Well, how did we get here?

It has been a very big month for us here at noma, where we recently launched a project many years in the making: Noma Kaffe. In the following excerpt, Head Sommelier Ava Mees List traces how a tiny restaurant in Denmark went from having an unremarkable coffee program to sourcing at origin level and roasting in our backyard for subscribers around the world.

“Let’s be honest, not very many restaurants make it all the way out here to pick out coffee. Actually – zero.”

We’re on a seven-hour drive from Armenia to Neiva in the middle of a weeklong whirlwind through the coffee-growing regions of Colombia during what is called the fly crop. It is the summer of 2024. In the driver’s seat is our guide Tyler Youngblood, an American who exports green coffee and has been living and working in Colombia for over fourteen years. Tonight, the national football team will beat Uruguay and make it to the finals of the Copa America. We have eaten at least three fruits on this road trip I have never seen in my life. Even more memorable is how the countless hours in the car have given us ample time to discuss the complex issues raised by this visit.  

One year earlier, in the lounge of our Copenhagen restaurant, with the windows wide open and the garden in full bloom, I find myself speaking to Tim Wendelboe, our trusted Norwegian roaster for the past ten years. He is over for a few days to spend time with our head barista Carolyne so they can (hopefully) perfect a new-ish brewing method he developed for our restaurant. This technique will allow us to serve a more consistent high-quality cup: in less time, with less coffee. 

As we sit down for a break, he asks: “So Mees, when are you guys going to start roasting your own coffee?”