German Coffee Market 2026: Cappuccino, Café Crème & Filter Coffee Data

Direct answer: In the 2026 De’Longhi Signature Order survey, Germany is the market where a single order leads most clearly: cappuccino, named by 23.1% of respondents. Caffè latte (15.4%), café crème (14.5%) and filter coffee (13.7%) follow, and straight espresso is only 7.7%. For a roaster or origin brand, that points to milk, long-style and filter formats as the first samples to test, and to consistency as a priority, because Germany also reports the strongest daily-comfort association of the three markets. The survey does not measure Robusta or Cambodian coffee, and no such claim is made here.

The national picture

Germany’s top five orders were cappuccino 23.1%, caffè latte 15.4%, café crème 14.5%, filter coffee 13.7% and espresso 7.7%.

On people’s relationship with coffee, German respondents reported daily comfort about 47%, identity 21.6%, functional 9.2%, hobby 6.2%, social 5.5% and “don’t drink” 8.8%. The daily-comfort figure appears as 47.7% in the sponsor’s press release and as 47% in the field guide infographic. Munich has the highest daily-comfort score of any city in the study (54.3%), narrowly ahead of Düsseldorf (54.2%).

Quality was the top reason to recreate an order at home for 35.6% of German respondents. Germany also has the highest scores of the three markets for reliving travel memories (15.7%) and for impressing guests (10.3%).

What café crème means in this survey

Café crème is the least universal of the terms on the list, so it needs care. The sponsor’s home-recreation guidance describes it as a longer shot with less milk than a cappuccino. Menu and machine terminology for café crème varies between cafés and equipment makers, so a roaster or brand entering the German market should confirm what a specific buyer means by it and what equipment is used before designing a sample.

Germany is not uniform either

The nine German cities in the study show different splits:

• Stuttgart: cappuccino at 30.6%, well clear of café crème at 15.3%. The sponsor calls it the country’s cappuccino capital.
• Frankfurt: one of the most evenly split cities in the study, with caffè latte at 18.3% and cappuccino and café crème tied at 17.6%. It also reports 51.4% daily comfort.

A national average hides this. See coffee preferences by city in Europe.

What to test first

1. Cappuccino. The leading order. Evaluate the coffee in a milk drink with a thicker foam layer, and record the espresso recipe, milk volume and cup size.
2. Caffè latte. Second among the milk formats, but with more milk per shot, so a coffee that works in a cappuccino may read differently.
3. Café crème. Test the coffee as a longer shot with agreed volume and yield, once the buyer has defined the term.
4. Filter. At 13.7%, filter coffee is a large enough share that a sample should also be brewed by a filter method. OCC’s guide to evaluating Cambodian Fine Robusta through brewing covers method-level questions.
5. Espresso. Still worth testing, but at 7.7% it is not the lead format here. This is a clear contrast with France, where espresso is the national leader. See the French coffee market.

For milk formats specifically, see Fine Robusta milk drinks. Fine Robusta is not automatically suited to any format, and each lot should be tested and documented per format.

How a German sample cycle could be structured

This is a practitioner outline, not a survey finding.

• Round 1: cappuccino and latte. Evaluate both milk formats on the equipment the buyer uses, and record dose, yield, milk volume and cup size for each attempt.
• Round 2: café crème and filter. Confirm the buyer’s definition of café crème first, then test a longer shot and a filter brew using agreed recipes. Change one variable at a time.
• Round 3: espresso and city check. Add straight espresso as a secondary format. If a launch city is known, compare it with the national pattern: a Stuttgart launch would put cappuccino first, while a Frankfurt launch would give latte, cappuccino and café crème similar weight.
• Documentation. Keep a recipe card for each format and a roast log for each sample.

See roast profile brief for the fields to write down before the first round.

Consistency is a market signal, not a slogan

When close to half of respondents describe coffee as a daily comfort, the cup they expect tomorrow is the cup they had today. For a brand or roaster, that raises the importance of batch-to-batch repeatability, recipe documentation and change notices. This is an inference from the ritual data rather than a finding from the survey, and it should be validated with buyers.

Why an origin brand should care

Germany combines high ritual intensity with the highest “impressing guests” score of the three markets. That suggests occasions where a specific origin story could be shared, but the survey does not test whether German drinkers respond to origin claims. The safer use of the data is to prioritise formats and consistency first, and to introduce origin evidence through samples and documentation.

Limits of the data

• The survey is sponsored by a coffee-machine maker and is framed around home recreation.
• It measures go-to orders, not sales volume or café menu share.
• It does not measure roast preference, Robusta content or origin preference.
• City figures come from small local samples.

Faq

What is the most popular coffee order in Germany in this survey? Cappuccino, at 23.1%.

Is espresso popular in Germany? As a go-to order it is fifth at 7.7%, far below its 31.9% share in France.

What is the best roast for German buyers? The survey does not measure roast preference. Use the formats above to design samples, as described in roast profile by market.

Is filter coffee still relevant in Germany? In this survey it is fourth at 13.7%, so it is a large enough format to test alongside milk drinks.

Does a high ritual score mean German drinkers are loyal to one coffee? The survey does not measure loyalty or switching, so it cannot answer that.

Where to go next

• Category background: Fine Robusta from Cambodia.
• Application: Fine Robusta milk drinks.
• Service path: the Roasting Program covers roast profile development for a defined market and application.

Sources & Data Notes

• De’Longhi, “The Signature Order” field guide, https://www.delonghi.com/en-gb/brewed-by-place. Fieldwork by Greenpark, 24–29 June 2026; Germany sample 1,000 adults aged 18+; 9 German cities. Accessed 2026-09-30.
• De’Longhi press release, PR Newswire UK, September 2026, https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/new-delonghi-study-reveals-europes-signature-order-coffee-culture-across-35-cities-302883544.html. Accessed 2026-09-30.
• Unit and scope: percentages are the share of respondents naming an order as their go-to, or choosing a relationship category, as published by the sponsor.
• The sample-testing suggestions and the consistency inference are OCC’s practitioner framework, not survey findings.

Last verified: 2026-09-30.