Elevate your 'fika' game with Noma’s new coffee subscription

Coffee is a constant in the lives of Scandinavians. And while many take a no-fuss approach to their brew, Noma does things a bit differently. At the famed Danish restaurant, the coffee served at the end of the meal is treated with the same care and attention as every meticulously crafted dish. Now, Noma’s careful approach to coffee can be replicated at home via Noma Kaffe, a monthly coffee subscription that delivers Noma coffee to your front door.

“Coffee, along with chocolate, is something I need daily,” says Noma chef and co-owner René Redzepi. “On most nights, one of my last thoughts is how I’m going to brew the perfect cup in the morning. And when I wake up, I have to remind myself to drink a little water first, to ease into the day.” Redzepi’s love of coffee runs deep. “To me, coffee is something I appreciate as much as wine,” he says.

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The mastermind behind Noma Kaffe is Noma’s head of coffee, Carolyne Lane. For Lane, whose morning cup is a V60 served black, appreciation for coffee came by way of appreciation for ingredients and their origin (a very Noma ethos if there ever was one). “A potato grown in one country tastes different than one grown across a few borders. A wine made with grapes that were picked a bit earlier will speak of it, expressing its acidity clearer,” she says. "When I was tasting these differences for the first time, many years ago, that’s when I had my first filter coffee which I could connect to the same principles. To be able to have a glimpse of what happened in a field across the world - this was very special to me.”

To that end, Noma Kaffe celebrates the origin stories of its beans. Each month, subscribers receive two bags of beans, hand-roasted and packed by the Noma team in Copenhagen. The bags will come with notes about the beans themselves – a deep dive into the coffee and its origins designed to both delight the palette and spark conversations and ideas. “I have served many cups of coffee over the years. I mentioned storytelling as a part of what we do, and when it comes to coffee, these stories easily turn into conversations,” says Lane. “Everyone has their own connection to it, something to add. The subscription is an invite to continue this conversation, and to learn together outside of the walls of the restaurant.”

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For Redzepi, the enjoyment of coffee is in brewing it. “I don’t drink coffee because I need it to wake up or for energy – that’s not it at all. It’s the ritual I love,” he says. “Weighing out the beans, setting the grinder just right, simmering the water, hearing the first pour, watching the first few drips.” As he notes, no two cups taste the same, even if the coffee is made the exact same way. It’s a mystery that keeps him coming back for more. "Every morning, I find myself wondering: What went wrong today? Or if it’s a great cup, Did I pour differently?” He says. “Was the filter placed just right? It's like my curiosity is woken up each morning every time I brew coffee.”

But how can one stack the cards in their favour in search of the perfect cup? Lane has some suggestions. “Start with good ingredients. You can’t make a good cup of coffee if you don’t have good beans,” she says. “You also can’t make it with Copenhagen tap water, but that might be a bit too specific of an advice… even though it comes from experience.”

Noma Kaffe launches today via Noma Projects