Check back soon
Once posts are published, you’ll see them here.
Rating: Standard, very-good Roman espresso
On your way to or from the Church of the Santa Croce in Gerusalemme and the Lateran complex, if you take the Via Emanuele Filiberto, you’ll pass by the Laterano Snack Bar Caffè. Fro the outside you wouldn’t think any different of this place, inside, it’s got normal non fancy and downplayed décor, but what you get, is hospitality at its best. When I ordered my espresso the cashier joked with the barista to make me a really very good espresso. And I hadn’t even opened my mouth yet! Walking over to the left of the bar towards the espresso machine, the barista was an interesting fellow. He was well on his way to retirement, or already there, very elegantly dressed with a bright yellow sweater over a button shirt and tie. His hair very well manicured and a hand full of gold rings. The wrist adorned by a very nice Cartier Santos watch. This guy belonged in a leather sofa with some liquor and cigar in hand. He was very nice and also joked with the cashier.
This is what he gave me:
Presentation: Before the coffee came, first came the saucer with a candy on it, then immediately two different cups. One a large one with sparking water (the barista asked me if I wanted still or sparkling!) and the second cup, a small shot glass with a spoon in it. I was to curious about this, I asked the barista and he said, well it’s very simple. The spoon is in a cup of hot water so that when you use it to stir your sugar, the cold spoon doesn’t cool down your espresso. Then he went on to take the spoon and insert it in my cup (without the sugar) as he explained the importance of a warm brew! The cup was clean, boy everything was in perfect order!
Temperature of Cup: It was warm but not scalding hot. I had an instinctive reaction to think that this would be a uber-boiling espresso, thank god it wasn’t!
Quantity: The cup is rather large, and the espresso abundant. It wasn’t a ristretto nor a double espresso. It was slightly over one ounce (30ml).
Temperature: Hmm… it was warm, but not scalding! I’m so glad they didn’t go Naples style here with the temperature of the brew! It was brewed probably at 93C or so.
Volume/Consistency: It was very silky, smooth, buttery, not too heavy on the oils. It had a heavier consistency than normal, and no chalkiness. It was rather good.
Crema: Very dark, almost uniform, just a hint at going to be over extracted but not there, and thick, and persistent. The texture was made of extremely fine globules and looked like wet paint, very nice.
Odor: Dark roasted coffee, not over the top. I liked this.
Taste: It was a muted bitter start that then plateaued in a smooth bitterness that wasn’t excessive. I was really surprised as this brand of coffee has been pretty terrible every time I tried it. However, here it opened up a little to a smooth robust and balanced bitterness that was nowhere near rancid. It wasn’t flavorful in a fruity or nutty way, but simply monochromatic burst of strong bitterness.
Overall: It was a very good Roman coffee that wasn’t the very best, as it lacked some subtlety to the flavor profile, and a bit more pronounced oil profile, but it was by miles the best coffee I’ve had from this Roman based roaster. And the service and hospitality of this bar was really excellent! Totally worth stopping by!
The setup: They had a M24 La Cimbali espresso machine, a Mazzer black-clad (i.e. an Astoria in reality!) coffee grinder, and the coffee, yes, it was Braccio Caffè. I’ve usually had quite poor showing from them, but this was really superbly executed! Very good in this instance, so happy to have changed my mind about this brand!
Laterano Snack Bar Caffè
Alessandrini Alvise
Via Emanuele Filiberto 172-174
00185 Roma