. Not bad, it was nice.
This is what the barista gave me:
Presentation: Clean cup, new, no breaks, scratches, or anything. The spoon was also Lavazza. All in order.
Temperature of Cup: Borderline hot, almost too hot to handle.
Quantity: Short shot, I was happy.
Temperature: The espresso was way warmer than the cup itself. Ugh..
Volume/Consistency: Smooth, not heavy, nor thin. Silky, slippery, and decent.
Crema: It was slightly marbled, not really over extracted. There was just one large bubble looking out at me from the cup. The microbubbles looked like perfectly frothed milk. It was good. And added to the espresso.
Odor: Dark roasted coffee. Bravo!
Taste: It was a first hard bite, that like an old dog, just let go and then opened to a warm nutty taste, and the bitterness faded after that first sip. It ended in the traditional flat plateau of soft bitter dark coffee taste. No fruits, no nothin’ of that sort.
Overall: It was decent, not offensive, and as much attention as I could give it, it was good. It was solid mid-level. Better than a coffee I had across the street, and the locale was full of locals, so definitely what people like here. The San Giovanni area is the less touristy part of Rome and you get a more Roman feel than other places.
The setup: The setup was good. Solid, and I wouldn’t change it either. They had a nice semi-automatic E-92 Elite Faema with automatic pressure control. It’s an ugle as hell machine, but good to squirt out espressi. The grinder was a Mazzer, solid as well, and the coffee was the Lavazza Caffè.
Carma Bar Gelateria Caffè
Carma SAS di
Di Paolo Carmine & C.
Via Appia Nuova 24
00183 Roma
Tel. 06 7725 0316