Most importantly, an aspiring barista must have a lot of passion and a willingness to learn. If they are starting out at home, they should seek out as much information on coffee as they can. Coffee courses are also a great place to begin because they provide the space to ask questions as well as an opportunity for starters to practice their skills. New baristas should try to brew with other baristas in order to exchange knowledge and techniques since no two palates are the same. I would also recommend finding a job in a coffee shop whose coffee quality the barista really enjoys and to take part in competitions as they tend to boost a barista’s progress.
Beans. The justification behind the trend in filter coffee is that new tools produce really delicious coffee, but the big changes made to the coff
ee scene in recent years lie in the quality of the coffee beans and not in the coffee tools. For example, so-called speciality coffee roasters offer great beans that contain specific aromas and that aren’t overwhelmed by a bitter taste like commercial coffee from the supermarket tends to be.
Tools like Chemex, Aeropress, and Hario v60 allow baristas to take advantage of each tool’s specific elements like the paper filter or a special shape. For example, due to its thick paper filter, the Chemex produces a distinct and sweet but light cup of coffee. In contrast, the Aeropress makes a rich and full-bodied coffee because of the way it’s used. The Hario v60 produces a cross between the former two by creating a sweet and rich coffee. But old-fashioned hand brew methods like the French press or the Melitta filter can also produce good results. The key is that manual brewing methods will always make better coffee than automatic machines, since the coffee brewer can determine all the important brewing parameters such as water temperature, grind setting, and water flow. This individual treatment given to each batch is not possible with an automatic machine and therefore creates a suboptimal result.
My personal favorite manual brewing tool is the Hario v60 since it’s very simple and quick.
Sweet, clean, fruity, and distinct.
Berlin is actually packed with great coffee places, so this is a tough call. For the most exemplary coffee around, I would recommend the following spots:
Coffee Profilers: A recently-opened coffee shop that is a Berlin-Greek cooperation. They have a great selection of espresso and filter coffee, and some of the awesome baristas here have won world championships.
Companion Coffee: A tiny and very stylish coffee bar in the fashionable Voo Store that serves espresso from the best coffee roasters from around the world. The great thing about this place is that every day a new espresso surprise is waiting for you.
Ben Rahim: A cozy shop that serves very tasty coffee in the great location of Hackesche Höfe. Ben Rahim is probably the only speciality coffee shop that offers traditional Turkish Mokka coffee, which everyone should try!
Nano Kaffee: This sleek and well-designed coffee shop works with a variety of different roasters, giving customers a wide range of coffees to try. I have had some of the tastiest filter coffee in Berlin here.
Father Carpenter: One of the best coffee shops in the city center (also near Hackesche Höfe). The atmosphere is great and the baristas are absolute pros. I definitely recommend the flat white as it's consistently delicious tasting.
Hannes will be leading our new Coffee & Barista Course that will take place over three sessions on September 9th, 13th, and 16th. Together with Coffee Circle, we'll teach you all about roasting and tasting, how to make the perfect espresso & latte art, and how to brew a great cup of filter coffee at home. Sign up before September 1st to get our Early Bird Special! www.betahaus.com/berlin/coffeecourse
" People matter! Community was always what we were all about. ‘’
In June we launched #PeopleInbeta - our monthly blog post series in which our Content Manager - Vihra interviewed teams and freelancers from the betahaus community to present the variety of creatives we have in ‘haus, to understand their missions and get some useful advice for our audience. We talked on topics such as sustainability (with PlanA) , decentralized digital identity (with JOLOCOM), curated music experiences (with Bespoke Sounds), freelance photography (with Sara Herrlander), full-stack development (with Obst Digital), design (with LAUDO) and much more.
In the summer, we launched a couple of new events in Neukölln like Freelancers, Unite!, The Backyard Sessions and My friend’s BBQ.
Freelancers, Unite! developed as our productive coworking session with freelancers from in and outside the ‘haus. Once a month, we picked an important freelance topic (such as taxes, time-management, etc) and invited experts to give us insights on the topic. We saw so many new faces and had the chance to come back closer to where we started from - the freelance, grassroots culture.
Another event, which started in July (and turned out to be our favourite events) were The Backyard Sessions. Organised by our queen of Neukölln - Robbin – the Backyard Sessions are our creative evenings with live music jams, movie screenings and cocktails.
This last event was hilarious because for quite some time, nobody knew exactly who organised it or invited them. The friend was throwing a BBQ for the community in the garden and this led to all our members joining and staying after for a beer or two with us.
‘’My favourite moment this year was the second friends bbq which was actually cancelled because of the rain forecast. But despite the bad weather, people show up and it turned into a super nice intimate evening with Elizaveta and Paul giving a garden concert.’’ - Robbin (Community Manager, betahaus)
''In July, it was great how the casual after-work BBQ turned into an impromptu acoustic blues jam session with Elizavetta Barsegova and Paul, who have the voice of an angel. Actually, all of the My Friend's BBQ's and Backyard Sessions were AWESOME.’’ - Paige (Head of Marketing, betahaus)
This year we released a new event format in Kreuzberg called ‘’The betaSalon’’. It's an open panel discussion which aims to give stage to important topics and give free speech on them. The fist one we did on the EU elections, last month we talked about changemakers, but our favourite one for this season stays ‘’Mother + Founder’’ where we partnered with FemGems podcast and recorded a live podcast episode for them having Madeleine Gummer von Mohl (betahaus co-founder), Kristine Zeller (co-creater of ooshi period underwear) and Luisa Hoffman on the stage.
Every September, our co-founders take part in the Techfestival. in Copenhagen, spending a few days disconnecting from the daily life and focusing on creating a better, more human-centered tech future. This year the think tank which included our co-founders Madeleine and Max came up with the TechPledge. The Tech Pledge was made to emphasize the need for a new direction in tech. Similar to the Hippocratic oath for doctors, the Tech Pledge is a promise to make tech a force for good and ensure responsible and sustainable tech leadership. It’s a commitment to driving a new direction in technology.
One of the most exciting projects for betahausX this year (which is also continuing in 2020) is their new startup challenge called The Werder Lab - a global startup competition that aims to reimagine the way clubs like Werder work with athletes, fans and partners.
This year couldn’t end without us having our favourite events - the end-of-the-year holiday party and the BETAPITCH Global Finals. On the 6th of December we saw the 9 finalists of the regional BETAPITCH competitions pitching in front of our jury. Congrats to Troy from Hamburg for winning the big prize.
We finished the year at our Holiday Party celebrating anything and everything at betahaus | Neukölln together with our members, friends of friends and our favourite artists from Passiflora LIVE, Tapete and Kotoe.
Thank you for being with us in 2019. It's been a crazy big year for us and it wouldn't been possible without your support, trust and the hard work of our amazing team. Have an amazing holiday time and we'll see you again in 2020.
With love,
betahaus