A cup of Oslo : where to taste the best coffee
Ok, so we knew coffee in Oslo is good. But when you read in New York Times magazine that "Oslo is to coffee as San Sebastian to food..." you get trully interested. "Oslo is where you go to get your mind blown". With coffee of course. So what is it that makes Norwegian roasters so special and where to taste this mind-blowing coffee?
The secret of roasters in Nordic countries is that they roast coffee lighter than the rest of the world. Oslo roasts even lighter than the rest of the Nordic countries (!). The most popular roasters would be Kaffa, Solberg & Hansen, Supreme Roastworks and of course Tim Wendelboe - all of them are going "light" and working with coffee of the highest quality.
Let's drink some of their coffee now.
Where to try Solberg & Hansen:
Kaffebrenneriet. They have 25 coffee shops in Oslo, but I refuse to call them a chain of coffee houses. It will kill the idea of these cosy places scattered around the city. The New York Times Style Magazine claims that the coffee served in Kaffebrenneriet is "made with more skills and better ingredients than anything you will find in Paris or Rome". Indeed, if you have a look at the shelves with coffee packs you will see they carry various labels... "Cup of Excellence" (the most prestigious award given to a fine quality coffee by Alliance for Coffee Excellence), "Direct Trade"-label which means the roaster buys coffee beans directly from growers (Solberg & Hansen are pioneers of Direct Trade, by the way) and "Organic coffee"-label, the name of which speaks for itself.
Stockfleths. This is the place where you get "specialty coffee". No wonder that they chose Solberg & Hansen as the roaster (Solberg & Hanses specialize in specialty coffee only). Now, what is this "specialty coffee" everyone is tallking about? It is a relatively new term used to describe coffee of the best flavor produced in special and ideal microclimates (something like you have to grow this kind of coffee 1000 m above the sea-level and then the coffee needs to score at least 80 points and above on 100-point-scale in order to be called specialty coffee). If you gonna buy some of that coffee to drink at home, please keep in mind that the coffee is best during 3-4 weeks after it has been roasted. After that it starts losing its flavor and aroma...
Where to try "Tim Wendelboe's coffee":
The answer is easy. You try it at Tim Wendelboe Kaffe - the coffee place of the World Barista Champion. The cafe is only about coffee and has my favorite format (with 2-3 tables). Tim roasts coffee himself, you will see this 15 kg roaster there. So whatever you buy in this coffee place is Tim's choice: he picked it for you, roasted and turned it into the most amazing drink for you to enjoy. If you don't live in Oslo, they can deliver it globally
Where to try Supreme Roastworks:
Again, very easy answer - in Supreme Roastworks, they are a cafe by day and a bar - by night. I won't tell you a lot, but there are rumours that they have the city's best capuccinos there...And in the evening go for IPA...crafted with their own Supreme Roastworks coffee!:)
Let's go and taste a cup of Oslo coffee!
