Live like a Berlin hipster

If you are someone with a serious job, long working hours and real deadlines, adjusting to the Berlin lifestyle may appear rather daunting. You will be surprised to see that everywhere around you are artists and creative people, while men and women in suits are nowhere to be seen (except for some parts of Mitte or the posher districts of Charlottenburg and Zehlendorf). You will wonder at how everyone in Berlin has so much time to hang around cafes by day and Kneipen (pubs/bars) by night. The concept of "working only when the weather is bad" will seem rather alien to you at first, but very gradually you will get used to breakfast at 3pm and clubbing on a Sunday morning (having been up all night). You will need patience, because it will take time, but you too can become a Berlin hipster.

To check whether you have truly made it into the Berlin hipster-sphere, take the test below.   

1) Do you have a proper job?

2) Do you have a project?

3) Are you thinking about your own start-up?

4) Do you start the day with a flat white/cappuccino/galao exclusively prepared by your trustworthy barista?

5) Do you carry around a tote bag with an anti-establishment slogan?

6) Do you wear trendy glasses and/or sunglasses?

7) Do you ride a stylish, retro racing bike?

8) Do you shop local, organic, vegan and fairtrade?

9) Do you pay entrance fees to get into clubs and other venues?

10) Do you live in Neukölln?

If  you have answered no to questions 1) and 9) and yes to the remaining eight questions, congratulations: you are a true Berlin hipster!

If you've never had a galao, you need to spend more time in cafes serving Portuguese specialities.

If you haven't made it onto the guest list yet, i.e. you still pay entrance fees, you haven't met the right people. 

If you've not heard of goji berries, head out to your local, organic, vegan grocery shop right now.

If you have no idea what I'm talking about, check out these places:

Bonanza Coffee Heroes, Oderberger Strasse, Prenzlauer Berg - now also in Kreuzberg

Galao a Pastelaria, Weinsbergweg, Mitte
Nothaft Seidel, Schönhauser Allee, Prenzlauer Berg - now also in Neukölln

Veganz supermarkets in Prenzlauer Berg, Friedrichshain and Kreuzberg 
Club der Visionäre, Puschkinallee, Treptow 

Or move to Neukölln.

To bio or not to bio

When it comes to organic shopping, we Berliners are absolutely spoiled for choice. I have counted over 80 (yes eight zero) organic supermarkets in Berlin. In my neighbourhood alone there are more than a dozen different organic supermarkets, bakeries and grocery shops. This does not include the local weekly markets and the ever-growing organic selection offered by all the traditional supermarkets, as well as the low-cost chains. So you can imagine my bewilderment when this bio-monster (see picture on the right-hand side) recently emerged, complete with white and green balloons.  Do we really need ANOTHER organic supermarket?!?

It seems that the answer is a loud and clear yes.
Berliners' appetite for organic products (be it vegetables, dairy products, soaps and detergents, water or toilet paper) keeps getting bigger and bigger.  Given the composition of the typical Prenzlauer Berg residents: families with small children, young professionals, ecofreaks, health fanatics, vegans, earth conscious dog owners... the emergence of yet another organic supermarket is not entirely unexpected. What I found more surprising was the appearance of a large organic supermarket on Sonnennallee in Neukölln - it definitely stands out amid the Turkish grocery shops, bakeries, doner kebabs, shisha cafés and shops selling colourful bridal wear. More recently I was even more astonished to witness the dramatic change of Antonplatz in Weissensee, where two large organic supermarket chains have opened shiny local branches and another one is opening just down the road. The word "expansion" features prominently on the websites of all the big organic supermarket chains and some even ask for suggestions as to where to expand next. So Marzahn watch this space!

Is organic booming where you live as well?  

Bubble tea – just another hype?

If you live in Berlin, particularly in the trendy (former East Berlin) areas of Prenzlauer Berg or Mitte, you can’t have helped notice the emergence of a particular type of cafe, the bubble tea cafe.

Apparently bubble tea originated in Taiwan during the 1980s.  It has been a popular drink in the US and A for years and now it has made it to the German capital.  I have to admit that I have not yet summoned the courage to walk into one these cafes, somewhat put off by their non-appealing look: they tend to be loud, bright and colourful (in a Japanese comic sort of way) and attract a young crowd of teenagers.  Not my cup of tea and certainly not very gemütlich!

What I find striking about the bubble tea cafes in Berlin is that they seem to have sprung out of nowhere and suddenly you see them everywhere, even in the Alexander Platz underground station, an addition to the various smelly burger joints and shops selling sandwiches, donuts, muffins and Japanese crepes.

It reminds me of another trend that has also become extremely popular in recent months, the frozen yogurt shop.  This seems to be particularly prevalent in the fashion conscious Mitte district of Berlin, where being skinny is a way of life.  After all you could never possibly imagine a Mitte hipster digging into an über-caloric chocolate ice cream!

Luckily I live in an area that is densely populated by children and therefore I have a choice of over 10 different ice cream shops just in my neighbourhood, selling all sorts of exotic varieties, such as lemon and basil or strawberry and mint, but more about this in spring/summer.  Most of these places are now closed and will not reopen until sometime in March/April.  So until then it’s either bubble tea or a glass of traditional Glühwein to warm up during those cold Berlin winter nights.