Chef René Redzepi of the famous Noma Restaurant in Copenhagen and his Laboratory Laboratory projects are launching a new coffee membership, available to be delivered worldwide, as of today.
Redzepi's mission of distail elements of its surrounding landscape on a dish has also been the backbone of the restaurant's drink selections. The objective with Noma Kaffe is to promote relations with farmers, obtaining coffees that support local communities, food systems and regenerative agriculture.
“Coffee and chocolate are two things without which I can't live,” says Redzepi. “Obviously, in reality, you can live without most things, but if I had to choose one last meal, it could be a cup of fantastic coffee with a truly high quality piece of chocolate.”
Among the first coffees that Noma Kaffe is the shipment are the beans of the Itzín family in Mexico, cultivated by the indigenous community of Tenejapa.
(Noma Kaffe)
Noma Kaffe will send to the subscribers every month two packages of 250 grams of exclusive integral beans that offer a window to the obsession of the Coffee of Redzepi, with selections of small farms and a light Nordic toast profile.
For March, the first coffee was chosen in a blind tasting of beans in Mexico: a garnica of Tenejapa in Chiapas cultivated by the Iztín family. This variety of coffee was originally introduced into Noma during its 2017 emerging window in Tulum. The second coffee, an natural Ethiopian terrestrial race (a mixture of indigenous varieties), was grown at about 7,000 feet above sea level, the high elevation that produces balanced acidity with fruit notes and tropical spices.
The subscription is sold through Noma projects for $ 65 per month.
The coffee service has been an integral search in Noma, which now focuses on a new ingredient every season; It is currently “oceanic season.” The restaurant associated with the world champion Tim Wendelboe de Oslo in 2013 to obtain beans and create coffee service for its tasting menus. Now he has established his own department under Noma Kaffe, to obtain and roast interior beans.
“We wanted to have coffee as good as in the best coffee shops,” says Redzepi. “It was an obvious choice at that time working with Tim Wendelboe. He is an extraordinary individual. And he has taught us a lot over the years. “
“Tim often asked us:” Why don't you do it yourself? “says Redzepi de Asar Café in Noma.” The idea always intrigued me. “
Redzepi wanted to make sure someone to develop a coffee and roasted supply program that defines the flavor profile of Noma Kaffe, with its affinity for Nordic profiles with light roasts, bright acidity and floral notes.
Carolyne Lane helped direct beverage service at the Noma restaurant and now Helms Noma Kaffe.
Carolyne Lane had begun in Noma in 2018 as host and server while healing tea selection, making herbal infusions, spending time in the test kitchen to create juice pairing and learn all aspects of the restaurant's coffee service.
Now Lane Helms, the Noma Projects coffee division, which Redzepi founded in 2022 to exhibit and sell ingredients of the restaurant workshop, such as the spicy sauce of Yuzu corn, the CEP oil and the aged pumpkin vinegar.
With the support of the list of the Sommelier Ava Mees of Noma Head and General Manager Simon Kofoed Bursche Hansen, Lane works with the head toaster Alastair Hesp and the barista head Tsubasa Maehiro to develop roasted profiles and handle quality control. Redzepi “is obsessed with coffee and is very committed to the project,” says Lane.
Lane recently spent time on the road in Colombia with Tyler Youngblood de Azahar, a green coffee supply company, investigating the regenerative agriculture of coffee in the regions where they obtained beans by the end of this spring.
The second and third subscription fall will focus on the beans of three farmers in Huila, a better coffee region in southwest Colombia known by the winners that are sweet and fragrant. “All represent very different expressions of the region,” says Lane. “From the ambitious and meticulous farmer with super sharp flavor profiles, to which it extends the fermentation of its washed coffees to deal with surprisingly steep terrain. … Those coffees are large, bold and juicy, and super floral. “The touches of jasmine aromatic flowers and rose to the hibiscus and the honestrate are especially desirable for slightly roasted Nordic coffee profiles.
LANE currently travels in Chiapas, Mexico, with the expert in Café Jesús Salazar of Cafeology, a coffee education and coffee education. “It is exportive and curious by nature, and it has spent many years coordinating the native Mayan farmers around San Cristóbal de las Casas,” says Lane. “Frankly, it is a miracle that some of these coffees have reached a consumer, since these farms are incredibly small.”
During Noma's residence at the Ace Hotel in Kyoto last October to December, Lane and Redzepi also found inspiration in the Japanese coffee culture. The owner of the Coffee on weekends Masahiro Kaneko shared his coughing space with Lane during the Noma months in Japan, while the subscription plans were taking shape.
“Coffee feels like something that everyone can connect,” says Lane. “It makes me feel part of the broader world. It is a respect for nature. It is a respect for culture and communities, and collaboration. “
Wendelboe and the Noma Bevenge team created an optimal process to prepare coffee during the Kyoto residence: an American hybrid prepared by pulling an espresso outlet through an aeropress filter, pouring the espresso through a V60 filter and then adding a precise amount of hot water to emulate a filter coffee. This method allowed them to prepare three coffee cups of an espresso shot, with efficiency and consistency as the end of the gastronomic experience.
Redzepi suggests more plans to expand Noma Kaffe. “I want to have a unique high quality and better coffee bar that can be as good as all the best coffee shops in the Nordics,” he says. “Maybe where he is just today. And we will focus on that. “
