Coffee that tastes a bit like thyme. Or citrus fruits and elderberry. Aromas of baked apple or oolong tea, wine-like acids. You can get special creations like this at Stray Coffee Roasters. Originally just a roastery in Obersendling, since April of this year it has also been a café in Westend.
The coffee grinder is humming, experimental music is playing from the speakers, a mixture of yoga gongs and jazz. Coffee nerds talk shop about gram counts and the number of seconds in which the brown brew runs out of the portafilter machine. On the wall to the right hangs a silver monster, a filter machine that removes almost all minerals from the water. The filtered water is then mixed again with tap water – the mix is intended to make the coffee particularly tasty.
Don’t worry, even people with untrained palates can order a cappuccino here. At first glance, the menu actually seems rather unspectacular: flat white, filter coffee, cold brew. But the professionals among the guests come to the counter and ask for a specific type of coffee. These change constantly. For example, there is “Tesfaye Bekele”: velvety sweet, with an elegant acidity, that’s how it should taste. The baristas are happy to be able to demonstrate their niche knowledge and provide detailed advice.
The operators Ilan Bachl and Matthias Feldmeier import the coffee beans from Ethiopia, Costa Rica or Vietnam, for example, and then roast them in Obersendling. You can buy the beans on site in the café, order them online in the shop or have them delivered to your home as a subscription.
Ilan Bachl (right) runs the Stray Café together with Matthias Feldmeier.
(Photo: Mark Siaulys Pfeiffer)
You can buy the beans in the café and in the online shop.
(Photo: Mark Siaulys Pfeiffer)
Bachl and Feldmeier value fair treatment of their business partners. That’s why the coffees always bear the names of the producers. All costs along the supply chain are listed on the packaging and online and you can find out who grows the coffee and how. This “radical transparency” is its unique selling point, says Feldmeier.
What is there and how much does it cost?
Don’t expect a lavish breakfast offering – the focus here is on the coffee. There are also croissants. A cappuccino costs 3.40 euros, an espresso costs 2.40 euros. You can get an affogato for 5.50 euros. But there is also tea. “Don’t judge me!” says a guest as he orders one.
It’s not just connoisseurs who enjoy the coffee at Stray.
(Photo: Mark Siaulys Pfeiffer)
There are croissants to eat.
(Photo: Mark Siaulys Pfeiffer)
The cappuccino with beans from Costa Rica is said to taste of marzipan and cherry and is therefore reminiscent of a Black Forest cherry cake. Admittedly, you may have to learn to recognize such notes, but the whole thing still tastes good.
Who do you meet here?
The bright, minimalist café is a place that attracts hipsters: you don’t have to look far for moustaches, tattoos and tennis socks peeking out of white sneakers. 90 percent are regulars, Stray is a neighborhood coffee shop, says Feldmeier. A mix of young parents with children, students with racing bikes and digital nomads with laptops. However, there is no WiFi.
You sit on bar stools in front of the large glass front, where you can read undisturbed or, if the weather is good, meet outside on the bench.
Bachl and Feldmeier are currently planning renovation work because they want to redesign the interior, which they took over from the previous café. In order to raise the necessary money for this, they grant “usual rights”. Guests can invest in their restaurant and receive interest and coffee in return. Together, the Stray should become an even more beautiful place.
Stray Coffee RoastersGollierstraße 30, 80339 Munich, opening hours: Monday to Saturday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m