echris Senior Member Joined: 10 Jul 2003 Posts: 5 Location: Seattle Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Sun Apr 22, 2012, 10:07am Subject: I'm in Rome for 12 more days... Uh...where's the good espresso at?
Thought I'd be tripping over the stuff but so far the shots Ive had hold a weak candle to the drip I make when I'm camping. There seems to be a pretty serious over site about what good extraction even means.
Finally hit up st eustachio today and while different it still was hardly drinkable. What's with that flavorless white stuff they call cream? Is that chalk?
I think I can build a raport with a place I found this morning, but feel they may go nonlinear if they sense criticism of their coffee from some yank that can't even talk right.
Does anyone know a place in rome that can pull an honest shot?
For reference I'm ordering a cafe dopio ristretto.
echris Senior Member Joined: 10 Jul 2003 Posts: 5 Location: Seattle Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Sun Apr 22, 2012, 10:53pm Subject: Re: I'm in Rome for 12 more days... Uh...where's the good espresso at?
Nothing yet eh? To clarify the above, seems you must order "ristretto" not to expect a USA ristretto but just to stop the barista from totally over pulling the shot. If you don't say dopio you actually get 2-3 oz from the output of a single spigot of the portafilter. A doppio comes in a bigger cup. What with all the boasting of my Italian friends I didn't expect to have this problem at all. The places I'm going to have good grinders and machines (avoid places that you don't hear grinders running)
echris Senior Member Joined: 10 Jul 2003 Posts: 5 Location: Seattle Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Sat Apr 28, 2012, 11:26am Subject: Re: I'm in Rome for 12 more days... Uh...where's the good espresso at?
Thanks for the reply, I'll give ciamei a shot if I get out there.
I've given up on espresso here and am enjoying Napoli style drip at Beppe in the Jewish quarter. They use sant eustaccio beans but makes great drip.
I've met many excellent people here, passionate about food craft and they all say the same thing... they know a place in Firenze, or bologna, just nothing good in Rome. Ive actually had a few decent shots here but you need a lot of luck. I now always order "un cafe" or "cafe normale" doppio just adds confusion. Forget ristretto, I say that they'll go out of their way to wreck the shot.(seems like it)
Other than the excellent Beppe drip, there is a young tallish barrista at camilloni s eustaccio (just to the left of the famous sant eustaccio, same square) that can pull a good shot. Theyre one of the few places where a normale comes from a single spiggot portafilter. He actually switched baskets when I ordered a doppio. The two older guys in there are really sloppy (grounds spilled into my cup once) and always pull too long.
Another place that's been good is cafe pace, but only rarely. They have the attitude of a surly Seattle barristas, I can hope that increases their good shot probability in their future. :)
To my eyes the basic issue is the barristas have no technique, don't know when to stop the pull or are just way past caring. And their Customers have zero expectation so there's no reason to change.
Honorable mentions though: open baladin is a beer place. Very very good beer particularly the barley wine which is the best I've ever had, and their burgers too (tartar). I wish the passionate capable beer, cheese, meat people would do something about the espresso.
echris Senior Member Joined: 10 Jul 2003 Posts: 5 Location: Seattle Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Sat Apr 28, 2012, 1:00pm Subject: Re: I'm in Rome for 12 more days... Uh...where's the good espresso at?
I should add, the coffee at beppe is made with "Napoli style" aluminum flip pot. Looked for one today but couldn't find one, then found discussion here with questions.
The mechanism is very simple and small, each devices produces 6-8 oz. They grind so it takes 7-9 minutes to brew. Delicious. The pour spout has a fine mesh filter, so your cup sees no sediment.
sfrj Senior Member Joined: 1 May 2012 Posts: 1 Location: New York Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Alex Duetto Grinder: Mazzer Mini Drip: Aeropress, Syphone &c.
Posted Tue May 1, 2012, 7:18am Subject: Re: I'm in Rome for 12 more days... Uh...where's the good espresso at?
Not to mention many of the (beautiful, old) machines look like they haven't been cleaned since 1978... no wonder the espresso is bitter.
We had quite good coffee in Turin, and surprisingly in Venice at the cafe right across from the Accademia. I love the coffee culture in Italy, wish the actual coffee was better.
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