Elbgold

Elbgold is the name every other Hamburg roaster points back to. Founded in 2004, it set the city's specialty standard from a former meat-packing hall in Sternschanze, where the roastery and café still share one cavernous, cobbled-yard space. The founders travel to source directly, working with growers across Ethiopia, Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Honduras, Peru, Brazil and India — the menu runs to twelve roasts, six espresso and six filter, plus rotating rare lots. Order a hand-brew on the V60, French press or AeroPress, or let one of the city's best latte artists turn a flat white into something worth photographing. The in-house bakery means a fresh franzbrötchen is never far. Across four Hamburg locations the coffee stays consistent, but the Schanze flagship — equal parts roastery, bakery and neighbourhood living room — is the one to make time for.