Coffee in Rome
27.01.2019
Strong, weak, long, bitter…. This is how we order our coffee. This is how coffee serves us life. A cup of coffee and a gulp of life are alike.
If you travel to Rome, we recommend the small café in a 16th- century building in the square next to “St Eustachio” church (it’s located close to the first university in the capital of Italy; today a library). You’ll find yourself in a little square which you reach when you turn right from the Pantheon and take either Via di S.Eustachio or Via della Rotonda. The symbol of two brothers’ family business today taken over by one brother’s daughter, Federica, is the same deer you can see on the façade of the above- mentioned small basilica. The deer also features in the legend of St. Eustachio.
Eustace was a Roman general under service of Emperor Trajan. Once, while he was hunting deer in Tivoli, he noticed a shining light shaped like a crucifix between a deer’s horns. Eustace dropped his weapons and returned home. There followed a number of misfortunes and trials of his faith: his wealth was stolen, his sons abducted by a wolf and lion, his servants all died.
At Caffe Sant’ Eustachio coffee comes from plantations on Galapagos Islands, where the Arabica species has been grown since the 1870s, from Brazil, Ethiopia, Colombia. Coffee is imported from several countries which traditionally grow the Arabica sort, but blending and roasting takes place on site, in the little café in “St Eustachio” square. In the past its interior was strikingly innovative with its white furniture. Until 1938 the cafe’s name did not suggest anything legendary, as it was point-blank called “Coffee and Milk”. A newspaper cutting from The New York Times of the same period confirms the place’s reputation for supreme and genuine strong coffee. The cutting reads: “…When the thirst for genuine espresso becomes overwhelming, buy a ticket to Rome and tell the taxi driver to take you to Caffe Sant ‘Eustachio”. In his youth, Henry Kissinger himself used to order his coffee here.
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Federica tells us how the small family café with great history has reflected the spirit of the times and industry standards also by the innovative approach that gave birth to the Nespresso capsules. The story goes that years ago the inventor of the capsules, Eric Favre, was a patron of “Sant’ Eustachio” and, impressed by the flavor, he asked the barista about the secret behind it. By the way, notice the layout of the coffee machines inside the place. They aren’t directly visible to the customers, the idea being that the technology of preparation remains secret. But what did the barista answer… “I just press a button.”
These three words inspired the creation of coffee capsules that only need the pressing of a button. Whether this conversation between an Italian and a Swiss, both addicted to coffee drinks, is part of the history of this legendary café, I don’t know. But I liked Federica’s enthusiasm while she is telling the story of the family business as a story of love. Her attitude to customers brought a smile on my face, but, first and foremost, I was impressed by the respect for the history of a small place with a sales area of only 20 square meters plus the two coffee roasting rooms.
Is the coffee delicious? It must be. I drink mine white with a lot of sugar, so it’s hard for me to identify and appreciate the genuine taste.
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I ordered a coffee in “Sant’ Eustachio”. Strong and bitter. I had it outside, in the company of a girl I hadn’t seen for 20 years. This made the taste memorable and authentic. It was a cup of coffee I wish I could throw a coin in, so that I would return to this square. And then George will say more about the coffee, as he drinks it black and often.
Among my favourite places in Rome, two minutes from Piazza Navona, is Libera+ soon. It’s a different café with designer home-made sweets and the tempting invitation “Liberate yourself” as its name is translated. You will find it at Via del Teatro Pace 41.
