SCARTUCHIO CAFFÈ, PIAZZA SAN DOMENTICO MAGGIORE 19, 80134 NAPOLI

Rating: Standard, normal mid-range coffee in Naples

So many cafes are influenced by the Neapolitan coffee tradition, that at a recent chance of giving cafes a try in Naples, I couldn’t say no. The Scartuchio Caffè is a historic locale, with an air of Sant’Eustachio to it. I won’t go on about it’s history or any of that junk as you can wiki it and you’ll get it all. Walking in you get bombarded by all the sweets that are on display, you even have a fossilized Mt. Vesuvius made out of Baba cake. Inside it was darn packed with folk, a very small locale with about 30 people jam packed. I walked all the way to the back where the bar was and there was a cashier right next to it. I paid for my coffee and plunked down the receipt. There were two baristas when I asked for the coffee and then when the folks left there was just one cleaning everything up waiting for the next horde of tourists to arrive.

This is what I got:

Presentation: A bit large cup for my taste, but good enough. No label on it, even better. Water was served immediately, and it was a frizzling cup straight out of a bottle. That’s the way it’s supposed to be here, bottled water, not the toxic stuff that comes out of the faucet!

Temperature of Cup: Super uber, scoobie-doo hot cup. Damn, never had I had a cup so darn hot! Well… guess why? They had the darned cups sitting in boiling water! Yes, that’s the norm here to heat the cups in boiling water and give them to right out of the piping hot water… amazing. At least it’s clean, that’s for sure.

Quantity: Short shot, not necessarily a ristretto, but almost there.

Temperature: Yup, uber hot also. Simply so damned scalding hot that I actually burn my fingers, and then had to wait too long to taste it before I didn’t burnt my tongue.

Volume/Consistency: It was kind of sandy, powdery, and separated from the water, it was almost a dirty water type texture, but the sandiness of it made it thick. It was odd. It was ultra condensed, and not thin, but sludgy.

Crema: Very dark, very persistent, and adding in its foaminess to the sensation of density.

Odor: Dark char-broiled and roasted coffee smell. Not Carl’s Junior hamburger like, but deep French roast.

Taste: Wow… talk about a kick in the mouth! It was very sharp, deeply bitter, and made my whole body shiver from how pungently strong it was. It wasn’t rancid, just pure bitterness. It had a flat bitter plateau taste to it, and the finish was bitterness everywhere. I got a headache immediately after this drink. Really strong somehow.

Overall: It was a powerful punch in the gut and it wasn’t rancid. It was simply the result of a jam-packed portafilter stuffed with tar roasted coffee and brought to a boiling perfection. That’s Naples for you in a cup.

The setup: They had a beautiful San Marco lever machine, these were everywhere, simply e-v-e-r-y where here. The grinder was a Mazzer, and the coffee was Moreno Caffè, a Naples based roaster that I’ve tasted before in Rome. Very powerful, very dark, very sharp.