Bergen Café Guide 

Bergen is just the best place to walk around. The city center is so concentrated and nice with small alleys, sea, mountain, a bit of rain and lots of good coffee. In Norway we have an expression that translates to “There is no bad weather, only bad clothes” . (Det finnes ikke dårlig vær, bare dårlige klær). And, since Bergen is one of the most rainy places in Norway, this applies to your planning of a visit to the area.

Kaffemisjonen

Having been around from 2002, this place is one of the first great spots in Bergen. They serve coffees from selected roasteries such as Tim Wendelboe, Jacu and tea from Solberg & Hansen. They do both hand brews, batch brews and have a selection of freshly homemade pastries and ciabattas. All is fresh and they do a great job with all their servings.

BLOM

Next up, Blom, the little brother of Kaffemisjonen, since 2008. Situated in an area with a lot of students, they are not as busy during the summer time. They have a lovely space outside to sit in the sun and I enjoyed a cup of fresh crop Kenya brewed on aeropress from Jacu. The next day we got a cappuccino to go as well. 

After my return to Oslo I had a talk with one of the founders, Jan Lorentsen on the phone. He tells me that they order their beans from Tim Wendelboe and Jacu every other week. They also mix it up with Koppi and other roasters from time to time. 
He continues to tell a bit about their story. At first they struggled to find a space to open up their coffee shop. After they opened up their first concept store, people started to ask them to do collaborations, and at one point they had three more places in Bergen, all with different concepts. They had a breakfast coffee shop, one in the Grieg Hall with a winebar and a place called Sakrestiet I Bryggen I Bergen with local food. As of 2010 they have their establishments Blom and Kaffemisjonen, their original place, since 2007.

Jan tells me that they always encourage their employees to attend on barista competitions. This has made his coffee shops well known as a quality driven places. Rasmus Helgebostad and Oda Misje Haug are two baristas worth mentioning. Oda was the youngest winning Norwegian champion at the age of 19. She won in 2009 and in 2010. Rasmus, originally a volleyball player on the national team, was one of the founders of Kaffemisjon/Blom before he moved to Oslo a few years ago. He has participated year after year, always challenging the system and winning several competitions.

Nobel Bopel

Next up is Nobel Bopel, a combined second hand and a coffee shop. It is situated in a little bit more quiet neighborhood of Møllenpris, but still close to everything, like everywhere in Bergen :) They were closed during my visit but it looks like a cozy place worth a visit.

Bergen Kaffebrenneri

Bergen Kaffebrenneri is located in the same area. They also roast and grind their own cocoa! I sampled a range and loved the rustic mouthfeel. To quote their barista: “we do everything but growing the cocoa right here”. This is a bit of Berlin in Bergen. Very nice ambiance and homemade products.

Det Lille Kaffekompaniet

I visited Det Lille Kaffekompaniet after a nice morning walk to Fløyen. They had lovely cascara ice tea, cold brew Brazilian coffee and the most juicy carrot cake and a perfect cappuccino. This place has been around for a while, it is small and intimate and pretty much Bergen in a nutshell.