The Story
Bonanza Coffee Roasters was founded in Berlin in 2006 by Kiduk Reus and Yumi Choi, among the very first to bring meticulously sourced and roasted specialty coffee to Berlin.
When Kiduk, who was born and grew up in South Korea, opened Bonanza in 2006, nobody had heard of the third wave coffee.
When they started their business, they didn’t have a concrete business plan in mind—they just wanted to build a small coffee shop where their neighbors could come and they didn’t intend to do anything bigger than that.
Kiduk used to be a publishing designer at TBWA, an advertising company, and coffee for him was just a hobby that he enjoyed at home. After quitting his job, he spent a year at home trying to learn how to make a good cup of espresso using a professional espresso machine.
Bonanza’s initial strategy was to see how other third-wave roasters operated – and do the opposite.
At this time, European coffee shops were still traditionally roasting dark. Kiduk saw an opportunity to do the opposite, leaning into lighter roasts.
The most difficult time was around 2014 when they lost customers to other roasters such as THE BARN and Five Elephant, but more and more people became interested in specialty coffee thanks to them, so the number of customers increased in the long run.
Named Best Independent Coffee Shop in Europe at the 2025 European Coffee & Hospitality Awards, Bonanza now operates multiple cafés in Berlin and has expanded to Seoul.
Sourcing & Relationships
Bonanza built direct relationships with coffee producers, which has since become the industry standard.
Previously, Kiduk and the team had visited producer partners at origin each harvest – but had to pivot to work with sourcing partners during the COVID-19 pandemic, finding ways through importers to get the coffee and as much information as possible.
It uses boutique coffee beans that account for less than 1% of the world’s produce, for which they pay a significantly higher premium than fair trade prices.
While the search for coffee that fits the desired flavor profile brings samples from all over the world, the mainstays are from Brazil, Ethiopia, El Salvador and Indonesia, and they only buy the best specialty beans from countries such as Ethiopia, Guatemala, El Salvador, Kenya, Indonesia, and Colombia.
Beans are direct trade.
As with many roasters, sustainability is central to Bonanza’s philosophy and practices. But rather than adjusting to market trends, this came naturally from working with quality-focused partners who also value environmentalism—“If you’re doing quality, sustainability usually just follows.”
The roastery has implemented innovative sustainability practices beyond sourcing. At its Berlin locations, it has dispenser taps lining the walls, where customers can refill used coffee bags, reducing the amount of bags customers use.
They started redesigning their bags with a design agency to make them fully compostable and are undergoing a rebrand of their website’s design to ensure online customers feel connected to the roastery.
Roasting Philosophy
Founded in 2006, long before pour-overs became Instagram rituals, Bonanza’s ethos was clear: honor the bean, and trust the process. Their roasting philosophy leans light and transparent. No char, no over-roasted brawn. Just flavor clarity — where terroir, not technique, does the talking.
This wasn’t just about being different – it was about getting the best flavour from each coffee. “We weren’t just early adopters of third-wave coffee principles in Europe; we were pioneers in showing how these methods could transform the entire coffee experience.”
All their coffees are roasted on a 1950’s cast iron Von Gulpen, which enables them to develop a unique roast profile for each of their seasonal coffees.
Bonanza’s progressive, gentle roasting methods, lasting about five times longer than the usual, delve into the intricacies of the coffee’s flavor and draws them out.
They go places others don’t — in flavor, in technique, in the way they roast for clarity, sweetness, and expression. For them, “too far” is exactly where the best coffee begins.
It’s not your typical specialty coffee — it’s unnecessarily good. Maybe that’s because they’re unnecessarily driven, unnecessarily curious, unnecessarily precise in how they source and roast each coffee in Berlin. In the end, everything they do is rooted in their philosophy of being unnecessarily good.
The true value of Bonanza lies in the paradigm shift they created: integrating all elements into an innovative cafe design that only serves specialty coffee; roasting transparent green coffee beans in a way that makes the most of their profile, using temperature-controlled espresso machines and measuring coffee beans for each cup.
What to Try
The coffee portfolio at Bonanza features both signature blends and celebrated single origins, roasted in Kreuzberg and served with precision. Each location showcases two espresso options—a blend for milk-based drinks and a rotating single-origin for espresso aficionados—as well as multiple single-origin selections for batch brew.
Their offerings include the Bonanza Blend from Brazil with chocolate truffle and dark cherry notes, Colombian single origins, Ethiopian varieties like Gogogu with brown sugar, nectarine, and chocolate profiles, and seasonal selections from Guatemala, Costa Rica, Kenya, and Indonesia.
Retail shelves are always stocked with rare finds from Ethiopia, Colombia, and beyond, “transparent” in sourcing and flavor.
There are also single-origin filter coffees on the menu, featuring a whole range of flavours served in special tasting cups.
Simple choices at Bonanza become invitations to focus—like their filter coffee from Ethiopia, brewed to order with jasmine, lime, and honey, unfolding slowly with every temperature drop.
Bonanza supplies Michelin-star restaurants like Ernst, Bandol Sur Mer, and CODA, and partnered with the fashion label Maison Margiela to sell coffee in its Seoul store.
Bonanza is for the true believers — people who respect coffee as a craft, not just caffeine delivery. Bonanza does one thing — and it does it beautifully. For the best experience, visit the Kreuzberg roastery café as the flagship location, while Mitte offers a sleek takeaway bar.