Julika
It’s the most wonderful time of the year! And by that I mean: I get to look back on the last year through the coffees I drank!
Ever since I wrote my first blog post about traveling and coffee, my yearly coffee round-up has become an article I look forward to writing the entire year. I love how a collage of my coffees always tells stories from my kitchen table in Göttingen to far-off places all over the world. The changing of scenery, light, cups, tables, or sweet treats on the side are always part of my favorite memories, because with the help of these details I not only remember a certain place or situation, but also its smell, taste, and feel. Coffee moments aren’t necessarily the big life and travel moments — they rather are moments to let it all sink in, moments to really be there. And that’s exactly why I cherish them so much.
2015 was a great both in travel and coffee: I visited three of the biggest cities for specialty coffee in Europe (Berlin, London, and Paris!), I went to the land where even the most random little cafés still have amazing espressi (Italy!), and I traveled through the Middle East (Jordan and Turkey!) where I tasted a whole new kind of coffee:
January: Hesse and Lower Saxony, Germany
Fleeing into cozy cafés on freezing winter days in Göttingen
January light and Sunday espresso treats in my kitchen
A Friday morning girly breakfast date in Göttingen to make winter a little more bearable
February: Lower Saxony, Germany
Travel chats and cute cups in Göttingen
Chasing February sun in Göttingen and latte treats to warm up after
March: Lower Saxony, Hesse, and Berlin, Germany, and Florence, Italy
Easily one of the best breakfasts of 2015: At Father Carpenter in Berlin-Mitte
Squeezing as many coffees as possible into 48 hours in Berlin —
at Westberlin Coffeebar & Mediashop for example
Returning to The Barn in Berlin
Not all coffee on the road is good coffee, but I didn’t even mind on the way to Florence
Probably my favorite travel/coffee photo of the entire year because it’s so very Italy
Meet the most expensive coffee of the year!
(But this view of Piazza della Signoria was worth it!)
All of Florence on a tiny espresso cup!
Sightseeing cappuccino break in the morning sun
After dinner treats at fantastic Tamerò
Of espressi, sunshine, and butts on the floor
Nothing beats an Italian caffè cornetto for breakfast
The cutest elephant (!) latte art in Kassel
(as a reward for shooting my first wedding the night before)
April: Lower Saxony, Germany, and Jordan
My very first Jordanian coffee on our #GirlsGoneJordan trip!
Coffee and Jordanian dessert after the cooking class at Beit Sitti in Amman
Living room coffee in Amman (while watching Arab Idol on mute!)
Patio dessert in Madaba
One of my favorite coffee and pinch-me-moments of 2015: Being absolutely awe-struck in Petra and letting it all sink in while sitting on the floor of a Bedouin tent, being served coffee and a date in chocolate by a tall Bedouin guy with eyeliner
Coffee on a boat on the Jordanian Red Sea shore — with a view of Israel in the distance!
A coffee date in Göttingen after returning from Jordan with so many new impressions
May: Lower Saxony, Germany, Luxembourg City, and London, UK
Starting the month with cappuccino at Kaale Kaffi in Luxembourg City
Coffee break while semi-sightseeing in rainy Luxembourg City
Saturday at the farmers’ market on one of the rare spring weekends at home in Göttingen
In London to find the best flat white — at famous Monmouth maybe?
Spectacular breakfast and coffee at Nude Espresso on Brick Lane
My first ever cortado at Timberyard in Soho
Amazing flat white at Leyas in Camden
One last flat white in South Kensington, while sitting on the ground next to a fancy private park
June: Lower Saxony, Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
Afternoon cake and coffee while showing my family around Göttingen
Late café breakfast in Göttingen
July: Lower Saxony, Hesse, and Hamburg, Germany
German iced coffee to celebrate my sister’s birthday in Fulda
Hunting down the best coffee places in Hamburg with Amanda
Flat whites and fresh flowers at Playground in Hamburg
Latte with a view of Hamburg’s Speicherstadt, Germany’s newest UNESCO World Heritage Site
Fabulous coffee at Milch in Hamburg’s Portuguese Quarter
August: Lower Saxony and Hesse, Germany, Paris, France, and Side, Turkey
A day of doing nothing in Paris but reading in parks and sidewalk cafés
Sampling my very first café gourmand on a perfect summer night in Paris
Breakfast on the balcony of my friend Kathi’s place: With treats from the local farmers’ market and a view of Parisian rooftops
Outstanding breakfast at KBCafeshop in Montmartre
At Kitsuné after finally seeing the new and improved Palais Royal
Flat whites and pretty tables at La Caféothèque
Catching up with an old friend over breakfast in Kassel
Falling in love with breakfasts in Turkey (even when the hotel coffee wasn’t great at all)
September: Side, Turkey, and Lower Saxony, Hesse, and Hamburg, Germany
Embarrassingly, I found the first real Turkish coffee at Antalya airport on the way home
Extended layover in Hamburg to taste the flat white at less political
Lazy late summer Sundays back in Göttingen
October: Lower Saxony, Hesse, and North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
My first ever flat white in Lower Saxony at 24grad in Hannover —
not the best coffee, but that fall day was flawless!
November: Lower Saxony, Baden-Württemberg, and Hesse, Germany
The joy of finding a proper flat white at Eight Days A Week in Stuttgart!
The best thing about our weekend getaway to Southern Germany: Sitting outside in November!
Annual catch-up breakfast in Gießen with friends from university
December: Lower Saxony, Hamburg, Bremen, Hesse, and Bavaria, Germany, and Tirol, Austria
Best latte art of 2015 found at Nord Coast while visiting the Christmas markets in Hamburg!
Scandinavian speciality coffee at Tornqvist pop-up café in Hamburg
The grand finale and probably the cappuccino with the best view in 2015:
At Germany’s highest beer garden, on top of the Alps!
Where did you have your favorite coffee of 2015?
Need more coffee? Here are my coffee recaps of 2012, 2013, and 2014 — and the best coffee stories from Jordan, some coffee highlights in Berlin, and coffee favorites in Hamburg!