Some roasteries sell you coffee. A handful change the way an entire city thinks about it. Five Elephant from Berlin belongs to that second group — and their story begins, like so many good things, with two people who ran into each other in Kreuzberg.
An American, an Austrian and an idea that seemed too early
In 2008, Kris and Sophie Schackman met in Kreuzberg, the buzzing, raw heart of Berlin. Kris had lived in the United States for years, where specialty coffee was already coming of age. He loves telling the story of his first truly good cup: as a student in 1995, at Scott Rao's very first roastery in Amherst, Massachusetts. That flavour never let go of him.
Two years later, in 2010, Kris and Sophie opened their own café and roastery. They called it Five Elephant and immediately committed to something almost nobody in Germany was doing: direct trade. Buying coffee straight from the farmers, with transparent prices and long-term relationships. At the time there was probably only one other business in all of Germany — in Hamburg — working that way. "Everyone in Berlin thought we were crazy," Kris remembers. A café charging more for a cup of coffee because the farmer was paid fairly? In 2010 that still sounded like an indulgence.
Pioneering means getting up early
What sets Five Elephant apart is that they didn't wait for the market to be ready. They were the first customer of Nordic Approach, the Norwegian green coffee company from Tim Wendelboe's circles that has since become legendary for its quality. By tying themselves to partners like that early on, Five Elephant gained access to microlots and origins most Europeans hadn't even heard of yet.
The result is a roastery that has consistently steered by flavour and transparency for more than fifteen years. No dark, burnt espresso flattening everything in its path, but roasting that lets the origin speak — the floral, tea-like side of an Ethiopian coffee, or the syrupy sweetness of a natural from Brazil.
The cheesecake that became famous by accident
This is where the story turns human. Because ask a Berliner about Five Elephant, and there's a good chance the first word out of their mouth is cheesecake. Their New York-style cheesecake became so beloved that people crossed the city just for a slice. For a roastery this serious about coffee, that's a lovely lesson: a great place isn't only about what's in your cup, but about the whole experience around it. The little table by the window, the conversation at the bar, the slice of cake alongside.
That philosophy — quality without pretension — shows up in everything they do. Five Elephant grew into several locations across Berlin, but stayed true to the original idea: good coffee should be accessible, not elitist.
What's in the cup?
Five Elephant is known above all for two things. First, their love of Ethiopian coffees — think of the bright, citrusy and floral profiles that make specialty such a revelation for anyone coming from supermarket coffee. Second, their espresso blends, designed to shine both on their own and with milk, with a sweetness that carries a cortado or flat white just as well.
If you want to try their coffee for the first time, here's what I'd suggest:
- Start with a filter — a V60 or AeroPress brings out the subtle aromas of a single origin best.
- Keep the grind size a touch coarser than you're used to with dark coffee; lighter roasts want a slightly slower extraction.
- Taste it without milk or sugar for the first sip. You want to hear what the farmer and the roaster are trying to tell you.
Why we're sharing this story
At BAM we deliberately choose European roasteries that stand for something. Five Elephant is a textbook example: not a marketing story invented after the fact, but a roastery that chose transparency, quality and fair relationships with farmers from day one — back when that was anything but obvious. That they also happen to make the best cheesecake in Berlin is simply a bonus.
Every time you brew a cup from a roastery like this, you're drinking a piece of that story too. And honestly? It tastes that little bit better.
Curious now? Discover the coffees of European specialty roasteries in our shop and taste for yourself where all that dedication goes. ☕
0 comments