Berlin Café is like a teddy bear: it wraps you in its warm and fuzzy arms of foodie deliciousness. Under all that furry loveliness, though, it is a music loving beast…and it knows how to roar. With a micro-army of DJs spinning, cold beer, and hot Java Republic coffee, Berlin has become a music hub of the Creative Quarter. It’s adored by many thanks to its amazing energy, great people and sweet tunes.
After years of cooking up tasty afternoons and deadly evenings, Berlin Café will be closing its doors. This week’s programme is buzzing with great tunes. The acts include psychedelic funk band Spot Gun (Wednesday), and loads more manning the decks (Wed – Sat). Saturday is the BIG BANG FAREWELL PARTY, followed by a 4 drum 'n' base DJs night on Sunday so be sure to stop by and give the whole team a big bear hug.
Berlin’s in-house artists spray painted the café’s chairs, and the gang is selling them off in aid of Simon Community. Each chair is €100 a pop, with all proceeds going to help fund Simon Community’s work.
To learn more about this unique place, I swung by Berlin for a quick chat with Poppy.
How did Berlin get started?
Everything started with this guy Dan who wanted to create a space in Dublin similar to those you could find in Berlin – with great coffee, tasty beer, and good music – everything you’d want to create this friendly community-based place. He ran it for a year, and then a group of people took over and helped the café evolve into what it is today. We’ve developed a nice community of DJs and musicians. We upped our coffee game and got some good beers. And people grew to love that.
It’s quite unique to see DJs hitting the decks in the middle of a café. How did it start?
There is a really strong electronic underground music scene in Europe and internationally.Something like that is lacking in Dublin in small and intimate daytime venues. It seems there wasn’t much of choice during the day for people to have a coffee and enjoy live music. This exists in Berlin and other cities. You can feel there is definitely a market for it in Dublin.
Any favourite moments from Berlin’s ‘family album’?
These moments happen all the time, to be honest. We’ve got people telling us daily how happy they are we’re here. We’re about helping people meet and connect. It’s made possible thanks to the comfortable atmosphere in which people express themselves creatively and music-wise. And they are really conscious of that. We’re constantly being asked about our plans. The café managers have been exploring various avenues. Currently, however, there is no definite answer to that question.
As a coffeeholic, I can see coffee is important to you
Berlin loves coffee. We work with Java Republic. The guys offered all our staff professional training and taste tests to make sure we were well-prepared to serve a good coffee. We serve a really nice Rubia coffee, which is a mixture between Mexican and Peruvian beans. Our coffees are served in glasses as it’s a nice way to drink your coffee. Plus, you should drink your coffee fast if you want to enjoy your flavours straightaway. Our main barista Maja, who attended the Irish Latte Art Competition, always makes sure the coffees are up to the mark.
Poppy was great. Before heading, I took a snap of the amazing people that make Berlin Café great. I packed my stuff and left Berlin. Even then the place was literally oozing with energy, full of happy people, glasses clinking and chatter. Sunshine was pouring into the space. Berlin, see you around. Pinky swear.