I meet Ralf Rรผller at The Barnโs roastery, a soaring almost-gallery of a space with an L-shaped brew bar so long you could lap it. All the wood in the room is reclaimed, or at least looks the part, and there are these west-facing windows that light floods through before pooling all over the place. Itโs like, quite literally, someoneโs transplanted the bones of a barn into the center of East Berlin.
โFor a long time, things in East Berlin were still bombed out,โ Rรผller says. โThere was no gastronomy here after reunification, so it offered the most platform for change and for foreigners to move in and to find it interesting.โ
Rรผller founded The Barn six years ago a few blocks away in a space far more like a shed in size. He still lives in the neighborhood and says he knows everyone who comes into the shop by name. But most of those customers have been and continue to be foreignersโtransplants from other places more familiar with coffee like The Barnโs.
โThe coffee scene came with very strong international influxes. When I started, there was almost nothing as far as a community was concerned, just a few people starting out. All our reference points for quality and traceability and high-quality coffee were abroad.โ
But weโre not here to talk about his companyโs past, instead, weโre meeting about its future. Last month Rรผller opened a pop-up in the basement of Japanese retailer Uniqloโs Berlin flagship store.
โI lived in Japan when I was in my early 20s,โ Rรผller says. โI still go there every other year to visit friends. So there are a lot of reference points for me from Japanโour bar uses Hario equipment, and we make it a feature in all of our shops to really showcase brewing, slowing down. The Japanese element has always been there in all our philosophy and in everything we do.โ
And so, Rรผller makes clear, first and foremost The Barnโs new pop-up is a collaboration with a Japanese clothing company. Itโs pared down to the nth degree: just an EK 43, a two-group La Morzocco Linea PB, two baristas, and a couple of Chemexes and V60s. But every detail seems streamlined and sharpened and very much deliberately The Barn, with a matte black espresso machine like something swiped from a Star Destroyer.
But more than being just another Barn, the pop-up represents an evolution for the company. In particular, by moving into West Berlin, which is predominately German in its makeup, Rรผller is making a statement.
โI’m German and I feel like I’m on German soil. I want to reach out to more German people. My goal as a German roaster is to have an impact on changing the roast scene and the coffee scene in Germany. I think West Berlin is giving us that.โ
As for plans to expand beyond the pop-up, which will be operational at least through the end of December, Rรผller doesnโt hesitate.
โWe’re looking at spaces all the time.โ
Michaelย Lightย is a writer and editor originally from Ohio. He’s worked previously forย Viceย andย Lucky Peach. Read more Michael Light onย Sprudge.