Coffee Circle Café – Mitte

A flat white, served in a classic white cup but on an off-centre, non-circular saucer, at Coffee Circle Café – Mitte in Berlin.I didn’t know much about Coffee Circle before travelling to Berlin at the start of May. However, enough people recommended Coffee Circle to me once I arrived that I added it to my list. Coffee Circle began as a roastery specialising in direct trade in 2010, only opening its first café three years ago (in Wedding, Berlin, in the same building complex as the roastery). Since then, there have been two more, one on Bergmannstraße near Tempelhof and the other, the subject of today’s Coffee Spot, on Rosa-Luxemburg-Straße in the heart of Mitte.

From the street, there isn’t much to Coffee Circle, but inside, the café goes a long way back, all the way to the rear of the building, where windows look into a modern courtyard. There’s space for 12 people at tables outside on the pavement, while there’s plenty more seating in the spacious interior. A very limited (and entirely vegetarian) snack menu is joined by a selection of cake, but the real draw is the coffee, all roasted in-house, with the Cerrado, a naturally-processed Brazilian coffee, on espresso, joined by a regularly-changing second single-origin option, along with another single-origin on batch brew and two more on pour-over.

You can read more of my thoughts after the gallery.

  • Coffee Circle on the western side of Rosa-Luxemburg-Straße...
  • ... and here without the car in the way. There are three pairs of two-person tables...
  • ... on the pavement in front of Coffee Circle, with a single parasol for shade. Let's go in.
  • This is the view from just inside the door, looking the length of Coffee Circle.
  • Most of the seating is at the back, while the L-shaped counter is set back on the right...
  • ... leaving space for a window-bar at the front.
  • Although this is quite long, it seats just three on these tall stools.
  • Meanwhile, opposite the counter, you'll find these retail shelves against the left-hand wall.
  • There's a mirror after the retail shelves, followed by a water station.
  • The view looking back the other way.
  • The uncluttered counter in more detail. Overall Coffee Circle has clean, uncluttered lines.
  • The view from the front of the counter, where you can see the bulk of the seating...
  • ... which is at the back on the left-hand side, in a long, narrow space.
  • The space on the right, on the other side of the wall, has the toilet and a staff-only area.
  • There's a row of eight two-person tables running along a bench against the left-hand wall...
  • ... which ends at a sliding window/door which looks into an enclosed courtyard.
  • A six-person bar is against the wall on the other side (with a power socket at the far end).
  • There are paintings (four in all) on the wall above the tables, while elsewhere...
  • ... there are photographs from a variety of places, including the roastery and at origin.
  • There are also plenty of plants around, including these on a pillar at the end of the counter.
  • The retail shelves hold a wide (and colourful) range of Coffee Circle's retail bags of coffee.
  • Unusually (from a UK perspective) there are plenty of 1 kg bags as well as 350 g bags.
  • There's also a wide selection of coffee-making equipment.
  • A view of the counter, seen front on...
  • ... and here a more useful side-on view, which is where you order.
  • The cakes and pastries are in this large glass display case at the end of the counter.
  • The cakes and pastries in more detail.
  • Meanwhile, a range of cans and bottles on the top includes Kombucha and nitro coffee.
  • You order at the till on the left...
  • ... with the drinks menu on the wall, including seasonal specials. Meanwhile, you'll find...
  • ... the snack menu (left) and the current coffee selection (right) on the counter top.
  • These are joined by the house espresso, the Cerrado, a single-origin from Brazil.
  • To business. The Synesso S200 espresso machine and its two grinders are at the front...
  • ... of the counter, so if you hang around, you can watch your espresso extracting.
  • Not that either of those were for me, since I had ordered a flat white, my cup arriving...
  • ... on this unusually shaped saucer, which is where I'll leave you.
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Coffee Circle’s Mitte café opened last year on Rosa-Luxemburg-Straße, just north of Alexanderplatz. Located on the ground floor of a modern building on the western side of the street, it catches the morning sun, with the pavement tables only having the partial shade of a single parasol, plus the branches of a neighbouring tree. Coffee Circle has a simple façade, with the glass door on the left and two white-framed floor-to-ceiling windows on the right. There are six two-person tables outside, arranged in pairs, each seating four people, one pair in front of each window, with the third off to the right, sheltering under the branches of the tree.

Inside, Coffee Circle goes a long way back, a long, thin building which extends to the rear windows, where, in true Berlin fashion, you have a view of the leafy, inner courtyard. The seating is mostly at the back, while the front is split between retail shelves on the left and the large, L-shaped counter, which is set back on the right, leaving space for a window-bar to the right of the door, seating three on tall stools.

The façade’s clean, white lines continue inside, with pale woods and off-white paint predominating. These combine with the windows and open areas to create a huge sense of space, particularly at the front, where there’s nothing between the retail shelves on the left and the counter on the right.

Beyond the shelves/counter, the rear half of Coffee Circle is similarly split into two, with a dividing wall running along roughly the same line as the counter’s edge. To its right is the toilet and storerooms/staff-only spaces, while to the left is the bulk of the seating in what is, in effect, a long, thin room with an open front and windows at the back. Eight two-person tables line a bench against the left-hand wall, while a bar with six tall stools runs against the dividing wall on the right.

You order along the side of counter, with the cakes to your left, the menu on the wall directly ahead of you and the Synesso S200 espresso machine at the front of the counter to your right. You’ll also find the snack menu (a choice of a mushroom and spinach toastie, grilled cheese and granola during my visit) and the current selection of coffees, all of which (and more) are available to buy in either 350 g or 1 kg bags.

Coffee Circle has a house espresso, the Cerrado, a naturally-processed coffee from Brazil, plus a second single-origin which changes on a regular basis. While I was there, it was the Jhai, a single-origin Robusta from Laos, which, if I hadn’t already been overcaffeinated, I would have loved to try. Alternatively, there’s filter coffee, with the choice of the APAS, another naturally-processed coffee from Brazil on batch brew, or, on pour-over, the Jadae, from Myanmar, and a classic Yirgacheffe, from Ethiopia.

With so much choice, I bailed out somewhat, ordering a flat white. That said, it was a particularly fine flat white, with the rich, fruity coffee going really well with the milk, while the non-circular saucer intrigued me. And that was that, my all-too brief visit to Coffee Circle at an end. However, I’ll be sure to be back on any future trips!

ROSA-LUXEMBURG-STRAßE 19 • 10178 BERLIN • GERMANY
www.coffeecircle.com
Monday 08:30 – 18:00 Roaster Coffee Circle (espresso + filter)
Tuesday 08:30 – 18:00 Seating Tables, Bar, Window-Bar, Tables (Outside)
Wednesday 08:30 – 18:00 Food Breakfast, Lunch, Cake
Thursday 08:30 – 18:00 Service Order at Counter
Friday 08:30 – 18:00 Payment Cards + Cash
Saturday 09:30 – 18:00 Wifi Free (with code)
Sunday 09:30 – 18:00 Power Limited
Chain Local Visits 16th May 2022

If you enjoyed this Coffee Spot, then take a look at the rest of Berlin’s speciality coffee scene with the Coffee Spot Guide to Berlin.


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