DEI FUMETTI BAR CAFFÈ, VIA RINALDO D'AMI 6, 00127 ROMA

REGNO DEL CORNETTO CAFFÈ, VIA NOMENTANA 879, 00137 ROMA

FIRENZE CAFFÈ, VIA FIRENZE 33, 00185 ROMA

ROSSO E NERO CAFFÈ, PIAZZA ATTILIO PECILE 28, 00154 ROMA

Rating: Standard, lower end coffee

I stumbled onto the Rosso e Nero Caffè Bar by accident, searching for a torrefazione that’s near by, and I hesitated to go in, but it was a fun experiment. Again, 90% of these locales I visit are really just cafes for a small group of locals that keep’m alive, nothing much, nothing less. I walked in and it was quite dark, I was the only person in there, I passed by the old guy at the cashier without noticing his existence and he seemed to be mummified there at the cash register. I only noticed his existence when I was walking out to pay. Either way, his daughter was working the bar, and his niece the espresso machine. The niece, was a young girl, no more than 20 who was more interested in chatting with her friends on the phone than anything else.

I asked for a coffee and this is what I got:

Presentation: An interesting boxy-like coffee cup, thick-stout, clean, to the point, and well, different. A bit too much of the padded shoulder-pad 1980s for my taste, but hell… I thought I’d give it a go. The girl slapped this on the bar and went on about her business like a bratty teenager. No water offered, but she seemed to oblige another regular with it when they asked.

Temperature of Cup: Yuuuup, super uber-hot.

Quantity: Short shot, didn’t look long at all. Happy here.

Temperature: Again, still very warm after I let it sit there while I looked at the barista and the few elderly clients who walked in.

Volume/Consistency: Thin, powdery, if this combination is imaginable, but that’s how it was.

Crema: Persistent, and cakey, and dark as hell.

Odor: Uber-burnt charred coffee. Is that any good?

Taste: Thin, runny, bitter, burnt. Flat, nothing to wait around for.

Overall: It was well, not terrible, but just uninteresting, flat and a lower end normal Roman coffee, for a change yeah?

The setup: They were serving this Java in a La Cimbali grinder and espresso machine combo. The coffe was Molinari Caffè, a famous (why!?) Modena-based coffee roaster. I’m sure it could be better, so much better than this, no?