In introducing to you Hungarian urban artist Gergely Void, the first protagonist of the documentary “Streets of Budapest”, we told the story of the city’s most artistic side, one of the attributes that make the capital famous the world over.

Budapest is also the repository of another equally picturesque and deeply rooted local artistic tradition. We are talking about coffeehouses, the offspring of strong Turkish and Austro-Hungarian influences that left their imprint on the city in the early twentieth century.  At first social gathering loci and meeting places for poets, artists and politicians, some of these cafés gave life to the most revolutionary and yet enlightened ideas and concepts.

Respecting and yet innovating the tradition of legendary cafés born between the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth centuries, coffee culture has become a true lifestyle that brought to the city well-known coffeehouse chains. To the latter are now added many independent cafés, specialty coffee bars, where every coffee aficionado can enjoys sensations of aromas, colors and sounds in a unique ambiance, tasting drinks made from freshly roasted single-origin coffee beans.

As you had the change to see for yourself, it is no coincidence that World Coffee Events chose Budapest to host the next edition of World of Coffee (WOC), one of the reference world events for the specialty coffee business.

The second star of our video we are presenting today is a real fan of this world, which he represents with great pride worldwide. Indeed, Michalis Dimitrakopoulos is a professional recognized for his skills in preparing excellent coffee-based cocktails, and which, in 2016, earned him, first, the title of Greek Champion and, later, of World Champion of Coffee in Good Spirits (CIGS) during the Hotelex trade fair in Shanghai.

A native of Patra, Greece, Michalis has been working at “The Underdog”, a specialty coffee shop in Athens, since 2008, alongside another world champion,  Tasos Delichristos.

See you soon with the next protagonist… until then, #streetsofbudapest!