Barista – Specialty Coffee & Bar – This is my Saint Gallen

Today I’ll be letting you know about my favorite coffee bar. Most people wake up every morning with this routine: hit the alarm clock, take a shower, get dressed and grab a cup of coffee. Coffee is a huge part of our culture since many years. And when the weather cools down, is there anything cozier than putting on your favourite sweater and settling in with a book and warm drink at your favourite coffee bar? This blogpost is a celebration of this happy spot where the barista even knows your name.

There’s nothing like wrapping your hands around a hot cup of caffeine first thing in the morning. When the snow is dumping and your body is shivering, it’s the perfect place to warm your spirit and core. If you are visiting St.Gallen, I highly recommend you stop by this coffee bar. I love it because it’s a great place to hang out alone, with your friends, have meetings or even for study. This place is way better for studying or doing the school work, than any library is for sure. The staff is absolutely sympathetic, they make you feel at home and welcomed. But it’s not only the lovely staff or the atmosphere here… the coffee is amazing!

A report found out, that every Swiss citizens drink 1110 Cups per Year (9 Kilo/per person) – making us the worlds biggest consumer after German and Norwegian people. In Fact: Switzerland generates more than 4.5 billion francs only with coffee. Coffee-drinking flourished in Switzerland in the 17th century. Nowadays, the demand for coffee made the hot beverage the second most important commodity after the petroleum products. But starting a coffee business is not for the faint of heart. It will bring blood, sweat and tears (plus, a lot of caffeine). Nevertheless, Emil and Simone opened the Barista in 2017!

Emil and Simone, the baristas have made it their mission to simplify the coffee experience, so it’s always easy to try something new. They are experts behind the bar and you can trust in a no fuss, fully caffeinated coffee experience. Enjoy for example this new coffee: Mokonisa from Ethiopia.

I ask Emil from Barista, to tell me about this «Specialty Coffee Thing». What does it mean and what does it stand for? Well I try to explain you in short. As a coffee drinker you have two options: you could drink regular or specialty coffee. The journey coffee travels from a planted seed to your cup is long and complicated. There are multiple stages in which coffee can be ruined. When we talk about specialty coffee, it mean for guaranteed quality throughout all stages of the coffee production from process from the seed into your coffee cup. So it means that each step of the process (growing, processing, roasting, grinding and brewing) is handled with the best possible care and knowledge. And besides the taste, one of the major differences, between specialty and regular coffee, is that specialty coffee is actually good for you in more ways than just taste.

Simone bakes a wide variety of fresh cakes or cookies daily. You can order ahead to take home or enjoy them there. They also sell «Gipfeli» from Cappelli.

And yes, it’s also a bar! From daytime café into evening bar. On Friday and Saturday it’s open until midnight! Enjoy!