 It was a rainy, windy, nasty day in Hamburg. I stumbled across Lange Reihe while waiting for my Parisian colleague and host Veronique de Longevialle. Shoes wet, socks wet, pants drenched, and umbrella in hands fighting the gusts. I could not believe my eyes when I looked up for a tiny moment: Did I see a Starbucks at the corner over there? No wait – it is Balzac Coffee! And the perfect place for taking refuge - for a little while anyway.
 While waiting for my Caramel Machiatto I learned about Balzac Coffee and founder Diana Olsen. She is armed with a degree in French Literature and immersed herself in authentic French Culture. She lived in Paris, Toronto, and San Francisco, where she studied at the West Coast Specialty Coffee Training Institute and earned the designation of “Roast Master”.
Then she returned to Hamburg. Inspired by French poet Honoré de Balzac, she opened her first local café bar in May 1998 “from a Hamburgian to Hamburgians” as advertised on a banner. “Espresso coffee chains" were pretty much unknown in Europe before 1998. So Balzac Coffee began to connect traditional urban coffee culture with the practical and progressive "TO-GO"- mentality. Neat.
 Balzac Coffee micro-roasts the finest selection of Arabica Organic and Fair Trade coffee beans from all points of the globe. It is for real coffee lovers who are looking for more than just an everyday cup. A place for coffee connoisseurs …”umhhh umhhh good”!
Today, the local chain of Balzac Coffee operates 19 shops in Hamburg, and has expanded to other cities like Lübeck, Berlin and Hannover, and soon to be Cologne. Nor did Olsen forget about her time in Toronto; she opened the first of three Canadian coffee shops in Stratford, Ontario, in 2003.
Starbucks? Yes, the label appears on five shops in Hamburg. But Hamburg is very happy with Balzac. I was reminded by a determined man waiting in line behind me, overhearing our conversation, “But this is not Starbucks – this is Balzac Coffee!” Local!
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