Coffee Mania: Enjoy The Ultimate Cup At Die Kaffee In Dusseldorf

There are few people who treat coffee with the same reverence and respect as extremely fine wines, but Olga Sabristrova is one of them. Her passion for the bean was ignited during her time working in coffee shops, and has now led her to taking part in ‘cup-tasting’ championships and opening her own specialty coffee shop in Düsseldorf, where she can share her passion with the locals. We caught up with her to find out how she was enjoying being the proprietor of her own shop, and life as a coffee fanatic.
What inspired Die Kaffee’s foundation?

I had been working for a few years in different cafés and roasters, but I never felt absolutely free in how I could make and serve coffee and everything around that. I always thought about what I would do differently if this were my own business. Finally I decided to change the ‘would’ into a ‘will’ and founded Die Kaffee.

Where does your passion for coffee come from?

From my time working in different cafés. In the beginning it was only a job to earn money, but then I realized how interesting and varied coffee is. It is similar to wine, you really have to know a lot about the origin, the soil, the harvest, the variety, the roasting etc. to make the best out of the individual beans.

Have you seen success with your coffee and barista training courses?

Yes, people like the courses: they are more for the consumers than professionals. More and more consumers are interested in what they eat and drink (not only coffee) and they buy great equipment to make coffee. They are also interested in the background and how they can make a good espresso with their machines. Most of my courses sell out quite quickly.

What exactly is involved in a cup-tasting championship? How does the competitive element of one of these championships work?

In the cup-tasting championship there are between 15 and 20 competitors (at least when I participated). In different groups the participants get 8 x 3 cups of coffee. Of each of the three cups, two are of the same coffee and one is different. And you have to find out the different one – eight times. The participants with the highest number of right choices goes through to the next round. If people have the same number of right cups, the time they needed for the selection decides. At the end there is a final round with the best three people.
What makes the perfect cup of coffee?

The perfect cup of coffee is one in which you can smell or taste the beans behind it, when you can taste the different nuances and maybe also the origin or the soil.

You serve over 20 kinds of coffees, do you have one particular variety that you would say is your favourite?

All my coffees are special for me in a certain way, but a very special one is my ‘Liberica’. It is a third variety besides Arabica and Robusta coffee. For me it is something special as you cannot buy it at every corner and the taste is quite special. Not a coffee for every day but definitely a coffee you remember.

What are your plans for the future?

There are no concrete plans at the moment. I just want to develop further, make specialty coffee more popular and, maybe, open a second shop.

Where can culture-loving visitors go in Dusseldorf?

There are a lot of possibilities. Düsseldorf has a famous opera, more than 20 museums and more than 100 galleries. Apart from that, Düsseldorf’s centre, the Altstadt, is known for its nightlife and lots of bars and pubs.

Die Kaffee is one of the winners of The Culture Trip’s Dusseldorf Local Favorite 2016 Award. The Local Favorite badge is awarded to our favorite local towns, restaurants, artists, galleries, and everything in between. We are passionate about showcasing popular local talents on a global scale, so we have cultivated a carefully selected, but growing community.

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