Opened in August 2025 by techno DJ and producer Tommy Four Seven and Green Market founder Stefanie Witt, Ingwer stands apart from most Kreuzkölln cafés. The imposing DJ booth several feet above the floor is not your average coffee shop centrepiece. Nor are its performers. Since its opening, Tommy has been inviting his techno buddies to play in the café, including luminaries like Function, CosminTRG and Answer Code Request. But Ingwer isn’t the only coffee shop pulling in DJs and music lovers.
Just down the road is the newly opened Pastiche. Self-described as a ‘hi-fi listening venue’, Pastiche is a coffee shop up front and a record store in the back, hosting regular DJs, talks and workshops. The more eclectic talents of DJ Amir, CCL and Marylou have all performed to the matcha- latte-sipping regulars over the past months (and Pastiche really does make a mean matcha latte).
Why not enjoy your techno with crumpets in a much more relaxed setting?
What Ingwer and Pastiche offer is part of a wider trend in which music lovers and DJs find ways to connect with their community outside of the club. Since the pandemic, so-called listening bars have taken over the city. Many host live sessions, and venues like Kreuzberg’s Unkompress also serve as cafés over the weekend.
But Ingwer and Pastiche integrating into Berlin’s sacred café culture feels like a bold and brave, yet inevitable move, breaking the Kaffee und Kuchen routine by combining the city’s speciality Kaffeepause and iconic party scenes. They offer new types of third spaces for those unwilling or unable to go to clubs, and with 52% of clubs seeing an overall decline in attendance, they fill a growing gap. And for those of us feeling a bit too old for that kind of thing, why not enjoy your techno with crumpets in a much more relaxed setting?
Both Ingwer and Pastiche brand themselves as so much more than just a café: Ingwer as an “all-day hangout for mindful creatives” and Pastiche as “Berlin’s new sonic playground”. At their heart, they’re changing the establishment and making some of our favourite musicians more accessible to everyday life. Recently, Richie Hawtin reopened his Kreuzberg restaurant, Our Sake Club. Here, the legendary DJ will invite some of his favourite musicians to perform and play to those select few who can snag a seat at his exclusive venue.
It all goes to show: Berlin music lovers want something more than just dirty, dark dance floors and smoky basements. And shouldn’t it be that way? Berlin offering something to everyone? So next time you’re craving some drip coffee and techno drops, or deep bass and sticky buns, then maybe it’s time to ditch the club and head to the café.
- Pastiche, Weserstr. 46, Neukölln.
- Ingwer, Bürknerstr. 12, Neukölln
