Check back soon
Once posts are published, you’ll see them here.
Rating: Standard, mid range north Italian coffee
Since Rome’s Termini is becoming a hub of good food, fashion and yup, coffee, I thought I’d give an eye over what’s in the station again in case I had missed something. And when you go down to the metro lines from Via Giolitti you encounter a café called Exquisitaly. It’s a café, and food locale, that is aiming to be exclusive in character. All black décor, sleek, and shiny. I got interested in this because I saw a beautiful La Marzocco machine, the only other one as nice I had seen only at the Caffetteria – Mercato Centrale upstairs at the station. The barista was very proud of the machine and was very glad to explain to me what coffee they served. He seemed genuinely interested in talking about his brew!
This is what he served:
Presentation: Yup, nice clean cup without a logo. I’m starting to like these no-message cups. No water offered, but all was in order. Given this is termini station, I’m not sure if I would have had to pay for water…
Temperature of Cup: It was very hot. Not a good starting point for me.
Quantity: It was a full espresso, a bit over one ounce (30ml) I’d say.
Temperature: Ahh.. yes, hot, even after I waited a good 2-3 minutes.
Volume/Consistency: It was very smooth, very rich, and not heavy, but stout and poignant. It was creamy, and I liked that.
Crema: It was persistent, gave some striping as if it wanted to be the golden shot, and seemed to add to the texture of the drink.
Odor: Warm roasted coffee smell. Not uber burnt, nice!
Taste: It had a distinct nutty taste to it, and it was buttery. It then lead to a strong robust bitterness that didn’t move to rancidness at all, and then had a smooth long finish that brought back the nutty flavor.
Overall: It was good, very good, not excellent because it was a bit restricted in flavor, and the temperature really didn’t help it. Had it been brewed at a lower temperature, I think this would have been even richer and more complex in taste.
The setup: They had a very beautiful and rare for Rome La Marzocco GB5. The grinders were Eureka, and they’re simply fabulous. The coffee was Le Piantagioni del Caffè, the barista was very kind to let me photograph the coffee bag. As you can see it’s a 78/18 mix of Arabica to Robusta. This is a roaster that I really like and I can’t wait to try some of their single origin coffee, they’re from the north Italian Livorno area.
Exquisitaly Caffè
Alma S.A.S.
Stazione Termini
Via Giolitti 2
00185 Roma