This past spring, two prominent Greeks traveled to Berlin to engage in high-stakes negotiations. But they werenโt discussing the debt crisis. No, this was World Brewers Cup Champion Stefanos Domatiotis and Taf Coffeeโs Yiannis Taloumis, and they were discussing coffee with none other than Nora ล mahelovรก, co-owner of beloved Berlin coffee star, Chapter One.
Two months ago, the brainchild of these discussions, Coffee Profilers, opened in one of the stately wedding-cake style buildings that line the former East German promenade of Karl-Marx-Allee (once known as StalinalleeโStalin Avenue).
As would be expected from Taf Coffeeโs first venture outside Greeceโthe noted roasterโs eponymous flagship cafe opened in Athens in 2009โthe space is top-notch. Expansive, with an eye to minimalist design, the cafe sports wood accents and modern furniture in muted grayscale.
Coffee Profilers is roughly split into four distinct areas: a breezy outdoor space sprawling across the post-Communist boulevardโs broad sidewalks, a main room decked out with couches and other casual furniture, a retail corner flaunting high-end paraphernalia, and, of course, the brewing area: front and center, this is the star of the show. Stage-like, itโs the first thing you see when you walk into the cafe.
Here behind the counter, the La Marzocco Strada MPย espresso machine isย joined by three Anfim Super Caimano espresso grindersโone for each of the beans they buy from the coffee producers atย Ninety Plus. Everything they serve here is roasted, of course, by Taf Coffee in Athens. Absolutely no cross-contamination will be tolerated.
Because, for Domatiotis, thatโs kind of the point: โSo many cafes offer beans from multiple different roasters, but this is wrong. You must follow the personality of the roaster and bring that to the front.โ In his view, with the modern obsession with single-origin beans and estate coffees, roasters too often get pushed to the background.
Domatiotisย explains that itโs about learning. โThe opportunity is wasted if you donโt learn anything from your coffee,” he tells me. “On every bag, we profile the beans inside. We give information about where the beans were grown and milled and how they were processed, as well as which coffee varietal was used.โ Even the farmโs altitude is listed. I tried some SL28, a cultivar from Kenya, but grown at the Leoncio Herbazu micro-mill in Costa Rica (1650 meters above sea level, if you were wondering).
Working methodically, Domatiotisย pours water over precisely 15 grams of beans. โI use 91 degrees Celsius, a low temperature, for faster extraction and more acidity and clarity in the brew,โ he explains. โYou donโt get as much bitterness this way. The density of the water is important. Lower temperature, higher density, faster extraction.โ
Finished, he decants the light-brown liquid into a small carafe, covering it with a mug. โThis captures the aroma of the coffee. When you open it, you can breath it, itโs part of the experience.โ Hot and wet, a tropical seaside breeze, the steam carries sweetness and acidity in equal measures. A floral, malic sourness, spiced with autumnal notes.
Itโs all so well executed that itโs hard to come out of the cafe without becoming a bit of a Taf Coffee fan. Thatโs why theyโre here, after all. With an eye toward distribution across Europe, Taloumisย felt a cafe in Europeโs de facto capital made sense. โHere, I can catch a plane to Munich, to Milan, to London, meet with a buyer, and come back the same day. Greece is a bit farther,โ he pauses, then continues, โBerlin is also a very open market. I knew I could win here,โ he winks.
Is Germany a good fit for Taf? โI was a little afraid,โ Taloumisย admits. โThereโs tension between Greeks and Germans these days. But that was all nonsense,โ he smiled. Domatiotisย jumps in: โLook at me, I donโt have a word of German, but I have one regular who is 92 years old. He lives above us,โ he says looking up theatrically, โand he helped build this building in the ’50s. Now he comes here every day to try a new kind of coffee. We canโt speak, but we are friends. If you smile and you really love your job, you can communicate.โ
Conor O’Rourke is a freelance journalist based in Berlin. His work has appeared in publications such asย ExBerliner, Matador, The Hustle, and many more. This is Conor O’Rourke’s first feature for Sprudge.
All photos byย Temi Adeniyi for Sprudge.com.ย