We listen to our guests. For real. And the latest proof of that is a full reset of how we do “brewed coffee” at Fenster. From now on, we make every filter coffee to order, one cup at a time, from any bean we have available on the shelf. Sounds pretty simple and obvious, right? In reality, it’s not nearly as easy as it sounds—and that’s what this story is about.
When we started, Fenster was almost a pure specialty coffee bar. That meant we worked with real specialty-grade coffee (light roasts, high-quality lots) and used all the “modern” brew methods: V60, AeroPress, Chemex, and of course espresso. Naturally, we had a couple of grinders dedicated to espresso and a separate grinder for filter methods.
Technically, every filter coffee order was a little ceremony: prepping the gear, weighing the beans, grinding, heating the water, brewing, adjusting the pour… If something went wrong at any point, you started over.
Obviously, this all takes time. And when you’re basically a to-go spot, nobody in line wants to stand there for 5–8 minutes while everything goes perfectly according to plan. I’m not even talking about the guest who ordered the coffee—I mean everyone behind them in line. On top of that, if one person ordered one coffee from one bean, another person from another bean, and so on, pretty soon you end up with a bunch of open bags with half-used coffees inside. Those leftovers sit, oxidize, and lose quality fast. For a serious coffee bar, that’s just not acceptable.
So the “obvious” solution is what most cafés use today: batch brew. You brew 1–2 liters in a filter machine and keep it warm in a thermos or airpot until the next order. That saves a ton of time, and the coffee choice is fixed—you control what’s brewed and how much is used.
But batch brew has its own problems. First, limited choice. Second, the moment that coffee sits in a thermos for even five minutes, it’s just not the same coffee I brew for myself straight into a cup in the morning. It’s good, tasty, and I actually like it. But it’s different. A bit “tired,” maybe.
So we had two very different workflows, and each of them failed to fully satisfy both what I want as an owner and what some of our guests are asking for.
The solution took a long time and a lot of experiments.
First, we already had something pretty innovative: portioned ground coffee. We roast the beans and, on the same day, grind them on a high-end industrial grinder. Then, using our packing machine, we weigh out 16 grams and seal it into an airtight little packet—a stick—for exactly one serving.
It’s a very cool format because it keeps freshness for a surprisingly long time. I’ve brewed coffee that sat in a stick for a year or more, and the quality was the same as if we had just ground it. Why? The explanation is simple.
Yes, the coffee is ground. But it’s ground right after roasting, before it has time to “breathe in” too much oxygen and lose its character. There’s still a lot of CO₂ in the coffee (which then acts as a kind of natural preservative). On top of that, the coffee is immediately sealed in a packet that doesn’t let fresh oxygen in. The tiny amount of oxygen trapped inside reacts with the coffee and the CO₂, lightly oxidizes the surface, and… that’s it. After that, the coffee just sits there at peak freshness until you open it. Which is pretty amazing.
This technology solves two problems: no more weighing doses, no more grinding per order, and no more “aging” leftovers sitting in open bags. But it doesn’t solve the biggest operational issue: barista time spent brewing.
So we tackled that part too.
After a series of tests with different filter brewers, we found the one that really satisfies us. It has all the settings and controls needed for proper extraction. From a technical standpoint, it works like a very precise hand-brew—only better. The system is closed, the water temperature is extremely stable, and the flow rate is controlled and repeatable. That means we can replicate any brew recipe 100% of the time.
Here’s what it looks like in practice:
The guest picks the coffee they want (they can even choose the bean in our web app on their phone while walking to Fenster). The barista grabs the stick with that coffee, opens it, pours it into the brew basket, and hits the start button. That’s it. When the coffee is ready, the machine beeps, the barista pours it into the cup, and hands it off.
And during the brew, the barista is free to keep working and serve the next guests. Their “active” time per filter coffee is about 20–30 seconds.
So we end up solving every problem we had around making truly great specialty filter coffee:
- Any coffee on our menu, by the cup
- Fresh, single-serve brewing every time
- Stable, controlled temperature and extraction time
- Huge time savings for the staff
- Shorter waits for everyone else in line
That’s it. A multi-year journey. Simple-sounding goal. Complex, carefully designed execution—and complete satisfaction for everyone involved.
Now the main question: why bother? Specialty filter coffee is a niche. Not that many people drink it, and the target group isn’t exactly the financial backbone of a café.
That’s true.
But everything that happens at Fenster is deeply personal to me. I’ve invested a lot of time and a lot of money into building a modern, high-quality roasting operation and buying remarkable coffees. Because I love them. They taste incredible to me, and to everyone who’s equally obsessed with coffee. So I had to find a way to share that perspective with our guests.
And beyond that, I genuinely believe that the real value of specialty coffee shows itself best in filter brewing methods. That’s why I put so much effort into building a system where this particular style of coffee is treated with the respect it deserves—technically and practically.
Espresso, of course, isn’t going anywhere. It’s both simpler and more complicated at the same time, and it requires a different kind of creativity to find the most effective setup. As soon as we finalize what that looks like at Fenster, I’ll tell you all about it.
Until the next post—and the next cup
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