The coffee at kaffeefabrik is “bio angebaut, fair gehandelt, lokal geröstet”: grown organically, traded fairly and roasted locally. It is a member of Roasters United, a cooperative of small European roasters that imports organic specialty coffee together, buys large shares of a harvest, prefinances them and keeps working with the same democratically organised producer cooperatives. Through it kaffeefabrik roasts coffees from Indonesia, India, Ethiopia, Uganda, Brazil, Peru, Colombia and Honduras, and the team visits its producers every year. Half a dozen people work in the roastery five days a week, with the roasters Philipp, Niklas and Gabriel at its core; they cup the roasts weekly and adjust the profiles.

The espresso bar in Wieden is the original kaffeefabrik, open for 15 years: a small room for espresso and creamy cortados with croissants, a daily batch brew and a house hot chocolate. The café in Mariahilf, “a modern classic”, has room to relax, cake for breakfast, seasonal drinks and the light filter roasts brewed fresh in a Clever Dripper. Both pour two espresso roasts at a time, one dark and strong, one lighter and fruitier, and change them about every two weeks, with cow’s milk, lactose-free milk or Minor Figures oat milk.

The range runs from strong espressos with robusta from India and Uganda, such as Disco, Kusini and Peng 3000, to lighter single origins such as Schilicho from Sidama or a Pink Bourbon microlot whose proceeds support the mental health of women coffee farmers in Colombia. On Saturdays kaffeefabrik sells its whole range at a stand at the Brunnenmarkt, and it runs a coffee school with home barista, latte art and brewing courses.

Coffee on the shelf

Photograph: kaffeefabrik