Specialty coffee in Germany

Specialty coffee in Germany grew from Filterkaffee, in the home of the Melitta paper filter, into a roaster-rich scene that began with Bonanza in 2006. German coffee culture was built on Filterkaffee: Melitta Bentz patented her paper filter in Dresden in 1908, and espresso machines only spread in the 1980s. Specialty roasting arrived in Berlin, where Bonanza Coffee Roasters opened in Kreuzberg in 2006 and The Barn followed in 2010. Hamburg, the country's historic coffee import port, has its own roasting tradition, and Munich's Man Versus Machine dates from 2014.

Berlin holds the largest share of cafés and roasters, but Germany is unusually decentralised. Hamburg, Munich and Cologne each have substantial scenes, Cologne with a high number of roasters, and Frankfurt am Main, Düsseldorf, Leipzig, Nuremberg, Hanover, Stuttgart, Münster and Dresden all have specialty bars of their own.

Roasters that shape German taste include Bonanza Coffee Roasters, 3st Coffee Roasters, Cross Coffee, Black Delight in Hamburg, Andraschko Kaffeemanufaktur in Berlin and District Five Coffee Roasters. Expect a Rösterei with a bar attached as a common format, light roasts, and filter coffee treated as seriously as espresso.