OFFICINE SAN GIOVANNI CAFFÈ, LARGO BRINDISI 25, 00182 ROMA

Rating: Standard, excellent Roman style coffee being served

Just a few weeks ago the Officine San Giovanni Caffè – Bistrot – Cocktail Bar opened up a few steps away from the Porta S. Giovanni. The place seems to be a venture from Guzzi Café srl, that is, as the motorcycle Moto Guzzi. Thus, what we have here is a Café racer locale. How cool! The place is very large, it’s on a sub-basement level, with lots of street windows (see pix below). You walk in and are bathed by white painted brick, and lots of really cool steampunk/biker details that simply kick ass. I’ve been following the setup of the locale that they were posting on facebook and instagram and you can see that every detail has been planed meticulously. As you walk in and donw into the area you have a large area with tables that then opens up on the left to the bar area, that then leads through a corridor with a series of rooms that finish in a Moto Guzzi shop area where you have different motorcycle things for sale. Quite fun, fresh. When I got there, it was pretty early and calm, and the two baristas were extra nice and attentive.

This is what I got after I asked for a coffee:

Presentation: Before I got this crisp cup, and glittering spoon served, I was asked if I’d like water, and if so, sparkling or still. Very nice touch. The cup came with a small coffee chocolate. I’ve had this brand of coffee before somewhere near Termini, and wasn’t impressed with the taste, so I was curious to see what would happen here.

Temperature of Cup: Perfect temperature, not boiling, not cold, just right.

Quantity: Good short shot, not ristretto but under a normal espresso 30ml. I liked it.

Temperature: It was perfect. It seemed to be brewed at the lower end of the scale, probably around 90 C.

Volume/Consistency: Smooth, silky, satin-like, and aided by a light oily feeling that was good and coated my mouth with a soft coffee taste.

Crema: It as light in color, not over-extracted, and persistent throughout the whole drink. It was thin, showing the higher Arabica content of the blend, and uniform in color. It was just right.

Odor: Dark roasted coffee, but not pungent, soft delicate smell.

Taste: Again, a smooth, nutty taste was the first impression in my mouth, then it matured to a caramel like sweetness that wasn’t killed by any rancid tastes. This was positively absent. It was a good opening and then a very soft bitterness we expect from darker roasted coffee. It was very balanced, smooth and the finish left me with a renewed caramel taste in my mouth.

Overall: It was a delight to have this coffee. It was very much in the Roman tradition of strong coffee, because it was potent, but it was very balanced, really well executed and the taste was simply excellent. I felt I could have another 2 or 3 immediately and would have enjoyed even more the chromaticism of taste that I could perceive. Really good news to have this café serving such good coffee!

The setup: Well, it was the training of the baristas, and of curse the fine-tuned setup that somebody carried out. The machine was a beautiful San Remo E-61 based group heads, which are a guarantee of very rich creamy coffee. I’m not entirely sure on the grinder brands, the smaller one on the left looked like an Astoria (Mazzer) on-demand grinder for the decaf, and the one on the right, the white one, a large San Remo on-demand grinder (which is a revamped Fiorenzato grinder). The coffee being served was Caffè Europa, which is a brand based north of Orvieto about 3 hours north of Rome.