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Rating: Standard, mid to upper range
On the busy, and yet beautiful Piazza Barberini, you have a slew of junk cafes and restaurants, but also some of quality, aspiring to give some better service, or a bit spiffier and more modern décor. The Gran Caffè Bernini or Bernini Gusto Caffè is trying to do. Inside you’re welcome by a white interior with all white décor, pretty cool, not really sleek, but clean, elegant, and inviting. The three waiters were chilling and everybody was having lunch. I took the coffee at the bar and the barista was very happy to show off her barista skills.
This is what she did:
Presentation: The cup was beat up, it was white, but you can see it is quite scratched up, and where the scratches are present, there is crud in it. But whatever, I’ve seen worse. The saucer is fun, and I like that there’s no logo staring at me. She served water without asking if I wanted it, and I liked that. The spoon was a normal, 1930s looking thing that is common here in Rome.
Temperature of Cup: Quite warm, not scalding, but had to wait a good minute before I attacked the coffee.
Quantity: The cup has room to swim in, but the shot was short, and good.
Temperature: The espresso was good, it was warm, but not scalding, and probably breed at a good 95 celcius.
Volume/Consistency: It was chalky, powdery, and thickish. Not really oily, but powdery, again, is what best describes this. Like a Turkish coffee… not a bad thing for a change.
Crema: Dark, and just one or two seconds overextracted. There was plenty of coffee grudns in the porta filter as this was a densely dark crema. It persisted for the whole drink, and added to the thick texture.
Odor: Dark roasted coffee smell, I’ll take what I can get. Not fruits, no honey, not nothin’!
Taste: It wasn’t a punch in the mouth, it was a dark, chocolaty start to a bitter plateau that wasn’t overwhelming, and rather controlled. It finished with a nutty, and again, oddly chocolaty taste that lingered in my mouth. Not bad!
Overall: It was quite decent. It was a solid mid to almost upper level Roman coffee. Had it been a bit brighter, more syrupy, it would have been excellent. But it was getting there and definitely the best coffee in this plaza.
The setup: They had the setup to do good coffee, it was a Famea duo, with the Faema legend kicking out pressure to make espresso. The coffee was Club Kavé Caffè, a Bologna based roaster that hasn’t ever impressed me before, but here, it was good!
Gran Caffè Bernini S.R.L.
Piazza Barberini 10
00187 Roma