Coffee Shops | Our Top 5 for the Weekend

(1) Bonanza Coffee Roasters

The devotees of the “Third Wave Coffee” movement have one mission: To keep refining coffee, in the same way that wine lovers continue to improve the taste of fermented grapes. Bonanza on Oderberger Straße is a Third-Wave pioneer. The store is filled with sacks of coffee beans and a coffee roaster adorns unpaintd walls. The irresistable scent of freshly roasted and grinded coffee floats through the space that always looks a little like its undergoing construction. Bonanza proves that premium coffee doesn't have to cost as much as the sickly-sweet milk froth monsters they serve at Starbuck's: A Caffe Latte is 2,90, a flat white – with less froth – 2,50.

Oderberger Straße 35, Berlin-Prenzlauer Berg, Tel. +49 171-563 07 95, www.bonanzacoffee.de

 

(2) No More Sleep

Hot water slowly flows into a hot ceramic filter, trickles through freshly ground coffee beans and finally gathers in a typical latte macchiato glass. You won't find espresso here, because at No More Sleep, the preferred brewing technique is the typical German Filterkaffee. Michael Flingelli, 25, claims that brewed coffee gently brushes against your gums and tastes much stronger than espresso. “People come here because of the brewed coffees” says Flingelli's partner Ariel Levin.

Mulackstraße 26, Berlin-Mitte

 

(3) Double Eye

Double Eye in Schöneberg has been celebrating high grade coffee-to-go culture for over a decade. And they've been immensely successful. On many days, there will be a line of customers spilling onto the street. Owner Arno Schmeil prefers his regulars over “Mitte hipsters” because they appreciate the high quality coffee beans at Double Eye. “Coffee is a piece of life quality that has become a standard part of the day” says Schmeil.  

Akazienstraße 22, Berlin-Schöneberg, +49 179-456 69 60, www.doubleeye.de

 

(4) The Barn

Ralf Rüller of The Barn on Auguststraße even takes his brewing equipment on vacation with him. Once you've tasted perfect coffee, you'll never want to taste anything else says Rüller. His lightly roasted beans are more flavorful that the conventionally roasted dark coffee beans. The barn uses organic milk that is precisely heated up to a temperature between 52 and 62 degrees and only uses espresso shots that contain at least 20 grams of espresso. It's these details that make for high quality coffee. One in every five customers is happy to try out new things when ordering their morning coffee, so some opt for “brewed coffee” instead of their usual espresso variations. The Barn is also a hub for english-speaking Berlin expats, some of which are actual “Coffee Shop Tourists” that exchange news and opinions on coffee shops in Berlin on blogs, internet forums and social media sites.

Auguststraße 58, Berlin-Mitte, Tel. +49 151-24 10 51 36, www.thebarn.de

 

(5) Passenger Espresso

The Flat White, an Australian/New Zealand espresso variation, is one of the most popular orders at Passenger Espresso in Kreuzberg. The smell of fresh coffee lingers in the air while guests are sprawled across benches and chairs and chatting away, in English mostly. New Zealand native Garth Gregory and his colleague Jan Schieffer, who began selling coffee at festivals like the Karneval der Kulturen, aren't especially troubled about the growing number of competitors on the coffee shop market. “It will get people to taste more premium coffee” says Garth, adding that “we want to offer a good product: fast, with a nonwavering quality and without any frills.”

Oppelner Straße 45, Berlin-Kreuzberg