Nordics Best Roaster is perhaps one of the most prestigious championships we have for coffee roasters in the Nordic region. 10 skilled finalists compete for the title of the Nordic's best roaster. And we won! 🥇
The competition gathers roasters from across the Nordic countries to compete in the art of extracting the full potential of coffee as a raw material. In the "sourced coffee" category, each participating roastery is free to choose the coffee they believe is the best they have available, before it is evaluated through rigorous blind tastings by a panel of judges. For us, this is an exciting arena to showcase both the close collaboration we have with producers and the craftsmanship that goes into every single roast here at our facility.
Thorough plans and strategies often lie behind a competition roast. For us, the path to this year's championship was set a while ago. The choice had fallen on a fantastic Geisha from Benjamin Paz and the La Salsa farm. We were so confident in this choice that Trude even sacrificed five kilos of shrimp from her home freezer to ensure perfect storage of the green coffee! But in our world, we are primarily guided by taste, and sometimes a raw material emerges that changes everything.
Cupping between Oslo and Peru
In January, John Ivar was on a coffee trip to origin in Peru, together with Kolonihagen, to visit our partners at Origin Coffee Lab. During the visit, they cupped samples of coffee that were on their way. At the same time, Trude and Lise were at home in Oslo, tasting exactly the same samples. Trude had roasted the samples on the Roest, and the expectation was a normal working day with quality control.
However, sometimes something special happens at the cupping table, and two coffees stood out so much that they gave Trude goosebumps! A natural process SL9 and a washed Geisha from the La Palestina farm. Almost simultaneously, we realized at both ends of the cupping that this Geisha coffee was truly extraordinary; it was simply an optimal competition coffee.
The decision was made within minutes via eager messages between Oslo and Peru: we just had to have this coffee! Watch the video where John Ivar got help choosing the coffee from our partners in Peru, which he sent straight to Trude when she was deciding between the SL9 and Geisha. And just like that, the choice was made!
Thanks to quick handling by John Ivar and our partners in Peru, we received 20 kilos of La Palestina Geisha at the roastery in time. This was just enough for one test roast and two rounds of competition batches.
The process required full focus and precision. The test roast turned out a shade darker than what we wanted to present. Trude therefore adjusted the next two batches by lowering the exit temperature and shortening the roasting time by a few seconds to hit the perfect profile. The following weekend was spent on intensive cupping, sorting out defects, and packaging to get the coffee off to Gothenburg in time.
A victory that means a lot
In the sourced coffee category of Nordics Best Roaster, it became clear that gut instinct and quick decisions bore fruit. It was an incredible feeling to finish in first place, especially with a margin of a full 22 points down to second place in this category!
This victory is a reminder of why we love what we do. It's about being present in the moment, trusting our own professional judgment, and daring to change course when you encounter a raw material that truly shines. We are incredibly proud of our team and the result, and grateful for the exceptional craftsmanship put in at La Palestina farm.
The rest, as they say, is history!