Looking for a good roaster in Berlin/Germany

Matthias Jakubek

When I recently upgraded from a cremina to the L1 it showed right away that I needed to find a new coffee. So, I'm hoping someone here has a better overview of the current roaster scene in Berlin. I've looked up and down through websites and forums and I'm well aware of the hyped places like Bonanza or Five Elephant. However, the thing is that I still haven't bought into the 3rd wave philosophy.
I like my espresso to be sweet and chocolaty with a long lasting aftertaste of dark chocolate. If I want fruit I'll just eat an apple.

I'm currently on a dark roast from Maya in Hamburg http://www.mayakaffeeroesterei.de/produkte/mexico-maya/ which produces a pretty decent extraction but certainly doesn't leave me awestruck… 

Anyone here who can point me into the right direction?
Best
Matthias

Ernst - Berlin

Hello Matthias,

There are a lot of roasters in Berlin, but have you visited/tried the following roasters in Berlin?

Double Eye

Röststätte
The following might be something for you:
Sinfonia blend
[Novum blend
Sinfonia & Novum blend

Based on the roasters you're referring to, I guess you live in Berlin-Kreuzberg. The owner of the Kaffeepur claims to have the biggest choice regarding beans; he prefers to roast the beans quite dark (the stock can be a bit older). I have visited Kaffeepur only once (last summer).
Kaffeepur

If you would like to receive more pointers to roasters, let me know.

Please note: I haven't tried the beans on a Londinium, since I'm waiting for my L-R to be delivered... :cheer:

--
Ernst

Reiss Gunson

hi Matthias

out of interest, what grinder are you using?

kind regards

reiss.

Matthias Jakubek

Reiss, you got me… grinder is another story at the moment. I use a HG-1 with TiN-coated burrs from 2014 but with the first shots on the L1 I realised something was wrong. The dial was on the finest grind setting but still coffee kept running from the portafilter way too fast.
Long story short, the burrs were totally out of alignment and after several hours shimming and realigning (boy was I pissed off) I realised that the inner burr seemed to be slightly concentric (it was rubbing only in one area, the effect was also visible at the gap between the burrs while turning). The results in the cup have been much better since but I'm thinking of biting the bullet and replacing the original aftermarket burrs (sold by HG1) with new ones from Mazzer. Seems a bit silly to have this kind of grinder running on inaccurate burrs…

Best,
Matthias

Luke Spaulding

Hey Matthias,
I usually prefer light to med roasted coffee but I've been pretty disappointed with most of the local roasters. five elephant, Bonanza, the Barn are definightly over hyped. I've been roasting for a while as well though so I know what I like. I've got consistently good roast from kaffeekirsche.berlin/ they definightly are worth checking out. And for darker Roasts check out
www.passenger-coffee.de/en/ I talked to the Roaster who is from New Zealand and be said they are trying to fill a niche in Berlin with all the 3ed wave places opening and focus on a little darker.. maybe more traditional style roasts and they have a nice Loring roaster.
Luke

Matthias Jakubek

Hi Ernst and Luke,
thanks for the advice! I bought some monsooned malabar from Kaffeepur yesterday, came out excellent! Also had another go with a roast from double eye, pretty disappointing, not worth a second try.
Also heard about passenger coffee 2 days ago, sounds promising too and will definitely try them out!

Best
Matt

Ernst - Berlin

Matt,

For the record, which version of there beans did you buy from Double Eye?
They sell two versions (the 'mild' is only arabica and the 'stronger' is a blend of arabica and robusta).

Ernst

Matthias Jakubek

hm, I think it was called their "home blend" – it's what they handed me when I asked for lowest acidity. I'll look at the beans when I get home to see if there are any robusta beans in there too and let you know.
But then again, there was no roast date on the package and I didn't ask since I was in a rush. Maybe it just wasn't fresh enough…
Matt

Ernst - Berlin

Matt,

I believe the home blend is with robusta beans. I don't think the beans are old. If I recall correctly, they roast two times a week and there coffee volume is gigantic.

BTW: how come your HG1 burrs were misaligned? Did you change the alignment yourself in the past?

Best,
Ernst

Matthias Jakubek

Well I assume the HG1 wasn't aligned properly when shipped in 2014, never fiddled with it. I just expected that perfect alignment would be the case and never double checked (in other words: I trusted them). The misalignment was actually quite bad, not just off-center but the burrs weren't on the same plane either (I had to change the angle of the axle). Reply from HG1 about the issue was that this is all within their tolerances and that the burrs self-align due to flex in the axle. Especiallly the latter I find hard to swallow when it comes to a manual grinder selling at 1000+$
Will probably need to get something else for more consistency.

Cheers Matt