Check back soon
Once posts are published, you’ll see them here.
Rating: Standard, mid to upper range Roman coffee
Right behind the mausoleum of St Constance, on the Via Eritrea and next to the metro stop is a small little and well defined café, the Alt Bar Caffè has a cool no BS sign on the outside. Inside you find some four or five small tables lined up along the left hand and on the right the bar where you take your drink. The staff was a couple, of about mid to late 40s. They have a dark grey interior that is not heavy, nor gaudy, and it's done very properly, in my opinion, toned down and not over the top. When I walked in it was close to 7PM and I wasn’t the only one having coffee at this hour, a family walked in with their 20 something daughter, and they all ordered coffee, macchiato, and what not.
My simple espresso got served like this:
Presentation: Very distinctive ball shaped Danesi cup. The odd shaped saucer is an innovation of the last 8 months or so, and I like it. No water was offered, but she gave out large cups of it to the folks that asked for it which came in after me. The spoon normal, no stress. Cup was clean, I was happy.
Temperature of Cup: Very good temperature. I was doubly happy.
Quantity: It was a full bodied espresso, quite at the size that you’d expect. Not ristretto.
Temperature: Hmm.. could it be? A Danesi espresso served at a good temperature? Yes!!
Volume/Consistency: Wow, it was thick, powdery, oily, almost crunchy to the palate. It had a full bodied feel that reminded me of coffee cream.
Crema: It was dark, uniform, persistent, and added to the experience of drinking.
Odor: Dark dark, shall I write it again? Yes, dark crema that had an almost perfect extraction.
Taste: Here’s the real deal- it was a thin bitter start, that then went immediately flat in your mouth, and was characteristically flat in profile. Nothing wrong nor unremarkable about that, other than coming from Danesi, it is! It was a saucy, syrupy espresso, thick and chalky at times.
Overall: Hell, it wasn’t flavorful in the sense you’d expect, but it was a distinctive coffee experience, and hell, really well executed. I would say this bastard of an espresso would definitely put hair on your chest, yet wasn’t rancid, nor overly bitter. It was stout. It was a solid to definitely upper range Roman coffee. Bravo!
The setup: They had an Expobar espresso machine, one that you rarely if ever see here in Italy. It’s started as a Spanish company that is now international (Crem Internation now), in Spain you see these squirters everywhere. The grinders were a black-clad Astoria, and a silver bullet Mazzer (More like a silver bomb). The coffee was the Roman-based roaster Danesi Caffè, which I usually abhor, but here, hell, it was a pleasant and thoughtful ride that will definitely make me come back. Well done!
Alt Bar Caffè
FT10 S.N.C.
Viale Eritrea 6
00199 Roma
Tel. 06 8620 9599