Coffee in Scandinavia

Cappuccino at Drop Coffee in Stockholm

Part of the reason I was so eager to travel the Scandinavian countries was so I could visit the coffee shops that I had heard so much about. Scandinavians drink more coffee per capital than any other people in the world. Norwegian and Danish roasters, in particular, buy the best quality coffee and roast it very well. The roast tends to be lighter than most roasts in the USA so you taste more terroir and less roast. The barista in the shops are also well trained, often by former world barista champions.

I was surprised that the overall quality of coffee wasn't higher. In fact, most hotel coffee as about the same as hotel and restaurant coffee in the U.S. There was also chain shop coffee, similar to Starbucks. But I found the independent shop coffee to be excellent, especially in the shops owned by the high end roasters.

My first visit was to Drop Coffee in Stockholm. I loved this shop! Small and friendly with very tasty coffee.

In Copenhagen, I walked a distance from my hotel to the Coffee Collective, a well-known microroastery and shop on Jaegersborgadde. I enjoyed a cappuccino in this small space with a coffee-obsessed couple from San Francisco. 

I was mostly looking forward to visiting the roasters in shops in Norway...Tim Wendleboe and Mocca (Kaffa coffee) in Oslo. I recommend both highly! I was pleasantly surprised by the coffee and the atmosphere at Kaffemisjonen in Bergen. The barista was serving espresso roasted by Solberg and Hansen that day. I also bought whole bean coffee there roasted by Tim Wendleboe and Kaffa.

Kaffemisjonen in Bergen

By the way, all of these shops serve filter coffee, either pour over or aeropress, in addition to espresso drinks. All offer a choice of in season, single origin coffees.

It is worth the effort to seek out these specialty shops when visiting Sweden, Denmark, and Norway.