RICCARDO TALIANI BAR CAFFÈ, VIA GENOVA 26-28, 00184 ROMA

Rating: Standard, very good roman coffee

Just a street south of Via Nazionale, as if you’re going into the Monti neighborhood, you find a very quiet street, Via Palermo, that touches with the Vininale piazza and the Ministry of the Interior. Here you’ll find a very nice, tailored, preppy but not over the top Riccardo Taliani Bar Caffè. It’s the typical Italian fare of being a pastry shop, a lunch place, a catering… and banqueting. I still don’t know the difference between the last two options, they seem to fulfill the same function to me, but … whatever. This is not what’s at stake here. When I walked in to this all white clad (even white tile walls etc) the majority of folk were sitting on the patio outside that rests on the street. The barista was a woman in her late twenties that was very polite and attentive.

This is what she gave me:

Presentation: A cup of water preceeded the drink immediately and without even asking for it. The espresso machine was not flushed, but she did clean out the porta filter as she had just finished another espresso for a woman and her child. Cup is nice, clean, spoon was all there. We’re good to go, and what’s best, there’s no damned coffee logo staring out at me, but the café’s logo.

Temperature of Cup: Very good temperature, we’re off to a good start!

Quantity: The cup was big, the espresso shot was just right. It was a good one ounce (30ml). Decent!

Temperature: Also very good, it was just right, brewed on the lower end of the scale, probably no more than 92 celcius.

Volume/Consistency: Very smooth, creamy, oily on the heavier side, and balanced in the palate.

Crema: It was even, dark, very finely textured, a bit crusty and persistent. It wasn’t’ very elastic, but it definitely did add to the drinking experience.

Odor: Very smooth even dark roasted coffee smell. We’re doing very good!

Taste: Yup, it as also a smooth start, a very controlled explosion of bitter-smooth taste in the mouth. The palate became immediately coated with deep oils and while the taste it gave was of flat dark-roast coffee, it was very controlled and not bitter-sharp. It was a full bodied drink, without notes of any other types of ingredients.

Overall: It was a very good Roman styled traditional coffee. I was very glad to have had it, and the barista prepared it excellently.

The setup: The espresso machine was a four group E61 based machine, I couldn’t make the brand of it. The grinder was what looked like a F6 Fiorenzato, and the coffee was new to me. It was Colorado Caffè with a slogan of “Il Caffè dei Cheyenne” (or the Cheyenne’s coffee). It’s a roaster working out of Bracciano, a north-north of Rome place still in the metropolitan city of Rome area. Probably an hour out north. It was very good coffee, so it seems quite worth the effort to seek another place that is serving it! But boy so many roasters here in Rome and its environs!