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ANTICO BAR MONTI CAFFÈ, VIA DI TOR CERVARA 323, 00155 ROMA
Rating: Standard, very good mid to hi-end Roman espresso
I got a chance to pass by the the Antico Bar Monti Caffè in the Tor Sapienza area. It is a bi-locale, that has a large bar as you walk in, lots of tables outside (what, like 4 or something), and then a seating area towards the right hand side when you come in. It’s got a somewhat indistinct décor, that reminds me of somebody’s house or something. I guess it was the TV news channel on, and the barista talking to his daughter about her volleyball practice in the evening. There was a waiter working the tables outside, and then the barista. I took a coffee at the counter and left in the manner of most Romans. The whole ordeal took probably no more than 5 minutes.
This is what the barista gave me almost instantaneously when I walked in:
Presentation: Nice clean cup. Crisp. A shape that I don’t altogether dislike, although it is typical. Fun if not altogether racist depiction of somebody with a sombrero, who with exaggerated African features… makes you wonder… no water was served. Spoon was to measure and non-descript.
Temperature of Cup: It was good, warm, vibrant, not scalding.
Quantity: It was a short shot, that made sense. It was a good 12:30pm when I took the coffee so no need of a long shot to get one ready for the day.
Temperature: It was excellent. Warm, brewed on the lower end of the spectrum.
Volume/Consistency: It was thickish, powdery but not in an obnoxious way. It was very smooth to the palate and I liked it. Oily too.
Crema: It was persistent and very finely granulated, which I liked, and it added volumes to the drinking experience.
Odor: Dark roasted smell that at gave me a shiver down my spine when I first sniffed it, but I was then able to let that feeling go, as they say.
Taste: It was a smooth silky start, not overly bitter and in no way rancid. It started to open up a bit after I started drinking and it reached a plateau on the characteristic flat dark-roasted coffee taste that is Roman coffee.
Overall: However, I must say that it was a very good espresso in its extraction, and while not among the top echelons of good espressi here in Rome, it was very good.
The setup: Very pedestrian if not solid. A Faema espresso machine and grinder combo, with a nice Eureka on demand grinder for the decaff (what injustice everybody does to this awesome machine!). The coffee being served is the Roman-based roaster El Mokado Caffè. They’re usually quite decent in the spectrum of Roman roasters and I’m usually content with how their coffee is executed.
Antico Bar Monti Caffè
di Mammucari Mirko
Via di Tor Cervara 323
00155 Roma
Tel. 06 225 1657