Public Coffee Roasters belongs to Hamburg’s leading specialty coffee roasters. They started as a coffee stand and had pop-ups until they later established their own roastery along the Elbe River. As of today Public Coffee Roasters has three individual coffee shops. Each of the cafes has its own, and different vibe:
- Wexstraße, Neustadt: The original – small, dim and cozy.
- Goldbekplatz, Winterhude: The industrial hipster hotspot – great for avocado toast and laptop-workers.
- Brandstwiete, Innenstadt: The most recent opening – a modern glass showroom, popular for lunch and business peeps.
Despite the differences, all of them alike provide Public’s own specialty coffee roasts, that range from light to medium roast. They will please the specialty geeks as well as more traditional taste buds.
The Story: From Family Traditions to Public Coffee Roasters
I had the chance to meet the two brothers behind Public Coffee Roasters at their roastery in Entenwerder. Argin and Arameh’s family originally comes from Teheran, Iran, where socializing around food belongs to one of the most important parts of life. The connection to cafés evolved in their teenage days, when they moved to Germany. Here, their dad placed all his business meeting in various cafés around town so they literally always knew they could find him in one of them. It was as if Argin and Arameh’s second home was comprised of a list of cafés.
As an adult, after working in the family business for many years, Argin was ready to start something new. The family tradition of valorizing high quality food, along with his fond memories of visiting cafés lead to the idea of coffee being his focus in the food industry.
He started in 2012 by touring Germany’s artisan coffee roasters to extend his horizon. A year later he founded Public. First he roasted in guest roasteries and popped up in festivals. One day, he got the chance to relocate his roasting to a whole own location on Entenwerder. So along the Elbe, half an hour of an idyllic bike ride from downtown, in an old refurbished pontoon, now sits the Public Coffee Roastery.
Based in Idyllic Entenwerder
Their roastery is literally a dark green container, on a pontoon along the Elbe river. It was founded along with a social project that the local clothing brand Thomas I Punkt iniated. Here, next to a community sailing club, this apparel brand built up an architecturally interesting building (see left pict. below). Public Coffee Roasters conceptualised the attached Entenwerder Café (see right pict. below). In return they got the idyllic location to place their roastery.
Next to their container are your best clichées of Hamburger Fishermen: swaying in low chairs on the pontoon in front of their old paint-smelling containers, watching the gulls and ships go by. Argin and his team completely renovated their container, to implement the roastery. This is where all the production happens.
Four days of Roasting & Cupping on Fridays
Four days a week they roast here. Then on Friday it’s time for the cuppings (coffee tastings), to see if they did their job well the days before. Here, Sandra is a main player in the team. She is a Cup of Excellence judge and together with Argin and Aremeh they analyse the roasts: from each note of their flavours to the sweetness, the acidity, as well as the body, balance and mouthfeel.
Coffee Roasts for the Public
Unlike many other specialty coffee roasters, Public Coffee Roasters doesn’t solely focus on light roasts. Argin explained me his theory, why he thinks that medium roasts also deserve a place in the specialty coffee scene, at least in Hamburg. This finally gave me a legitimate understanding to the different receptions between light and dark coffee roasts.
“The movement of light roasts comes from Scandinavia. France, Spain, Italy – they all roast their coffee darker. This has a cultural background, that many people don’t understand. The affinity for sour tastes is extremely high in Scandinavia. For centuries already, their cuisine has been made up of pickled foods. They don’t know it any other way and so their palate has gotten used to this taste over generations. Now ‘we’ arrive here and want to convince a culture that is strongly influenced by the French and Italian cultures – which cooks defty foods, with strong spices – that ‘sour’ is the only right way to go. That doesn’t work”
Thus, at Public Coffee Roasters the roasts cover the whole spectrum. They always roast four different filter coffees, starting with a fruity Yirgacheffe and ending with the stronger Huila, which reminds more of well done “breakfast coffee”. In between the range lies their Elida roast, from one of the highest farms in Panama. It is their “absolute specialty – a rarity”. It won a second place in Germany and first place in Austria’s filter coffee championships. Also the espresso roasts cover a wide range of flavors and bodies. While I personally most like the taste of the First Love, a fruity-nutty blend from Ethiopia and Columbia, my family has had their best flat whites with the chocolatey Black Beauty, a blend from Tansania, Guatemala and Brazil.
In three distinct locations
But you don’t have to go all the way to Entenwerder to taste the fruit. Public Coffee Roasters has three distinct coffee shops, from the harbor to Winterhude. There you can taste all of their roasts prepared whichever way you like, by their skilled baristas.
1. Wexstraße 28, Neustadt
In 2013, Argin opened his first little coffee shop. On the slanted cobblestone street of Neustadt, it still stands with old and new regulars, tourists that got lost off the beaten track and urban plant lovers that discover it after a shop at Winkel van Sinkel. It’s quite intimate, small, calm and dim inside, with just a few seating arrangements. On nice days I love sitting at the window with sun rays beaming inside, on frosty days you can do the same behind a misted up window.
You probably won’t linger here for hours – unless you get caught up with one of the inspiring coffee table mags, of which Public Roasters in the Wexstraße is one of Hamburg’s main distributors. These independent magazines don’t only look stylish, they seriously have something to tell. (Like about a chemist couple who decided to quit science to open a really cool ice cream shop in L.A.) Seriously though, get inspired here daily to read what the newest issues are about!
2. Goldbekplatz, Winterhude
In 2016, the second Public Coffee Roasters opened way across town. It’s located in an old foundry just at the end of Mühlenkamp – a hip and trendy street to be discovered on its own.
This branch is surprisingly different than their little niche in Wexstraße. Here you’ll be amongst many English speakers. In my opinion it’s one of the, maybe the best place in town, to work on your laptop. The atmosphere is sociable but still allows for an undisturbed working spot, without making you feel like you’re lingering too long. But incase you do feel like you owe them something – there are great choices for what to sip and nibble throughout the day: fruity porridge, one of Hamburg’s few avocado toasts, fresh smoothies, lots of cakes, and of course a large selection of coffee.
3. Brandstwiete, Downtown/Harbor
Their newest cafés (for now) opened in late 2017 near the historical Speicherstadt. This large, flat and clean space is more than just a coffee shop. They cooperated with a furniture brand, MADE, to design the interior.
Otherwise this café is also popular for the many business peeps in the area, especially for a abundant salad lunch during the week. But also if you come for longer, you can find your spot in the spacious room and get undisturbed work done.
The Answer is Coffee!
So visiting these three Public Coffee Roasters is like visiting three different coffee shops, that are solely provided by the same roastery. Well, I take it back, you might see one more similarity: the tote bags and postcards saying “What would Jesus brew?”. It’s not beer, it’s coffee. Who would have guessed? Although . . . To be completely honest, I’m not entirely sure, not completely, hundred percent-positive that he would have really brewed coffee. But Public does, and not just one way, but for anyone’s taste buds, whether from Hamburg, Bordeaux, Copenhagen, or Bethlehem.
When? Mo-Fr: 8:30-18, Sa-Su: 10:30-17 (Wexstraße) // Mo-Fr: 7:45-19, Sa-Su: 10-19 (Goldbekplatz) // Mo-Fr: 7:30-18, Sa-Su: 10-18 (Brandstwiete)
Where? Wexstraße 28, Neustadt // Goldbekplatz 1, Winterhude (near Mühlenkamp) // Brandstwiete 3, Downtown/Harbor // The Roastery: Entenwerder
Other Info: Wexstraße: no wi-fi, Goldbekplatz & Brandstwiete have wi-fi
The first picture is great and gives Public Coffee Roasters a vibe that makes me want to go there again and again. I’m especially amazed at how they managed to establish three such distinct cafes, well and the comment/analysis of the light roasts made the post worthwhile just to learn that view. Thanks for this great post.