Kolo Coffee: Where I Drink My Coffee Now

Kolo Coffee von außen: weiße Fassade und orange Stühle vor dem Laden in der Brunnenstraße

I drink two cappuccinos a day. One in the morning, one at noon. In between, if the day is kind, a filter coffee. So let's say: I have points of comparison.

And still, a shop on Brunnenstraße recently caught me completely off guard.

The shop

Kolo sits at Brunnenstraße 158, just before Rosenthaler Platz. You'll spot it by the orange furniture outside. Inside: small, bright, unfussy. Roasting happens in the back, drinking in the front.

Inside Kolo Coffee: orange espresso machine on the wooden counter
Photo: Kolo Coffee

The man behind it is Vladyslav Demonenko, from Ukraine, with titles you have to google first: World Vice Champion in Coffee in Good Spirits 2022 – that is the discipline where coffee meets alcohol – and Ukrainian Brewers Cup champion 2023.

By the way, “kolo” is Ukrainian for circle. Everyone comes in, everyone gets a say. And that's exactly how it is: nobody looks at you sideways if all you want is a cappuccino.

The coffee

There is exactly one coffee on the espresso grinder. Not ten. One. Whichever is up right now – and it delivers.

I had a filter coffee and a cappuccino. The filter first: fruity. Properly fruity. I'm not going to start telling you about lychee and bergamot. I'll just say: I drank slower than usual.

Then the cappuccino: creamy, but not sweet, with a bright, clean acidity underneath. That comes from the bean – milk tames acidity, it doesn't create any. Getting that much of it through the milk is the craft. One of the best I've ever had.

You can see why in the shop: they roast right here, and it is the kind of stuff that usually ends up on competition stages – single origins, rare microlots, competition-grade coffees. The beans rotate with the seasons, brewed as V60 or batch brew.

Shelf with coffee boxes and drip bags at Kolo Coffee
Photo: Kolo Coffee

Secret tip?

I wish. It isn't one anymore: at Berlin Coffee Week 2025, Kolo was voted the city's best specialty coffee shop. So the coffee nerds already know. If you're not one of them – even better. You still have this ahead of you.

There is wifi, and you can work there too. But you don't have to. Drink the coffee first.

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