Democratic Coffee, Copenhagen

Coffee is a librarian’s fuel.

If you love coffee and you love books, you will love Democratic Coffee. (And who wouldn’t, really? Books and coffee go together like Kirk and Spock, like Batman and Robin.)

Hidden away inside the Copenhagen public library in Krystalgade, Democratic Coffee is founded by former marketer Oliver Oxfeldt. He stumbled onto his new vocation thanks to a disdain for the lousy coffee that used to be served in the library café!

Why “Democratic”, you might wonder? Well, is there a more democratic space than a public library that everyone can access. That, and good coffee too. Well, once Oliver arrived, anyway.

Today, Democratic Coffee is beloved by Danish coffee lovers who make a pilgrimage to the café for both the coffee as well as Oliver’s freshly baked croissants (he apparently learned how to make them from YouTube videos, proving once again, where there’s a will, there’s a way).

Oliver uses beans by Stockholm’s Drop Coffee Roasters – one of our favourite roasters in the world – and serves coffee both as espresso/milk-based as well as V60 brews. Read a book or magazine while having a sip and grabbing a bite, with a good dose of people-watching too, thanks to the large windows.

Books and coffee: you really can’t go wrong with this perfect combination.

沉醉于咖啡的香氣，卻也貪戀書香氣息？
那這家位於哥本哈根公共圖書館的Democratic絕對會是你的心頭好。
據說原本從事電子遊戲製作與銷售業的老闆，
某天帶著孩子來圖書館放鬆心情之餘，還在這的咖啡館點了些食物和咖啡，
有鑒於那杯難喝的咖啡，加上當時那家咖啡館的租約即將到期，
老闆便興起了接手這家咖啡館的念頭，
在經過一番改頭換面后，以Democratic的名義重新為大眾提供咖啡和輕食。
簡約的北歐風格，大片的落地窗，明亮的咖啡館里瀰漫著咖啡香，
不少人就在落地窗前的長形臺桌那坐著，邊享用咖啡，邊翻閱書本報章。

這裡除了意式咖啡外，還提供了手沖咖啡。
而我到訪時，他們正用著斯德哥爾摩一家我個人很喜歡的咖啡館兼烘豆商Drop Coffee的豆子。
另一點值得一提的是，這裡的牛油麵包在當地也非常有名，
看了老闆的訪問才知道他竟然是看著YouTube的教學影片慢慢自學而來的，
只能說這也太厲害了。
記得我當天點了手沖杯肯亞和一份起司三明治，
那明亮的酸和花果香氣，與周遭的書香雜誌交織出一種恬然的氛圍，
我邊咬著三明治，邊看著自帶的小說，有種歲月靜好的美感。