In Celle, simply follow your nose – to Huth’s Kaffee & Feinkost, where the roasting machine is in full swing on most days. The premises are decked out in the style of 1896. The flooring and fittings originate from this period. The founder, Friedrich Huth, was already a successful trader of tea, spices, cocoa and green coffee from all over the world by the middle of the 19th century – and, as official purveyor to the royal court, had been permitted to place the appropriate sign over his entrance. It still hangs there today, albeit in slightly modified form. This is because, long after the Kingdom of Hanover had ceased to exist, a later owner of the business, Hermann Bock, ran into severe difficulties explaining the sign, and was only able to avoid it being removed by police by modifying the coat of arms overnight. He commissioned a painter to paint over the lion depicted on the sign. No sooner said than done – and since then, a ram and the motto ‘Immer schüren, nimmer schlüren’ (‘Always slogging, never swigging’) has decorated the sign.
The ram has long been the company’s logo and can be found on every bag of Huth coffee.
Guided tour of roasting plant
The current owner, a member of the fifth generation of the family, offers guided tours through the in-house roasting plant with its old Jugendstil tiles and a coffee roaster dating back to 1964. Approximately 20 in-house roasted coffee and espresso varieties can be procured here. The specialist magazine "Feinschmecker" (The Gourmand) distinguished the establishment as one of the best roasting plants in Germany.