Nordic Coffee Culture

La Torrefazione is a café and roastery established by Jens Hampf, together with the owners of Helsinki based roaster Kaffa Roastery. Based in downtown Helsinki, the café has been an immense success since its opening in late 2009. More »

The title seems a bit odd, almost like a grammatic error, but let me take some of your time to explain what I mean.

In Sweden we have huge “fika” culture, it means to go and sit down with a cup of coffee, a biscuit or cake and loads of small talk, catching up with someone you like to chit chat with. The café is a natural place to meet: for business, a new date or an old friend. All this goes without saying, really. But for us working with coffee, the meaning of this grows organically into something larger than life. More »

The World Barista Championship has been held every year since 2000. In 2011, for the first time, the SCAE World of Coffee convention in Maastricht will premiere the World Brewers Cup, a competition “highlighting the craft of filter coffee brewing by hand”. Denmark, Norway and Sweden each have a champion competing; next year will likely see more competitors. More »

Peter Christen Asbjørnsen is a figure known to most Norwegians, and—in more ways than one—a noteworthy individual. In the 1840s, he and his collaborator, Jørgen Moe, went around houses in all parts of Norway to listen to and collect folk tales, many of which would undoubtedly be lost today without their efforts. For most people today, perhaps, he will be known more as the oddly bearded gentleman pictured on the 50-crown note. More »

Kaffismiðja Íslands is a boutique roastery and coffee shop located in a residential area of Reykjavik. Established in 2008 by Sonja Björk Grant and Ingibjörg Jóna Sigurðardóttir, both veterans of Icelandic specialty coffee, Kaffismiðja serves as a place for the two of them to further their understanding of coffee. More »