Drink a lot: The Barn Roastery, Prenzlauer Berg

The line that runs between being knowledgeable and pretentious is a fine one. At coffee bar The Barn they're not too worried about crossing it though. In September, they opened their second coffee shop on Schönhauser Allee.  The menu features a bunch of filter coffees, the bar a row of chemistry lab type coffee makers. The cafe is light, open and sparsely furnished. I end up sitting quite close to our neighbouring coffee drinkers, surrounded by lots of empty space.

The Barn lot don't cater for just anyone. (Nor do they want their customers to stay for too long, judging by the facts that there are no customer toilets and laptops are only allowed if you stand up at the 'laptops allowed' bar.)

They seem to be keen on serving their coffee to the select few people appreciating their frankly pretty narrow view of how coffee should be drunk. Their list of rules is longer than their menu. Some are recommendations more than rules. To allow for the hidden notes of their carefully selected coffee beans to get noticed, they prefer it if you didn't take milk. Nor sugar for that matter. Sugar is only good for disguising the bitterness of Italian style coffee, didn't you know? They must save a fortune on teaspoons.

I tried it their way and ordered their Guatemalan drip coffee. The barrista explained it was their plainest variety, but the menu promised a caramel flavour and, knowing I wasn't allowed any sugar, I thought I could cheat this way. The resulting little jug of coffee, presented with a flourish by the ever enthusiastic barista, tasted to me like, well, slightly weak filter coffee. I missed my sugar. I missed my steamed milk. (I ordered a flat white later, to make up for the lack of it all.) The brie and pear sandwich was nice though. As was the very moist, very huge slice of carrot cake. Somehow, in a place that is so in awe of their own drinks, liking the food most is an unwanted result?

The Barn has realised that they can only take their pushiness when it comes to 'how coffee should be drunk' so far. I heard this rumour that, when the cafe opened, no sugar was available at all. This was confirmed when I heard owner Ralf explaining to another customer they had to bring the sugar back in due to popular demand. Clearly, even the most posh of coffee drinkers won't be told to forego their sugar fix. That made me smile. But only on the inside. I have a feeling there might be a rule that says: no smiling. It might just ruin the coffee experience.

The Barn Roastery, Schönhauser Allee 8, 10119 Berlin, website, open: Mon - Sat 9am-6pm, Sun 10am-6pm.