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13 Sep 03:17

Top 5 cafés in Berlin

by Caroline Kurze

We are happy to present our Top 5 Cafés in Berlin in collaboration with Green Cup Coffee. Last week we went to explore and find our favorite cafés in Berlin. We came across some true coffee lovers and found cozy places to have a decent cup of coffee and also some small establishments where you can pick up your coffee to go. Just pick your personal favorite but make sure to check out these exceptional coffee places, our top 5 cafés in Berlin. Enjoy.

WESTBERLIN

 

Café Westberlin is right around the corner of Checkpoint Charlie. The ultimate tourist spot but a few meters down the road you’ll be surprised to find this nice spot that is mainly filled with families, office employees who enjoy their lunchbreak and well… tourists. It is a very mixed and friendly atmosphere, it seems like everybody is welcome and as the owner Kai Brüer once said ‘we are child-, tourist- and laptop-friendly’. Besides your cup of coffee you may also enjoy some really nice snacks such as delicious sandwiches, homemade cake or a croissant. Westberlin also offers a great selection of books and magazines about art, architecture and fashion as well as a separate work and reading area.

Westberlin
Friedrichstrasse 215, 10969 Berlin
Tel: +49 (0)30-25 92 27 45
Monday to Friday 08:30 am – 07:00 pm
Saturday, Sunday 10:00 am – 07:00 pm
info@westberlin-bar-shop.de
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COMPANION COFFEE

 

If you haven’t checked it out yet, you should go have a coffee at Companion Coffee. Chris and Shawn who are running the café since January, are true coffee enthusiasts and know everything about the art of brewing coffee. Companion Coffee is actually a very suitable name as the café is accompanying the Voo store located in the same space which offers a very nice range of high-end clothing. The perfect location to enjoy some nice shopping along with your cup of coffee. By the way, the beautiful concrete and wood mixed tables are crafted by Berlin-based designer Sigurd Larsen and they are for sale. We sure appreciate the well-made mix of design, fashion, small treasuries, passionate staff and of course the delicious coffee.

Companion Coffee
Oranienstr. 24, 10999 Berlin
Monday to Saturday 11:00 am – 7:00 pm
info@companioncoffee.com
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FIVE ELEPHANT

 

This café seems a bit remote, situated in a quiet neighborhood in Berlin Kreuzberg. The perfect space to enjoy some hot beverages, take a rest and eat cake. Five Elephant has its own little bakery in the back of the café that is producing tasty homemade cake that you should really give a try. Passionate about quality, their goal is to source the best coffees in the world in a way that is socially and environmentally responsible. They want their customers to understand the journey that coffee takes from the farm to their cup and they keep close contact with their suppliers. Responsible enjoyment in a cozy, laid-back atmosphere.

Five Elephant
Reichenberger Str. 101, 10999 Berlin
Tel: +40 (0)30 960 815 27
Monday to Friday 8:30 am – 7:00 pm
Saturday, Sunday 10:00 am – 7:00 pm
deliveries@fiveelephant.com
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CHAPTER ONE

 

Situated in the heart of Berlin Kreuzberg, Chapter One Coffee is a place where quality and passion go hand in hand. Offering different seasonal espressi as well as slow coffee variations that undergo a procedure that submerges water, coffee and the element of time. The outcome of this filtered coffee is delicious, it has an almost tea like taste and is nothing like the rather questionable filter coffee you had so far. As the café is rather short of space you should consider to take your coffee to go, though of course there is a seating area that invites everyone to stay and enjoy a cup of coffee at Chapter One. The staff you’ll meet here is sure in love with the coffee bean and knows how to treat it real good. You’ll taste the difference, so take your time for a freshly hot or cold brewed cup of coffee.

Chapter One
Mittenwalder Straße 30, 10961 Berlin
+40 (0)30 25922799
Tuesday to Saturday 9:00 am – 06:00 pm
Sunday 11:00 am – 06:00 pm
bjoern@chapter-one-coffee.com
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DOUBLE EYE

 

At Double Eye you get served coffee by a man who definitely knows what he’s doing as owner Arno Schmeil was world champion in brewing espresso in 2005 and 2006. When entering the small café we have no doubt about that we are about to get something special as we can almost not squeeze ourselves in the already more than crowded little space. Though the baristas seem used to the perpetual line in front of the café and are really quick in serving what is known as one of Berlin’s best coffees. We approve, but just go and check it out yourself.

Double Eye
Akazienstraße 22, 10823 Berlin
Monday to Friday 09:31 am – 06:29 pm
Saturday 10:05 am – 03:29 pm
Sunday closed
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Pictures and Text © iGNANT

22 Aug 03:01

Hola Cuba

by Caroline Kurze

Cuba was and still is a dream destination vor many travel maniacs. In the last couple of years the Caribbean island became the focus of attention of package tourists. Though Raúl and Fidel Castro are taking good care of that matter by moving these tourists on their own peninsulas. That way, individual tourist have all possibilities to discover Kuba on their own. Kuba is in general very open to tourists as they bring valuable foreign currencies.

We start our trip in the capital city, in Habanna. It has 2 million inhabitants and is the largest city of the country. When arriving, we are welcomed by a major cloud of exhaust fumes, originating from the rusty cars populating the streets. The alleys are crowded and the heavy american cars seem to be from another world and time. A world you’ll most likely recognize from Hemingways narratives, which are describing the charme of the seemingly pretentious colonial buildings and the Cuban music, salsa and cigars, making many peoples want to come and experience it themselves. Besides this unique setting, shaped by a revolution, the capital offers much more. Especially the area arounf Vinales, that is rolling and traversed by tobacco farms is a real contrast to Habanna. Here we are able to find the peace and quiet we were looking for. We are visiting a tobacco plantation, watching cigar makers work and enjoy a genuine Cohiba. We take place at our veranda, having a cigar and a glas of rum, listening to the jazzy sounds, coming from a nearby bar. Now we feel like we arrived in the real Cuba.

A ten-hour busride brings us to Trinidad, which is 400 km away. The small village is located next to the sea and is furthermore part of the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage. We are lying on beaches covered in white sand, we are snorkeling in the turquoise sea and we visit close-by waterfalls. In the evening people meet at a large stone starway, listening to Cuban musicians, while enjoying a Cuba Libre or a Mojito or dancing salsa. During a stopover in Santa Clara, we find Che Guevarra’s roots before we move on to Varadero. The peninsula is accessible for tourists and ‘working class heroes’, meaning Cubans who deserved to spend their holiday here due to extraordinary performances. Another world with an exciting history and beautiful pictures is waiting to be explored.

Text and pictures by Marius Lorenz

19 Apr 11:39

Дмитрий Хальзев. Американские каникулы

by kshakhbazyan

Друзья, представляем вам новое лицо в рубрике «Письма читателей». Дмитрий Хальзев – молодой фотограф из Липецка, увлекающийся велосипедным спортом и архитектурой. Приводим ниже письмо Дмитрия и его снимки из Нью-Йорка и Лос-Анджелеса.

Дмитрий Хальзев. Лос-Анджелес. Leica M8





















«Итак, меня зовут Хальзев Дмитрий. Мне 18 лет и в фотографию я пришел случайно. Фотография пересеклась с моим увлечением — BMX (Bicycle Moto Cross, экстремальные трюки на велосипеде — прим. Leica). Сначала я пытался фотографировать свои спортивные увлечения на старый «зенит» и вскоре понял, что фотография мне стала интересна сама по себе. Я начал совершать длинные прогулки по своему городку, пытаясь заснять что-то стоящее. Далее начались путешествия, в которых я также не расставался с камерой. Таким образом, фотография стала частью меня. Сейчас она снова пересеклась с моими занятиями и увлечениями — рисунком и архитектурой. Возможно, через фотографию я и решил связать жизнь с архитектурой.

В Нью-Йорке я оказался на новогодних каникулах в 2011 — 2012 году. Фотографии были сделаны Leica M8 и Summicron-M 40mm.

Дмитрий Хальзев. Нью-Йорк