Akureyri (“gravel bank field”) promises visitors a lively stay with its many art galleries and museums, outdoor recreation in summer and winter, an awakening of the taste buds at the town’s gourmet restaurants and breathtaking views of natural sites around the corner. Take a look at this special promotion about Iceland’s northern capital.  more

Fresh back from Brazil, where she was one of 28 international judges at the ‘Cup of Excellence’ awards, Kaffitár founder and owner Adalheidur Hédinsdóttir sat down with Mica Allan in Kaffitár’s Bankastraeti cafe to talk about her passion and delight: coffee.

Published in the No. 1 2010 January-February issue of Atlantica. By Mica Allan, photos by Páll Stefánsson.

MICA ALLAN: How do you think Icelanders’ relationship and experience with coffee has changed over the last few tumultuous years?

ADALHEIDUR HÉDINSDÓTTIR: During the boom before the crisis people wanted to have their own coffee machines and were buying imported coffee. After the crisis people are turning more to Icelandic products and we see that reflected in their choice of coffee. Icelanders in general have a good coffee knowledge and reasons for this are the range of wonderful cafes in Reykjavík and the quality of beans. It also makes all the difference to have skilful baristas. Kaffitár has been fairly successful at teaching baristas and the quality of coffee in Iceland has greatly improved.

MA: What would you say is the Icelandic palate for coffee?

AH: Well, it’s hard to generalize, but I like coffee that is clean, has high acidity and sweetness. When Kaffitár started, these were the coffees I introduced from Central America. I think palates have now moved towards darker roasts that have more body because popular espresso machines usually call for coffee that is slightly more roasted than high acidic coffee.

MA: You have 110 employees. Can you tell me about your business model?

AH: Firstly, we use the finest coffee beans available from the main coffee-growing countries, and Kaffitár is run prudently so that everyone can afford good coffee. Direct trade is also part of our business model. We have two divisions: the roastery, distributing the coffee to the wholesale market and making all the cakes and pastries we sell in the cafes; and then we have our eight cafes. After our board was formed there were some changes. For example, I’m not general manager anymore. Three years ago when I was about to go crazy, I was either going to sell the company and get out or hire someone and continue, and so I hired our general manager, Stella Marta, who is fantastic and very smart with a PhD in engineering. This means I can now focus on sourcing the coffee.

MA: Can you tell me more about the values Kaffitár has?

AH: These values resulted from exploring our brand image. The first value is being passionate and having passion in everything that you do. The second one is professionalism. It’s not good enough to have great coffee and baristas, it has to be consistent throughout the company. Our third value is ‘a woman’s touch’. Our cafes have hand-written signs and little feminine touches, for example when we teach the baristas to clean the tables you have to do it like this [motioning cleaning over the table’s edge with hands]. And our fourth value is multiculturalism, because it’s important we recognize both where the coffee beans come from and the farmer, so we try to teach the Icelandic consumer about the coffee and its origins. However, it’s also saying we are Icelandic and are proud of that. All our coffee brands are in Icelandic and that’s very important to us. One of our coffees is Sudurnesjakaffi [Southern peninsula coffee] and when I tried to sell this to Hagkaup supermarket chain 18 years ago, their men in suits told me, “We can’t have that, it’s such a lame name.” I told them this is an Icelandic company, this is the product’s name and we are proud of that. They now sell our coffee.

This article was published in the No. 1 2010 January-February issue of Atlantica, a sister publication of Iceland Review. Click here to read the rest of the article.

  more

New subscribers to the quarterly Iceland Review magazine will receive the photography book Puffins, which contains a wealth of information about this colorful bird, as a gift. Additionally, all subscribers will enter a draw to win a trip to Iceland. Click here to subscribe to Iceland Review. The new issue will be out next week!  more

Icelandic Folk Legends – Tales of Apparitions, Outlaws and Things Unseen is a collection of 12 Icelandic folktales in an English translation. The small and handy book includes both stories that practically every Icelander knows by heart as well as lesser known stories. Although I would have preferred a broader context, this book is a good present for people interested in learning more about Iceland’s past.  more

There’s a new breed of traveler roaming the globe these days. Set on doing more than going to location x, snapping a few memorable photographs of the tourist traps therein, and returning home with some knick-knacks for their mantle, voluntourists are spending longer periods of time in their destinations of choice, giving back to their host communities and getting lifelong memories in return.  more

If you visit Reykjavík Art Museum – Hafnarhús this week you can disappear into the “Neverland” of Katrín Elvarsdóttir, an exhibition featuring the artist’s photographs of caravans, shrubs, trees, buildings, or lanes. The exhibition is part of Hafnarhúsid’s D series.  more