In my early twenties I spent six months in Rome. Italy was fresh out of winning the soccer world cup, Fiat was still making cars, and the Italians couldn't speak a word of English to get out of jail. Since then I've visited Rome only on the way to somewhere else, on business or pleasure. But old loves never die, and apparently, they don't fade away either. It is the first days of spring and I find myself drawn back to the Eternal City. I have four days to do as I please here, and I'm going to blog my coffee experience during my stay for all o' youz poor souls who can't be here now.

There is a book entitled Cafe Life in Rome by Joe Wolf. I read that little piece of fiction cover to cover in preparation for my trip. I was foolishly hoping that it would save me some time by pointing out the best spots. After what seemed like 23 hours, I landed in Rome. I hopped into a taxi, and pointed the driver to my hotel Villa Grazioli. Don't let the name mislead you, that one is really a Villa. I chose to visit Rome by day, but to wake up to bird songs on one of the seven hills surrounding the City. For four days, I'm going to live it up like Cicero; less the charm, the wit, the political intrigue & the money. Viewing Rome from a distance gives a nice perspective. A private garden and a restored 15th Century estate is a priceless bonus.


Espresso bar in Transtevere

Rome is divided to roughly six areas worth visiting. In my sleep deprived condition, I chose Trastevere (Across the Tiber, in Italian). This is a place that hasn't changed much since the 14th century, and perhaps preserves the Rome we imagine better than anywhere else. Narrow cobble street roads, small buildings in rusting colors, vibrant street life, and plenty of cafes and restaurants.


A typical sidewalk restaurant

I threw the dice and randomly picked four different coffee shops to sample. The Italians do not distinguish between a Bar & a Cafe. They all serve espresso, so very often the cafe is named Bar. They do distinguish between a Pasticeria and all other food & drink establishments. Those shops do not sell alcohol and focus on pastry, espresso & gelato. Semantics aside, I entered the first joint. This was a very typical Italian espresso place. There is a long bar and no chairs. The clients drink their coffee standing up and leave promptly to go to work. I ordered a shot, paid 75 cents, and waited my turn. The barista flap the doser once, presses the portafilter against the grinder plastic tamper, inserts the p/f and pulls the shot. 35 seconds later I get a shot with a nice head of crema, muted acidity, and pleasantly sweet. He practically broke all he rules: That coffee was preground hours ago, he did not wipe clean the basket, he did not flush the grouphead before the shot, he did not level or tamp with any force. He practically did nothing, and still, it was a better shot than I got from many contestants in U.S. Barista competitions.


Standing room only, the most common espresso bar

I move on to the next shop, same routine same result. The coffees have a very similar taste profile too, even though they used different blends. This one had a little better acidity. I decided to really push it and go to the place where nowhere in the world do you find a good espresso. Rome central bus & train terminal. There are at least seven bars there. I walked into the first one and watched the barista prepare a macchiato. I liked the color of his shot and ordered one. This one took 42 seconds to finish, and it was the best of the day. The same happened in the next shop. At that point I figured out I'm done with. In American terms, these are the diners of the Italian Market. Getting that level of coffee, let alone espresso in an American diner is unthinkable.


Can you find this at your local bus terminal?


The distinguished barista. Checkout that mountain of sugar in front of him


One of the coffee bars at Roma Termini


Pizzeria. They sell it by the pound there.

Stay tuned for my installment tomorrow, where I'll be reporting from the Pantheon - home to Rome's top two roasters: Tazza D'Oro & Caffe Sant Estanchio.

Abe, you are one lucky guy.... so how are you taking your Roman espressos? With said "mountains" of sugar or straight up?

Thanks Abe, keep it coming!

PC

jesawdy wrote:Abe, you are one lucky guy.... so how are you taking your Roman espressos? With said "mountains" of sugar or straight up?

.

Jeff, I was embracing for a bucket load of sugar, especially when I saw how they prepared it. But no. those coffees were naturally sweet. The Italians however looked at me as a total philistine when I took it straight up. .

Abe Carmeli wrote:Stay tuned for my installment tomorrow, where I'll be reporting from the Pantheon - home to Rome's top two roasters: Tazza D'Oro & Caffe Sant Estanchio.

Don't forget to buy yourself a few cap cups from Tazza D'oro and some 'spro cups from St Eustachio, you lucky so-and-so!





Cheers,

Luca

Great post! My wife and I will be visiting Rome (also Paris, Munich, Milan, Venice and Florence) in a little more than a month and I'm definitely looking for espresso/coffee bar recommendations. I can't wait to finally get a decent shot from a cafe. I am also hoping that the espresso/cappuccino is good enough that it will help me convince my wife that I need a serious upgrade at home .

Very cool, Abe! Waiting for the updates!

ken

Today was a great day to be a tourist in Rome. On the menu we had the Pantheon, The Forum Romano, The old senate where Julius Caesar met his maker and The Roman Baths. I'm sad to report however that it was not a very good day for coffee. I will get to that part in a moment, but I won't do justice to this day without mentioning the magnificent tranquility of waking up to the sound of chirping birds and nothing else. The Villa was all it promised to be, and if I wasn't Cicero in the morning, I sure felt at least like his butler.


Villa Graziolli


The View from the Villa


Inside


The butler's quarters

The two espresso bars I was aching to try today were Tazza D'Oro & Sant Estachio. Both are located a block from the Pantheon, and they are continuously mentioned as the top places to sample great espresso. On the way there, we stopped at two places: a pasticceria & a bar to get our palate seasoned. The pasticceria was less impressive than yesterday's coffees, the coffee tasted a bit stale. The Bar was a whole different story. Check the picture below.


Nice machine, but watch that pale yellow pour. It tasted even worse than it looks.

We finally made it to the Pantheon towards the end of the day. That place by the way is a must if you visit Rome. Unlike all Roman structures, the Pantheon was preserved intact since it was built, featuring the largest dome in the ancient world. The sheer size of it, and the perfect visual harmony inside are jaw dropping. Unlike any other structure in Rome It is in mint condition like it was a day after it was built. (Bottom line, the statue of Zeus was replaced by one of Jesus, but in that magnificent space, statues are a small footnote).

First stop after the Pantheon was Caffe Sant Estachio. They are famous for the house special called Gran caffe. The owner keeps the recipe in a 12" thick solid steel vault, and apparently no one knows how they make it. It looks like a frothed version of espresso. My guess is that it is most likely a frothed macchiato. See picture below.


Gran Caffe at Sant Estacchio

They sweeten it with sugar unless you ask not to, and if it is frothed macchiato as I suspect, I don't think it would be drinkable without. The crema is dry, but the drink is delicious.


The Manhattan Project at Caffe Sant estachio. Notice the stainless steel hood obstructing the view of the barista's operation.


Sant Estachio, interior


They roast their beans there

I bought a pound of freshly roasted beans, and we moved to our next stop, Tazza D'Oro. The joint is on the other side of the Pantheon, and is always busy. There are six baristas on a shift and three espresso machines. They also sell beans & espresso accessories in a separate section, where I bought two of their beautiful espresso cups, and some coffee. They roast it on premises, so the coffee is guarantied to be fresh, but I guess that doesn't guaranty it would taste good. It was a small bitter and flat cup that couldn't be cured with a bucketful of sugar. The worst shot of the day, and only second to one of the worst I ever had - from that lady earlier today. No pictures to show you, my battery died. The hype has gotten the best of Tazza D'Oro.

But I'm not going to close this otherwise great day with such a bad taste. We followed that acid brew with a wonderful dinner at a place not far from D'oro. Take a look at the Antipasti Buffet in the pic below


Roman Antipasti

So I take it that Tazza d'Oro has replaced all the lever machines that I remember from my visit there in the late 80s? Shame, it was part of the charm. Unfortunately I can't speak to the quality of the coffee from those machines, as all espresso pretty much tasted the same to me back then.

I can't write these words without laughing. Take a look at the picture below, this is what I got this morning in Rome's SUBWAY station . I live in New York, and the only thing you can get in a New York subway is mugged.


Can you get this breakfast at your local subway station? The red drink is freshly squeezed blood orange juice


And that's the coffee bar

Some final thoughts about coffee in Rome. Most coffee shops serve decent espresso and some even good espresso. This is something we can't say about coffee shops anywhere else in the world. But beyond coffee quality, it is truly a culture. You cannot get a Latte here, unless what you want is a glass of milk. There is no plastic or paper cups either. All coffee is served in ceramic/porcelain cups and consumed on the premises. However, the top coffee houses in the U.S. serve better espresso than I had here.

Some advice for the coffee buff in Rome: Get your espresso in the morning. Coffee bars employ their best baristas in the morning shift, and because of the volume of drink they serve in the mornings, it is less likely that you get ground coffee that was sitting in the doser for too long. Pick a busy place, and look at the coffee served to the guy in front of you as a ballpark indicator.

And..."The best coffee I Had in Rome Trophy" goes to Moka Cassa. It is a chain of espresso bars and they have two at Roma Termini. Let's hope they don't become a Starbucks.

Arrivederci Roma.