If you are coming to Germany and are that kind of person who
... cannot decline an inviting smell of coffee wafting into the room where you happen to be,
... is always making some fresh coffee,
... likes going for a coffee just for the fun (and enjoyment) of it,
I am sorry to inform you that you might get disappointed depending on where you go in Germany. I say ‘depending on’ because my experience so far is based on the city where I am living, and on conversations that I have had about the topic over here.
The fact is that when I arrived, my bosses gave me a package of coffee and I was really happy to know that I would be able to drink something that is very popular in my country (Brasil).
The problem was that it tasted
In fact, most of Brazilians are just mad about coffee. For example, one of the first questions we ask a guest whenever s/he arrives at our home is usually if s/he would like some coffee (‘Aceita um cafezinho’?). And the guest does not have to worry about causing any problem for having the host to make coffee just for the occasion, because in most of cases Brazilians have freshly-brewed coffee all day long (no, not really. Except for my late Grandma who would drink coffee even late at night, normally people stop making it in the evening).
Besides, a coffee break is taken as a seriously, almost holy moment among many Brazilians. It’s our pausa para o cafezinho. It looks like an excuse to drink coffee. In Germany, it looks like ''ne Raucherpause' (short break to go for smoking).
Brazilians also have the habit to invite someone to go for a coffee ('Vamos tomar um café'?), even though they could drink something else but a coffee. A very interesting fact is that during my visit in Berlin, I learned that when Berliners say ‘Wir können kaffee trinken gehen,’ (We can go for a coffee) can convey the same meaning as in Brasil :-) Cool, isn’t it?
When someone notices that sometimes I find the coffee here not worth a sip, s/he cannot believe that coffee can taste
Of course, I heard that there are better German coffee brands being sold out there, and I just have to find them. So I hope.
By the way, if you can recommend me some good German coffee, please do it! If you cannot, so please gimme two peanuts.
1 comentário(s)
First of all - Hut ab! Your blog is lovely and your English as well. I like the way you quote Portuguese expressions which make me think of Brasil, bossa nova etc)
ReplyDeleteAs I started working in the clinic I was at first disappointed by the way a caffee was prepared - ground coffee was brewed in Kaffemaschine. That's it. So you end up sipping this shitty americano, which could be better defined as water with coffee, and trying to stay awake at 6 a.m. Anyway, as you already mentioned, it's just different coffee-culture. Unfortunately there's no time to enjoy it. You have only 30 min. in which you have to manage to have a breakfast, chit-chat with colleagues and one cigarette. Everything including coffee should be praktisch und pragmatisch like Ritter Sport. In free-time they have in Germany coffee-break (Kaffepause) around 4 p.m. During my internship in Italy they used to have like 3-4 coffee-breaks a day without any hurry and coffee was damn good!) What strikes me most, is the non-chalant way in which they used to pass by Cafe in order to drink coffee (not to take it away) before work. Amazing! Stop and the smell roses - this is what we all need! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxwcQ1dapw8