Here is a little article on Oslo’s coffee scene written by Oliver Strand of the New York Times.
There has been a lot of critique on the quality of Oslo’s coffee by journalists and readers of Aftenposten, and although some of the critique may be deserved, there also seems to be a lack of reference in terms of what level the quality of a random Oslo coffee shop is serving.
“So small, so focused, so much fun. The roaster is in the front, the counter is in the back and there’s a total of three chairs. (A windowsill sits another two.) The scale is the point. At this size, every cup of coffee and every bag of beans can be executed at the highest level. In fact, all the coffee is roasted by either Tim Wendelboe or his sidekick Tim Varney, and both work shifts behind the bar. It feels like a neighborhood shop, but it’s run like a Michelin-starred restaurant.”
Maybe it is time we actually embrace our coffee culture in Norway and forget about the lost romance of the Italian espresso and similar. After all it is not only my opinion that we have one of the best cultures in the world when it comes to coffee quality and brewing.
Thanks for the kind words Oliver.