Playground Coffee

At Playground Coffee in Hamburg you get naturally grown and prepared coffees from all over the world, which are processed in one of the best roasting plants in Europe.

With his Playground Coffee, owner Veljko Tatalovic fulfilled a dream: here, naturally grown and prepared types of coffee are processed in one of Europe’s best roasteries.

Almost everyone drinks it daily to activate their tired cells, but for many it is love for life. But what makes a really good coffee and how do you find it in a city of millions? Easy, you go to where quality is spelled with a capital Q and a great product is made with passion: to the Playground. For one-and-a-half years, the perfect black gold flows into cups here at Playground Coffee in the university quarter at Grindel. The shop-in-shop system with the friends of Otto’s Burger works so well because the core times complement each other perfectly and the lovingly furnished café is always filled just right.

“I wanted either to roast coffee or brew beer”

But to make this happen, Veljko Tatalovic has to work around the clock. Aged just over 30, he is founder, buyer, roaster, barista, accountant and janitor in one. His passion for an extraordinary product led him to switch careers. “I wanted either to roast coffee or brew beer”, says Veljko. At Playground Coffee, he is able to do both: together with his friend and manager of Buddelship Brewery, he has produced a coffee beer with a limited production of 700 bottles. By now, of course, the trained photographer has staff to support him in his everyday business.

Hand-picked, fair trade and gently processed

Many things are the result of cooperation – for example, the chalk-decorated counter was done by creative friends, as were the individual designs of the coffee packages. The latter are so beautiful that Veljko even sells them online as posters. In addition to his actual product of course. Seven types of coffee can be bought online and in the café, all with different aromas and playful names. But no matter if “Kenya West”, “Rocko Mountain” or “Skywalker” – they all have one thing in common: their beans come from small farms from around the world, are hand-picked, fair trade and gently processed in his own roastery in the south of Hamburg which, of course, incidentally is officially on one of the ten best in Europe.

And this is where Veljko’s secret lies: “Coffee is totally interesting by nature and can have over 1000 aromas. But these are often destroyed during industrial roasting and what remains is your typical bitter taste.” At Playground Coffee, things are different. If you like honest coffee without frills, but instead with natural berry, chocolate, caramel or citrus notes, you should definitely come here for a taste. Veljko is sure to be around.