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TORINO CAFFÈ, VIA TORINO 40, 00184 ROMA
Rating: Standard, solidly middle range Roman coffee
I stumbled onto the Torino Caffè almost by accident. Well, it was totally random and I had passed by this street quite some times and never noticed it existed. It’s got a very small façade, unassuming, and yet when you walk in, you’re confronted with a very long deep space that connects to the buildings interior courtyard. Quite nice actually. The decoration is also different. It’s a mix of Massachusetts beach (whitewashed wood etc) style with some undefined modern sleek yellow type of thing. It’s not bad, nor too gaudy nor heavy. As I walked in one of the waiters looked at me with an annoying stare, as he was just finishing washing the floor… c’est la vie…
This is what I got served:
Presentation: A nice round buoyant cup, I like my cups a bit smaller, but this is standard of this brand. No water offered, all in order.
Temperature of Cup: Good not bad, it was warm, not scalding, and even though it was cold as hell outside, I when to try it with my lips and didn’t get burnt. Good!
Quantity: It was a good shot, not too much, well, it was a bit longer than an espresso, but I didn’t mind.
Temperature: Also very good, brewed in the low 90Cs.
Volume/Consistency: It was light but not run-down, it had a silky-like texture that wasn’t oil heavy, nor syrupy. It was quite smooth and had a definite presence.
Crema: Well… look at this ying-yang shape… not very appetizing in my opinion. It was over-extracted and somewhat killed. One side looked great and velvety, the other like coarse sand on the beach.
Odor: Dark roasted coffee. Not very inviting, but not rancid.
Taste: Here’s the surprise, I was expecting a runny flat espresso. Instead, I got something quite nice. It was a tart starting point, that then went to a dark bitter but not rancid plateau, and had hints of lime I would say, but then turned with a finish back to tartness and a smooth bitter dark-roasted coffee flavor. It was not very heavy with oils, so the senses were quite smooth.
Overall: Although it was not super complex, it was a solid nice espresso with some hints of flavor beyond burnt coffee. It was quite good and enjoyable. Solidly middle to upper quality Roman coffee.
The setup: Well.. I had photographed the La Cimbali machine but somehow my phone ate the darn photo! So I didn’t get it. Instead, what it saved where the porta filters being watshed. The barista washed all the porta filters, with soap and a scrub. He didn’t use any chemicals except soap…. Which we know doesn’t actually do the job of killing the rancid oils, but at least it’s better than nothing! The grinder was a La Cimbali and the coffee was Mondicaffè a Roman roaster that has quite a range of specialty coffee in their recent offerings.
Torino Caffè
Italy Caffè S.R.L.
Via Torino 40A
00184 Roma
Tel. 06 487 0000