For the month of May we visit our neighbour in the west, Norway. This month's roastery is Lippe. We had a chat with founder Alexander.
What’s the story behind Lippe and where does the name Lippe come from?
It is the family name of the founders of the company (Alexander and Pia Von der Lippe)
You’ve been in the coffee business for quite some time, how has the Oslo coffee scene changed since you started?
Our company was initially established in 1998 and we have been roasting and marketing coffee under the Lippe brand name since 2007 so we have of course seen a lot of changes and have proudly worked with many great local and international personalities over the years.
During that time we have grown steadily and have seen Oslo’s coffee scene go from strength to strength so much so that many now, throughout the world, look to the Norwegian/Scandinavian light-roast style as a benchmark in specialty coffee roasting. Besides this we have seen cafes right across Oslo and Norway embracing specialty coffee. It’s great to see specialty coffee now reach such a larger audience.
What is your best coffee experience? Do you have a favourite cup of coffee that you can’t forget about?
One coffee that stands out in Pia and Alexander’s minds are those produced by Brazil’s Heimen Coffee. Harvested at around 2000masl.
What is the best part about working with coffee?
Not wanting to sound cliché but offering a product that we are passionate about, working with this product in an industry that is constantly evolving, improving and progressing is always exciting.
What is the vision for Lippe, where will you be in 5/10 years?
5-10 years is a lot of time in specialty coffee but, we plan to be here at the forefront of the specialty roasting scene in Scandinavia. We will be roasting some of our favourite coffees, offering them to an even larger international audience. In the short-term we have many exciting things coming up, including a pop-up cafe with our friends Mobil Kaffebar in a hidden inner-city garden which will have table tennis, boules, badminton, lots of fun and great hot and cold coffee. We are also preparing to launch our own bottled cold brew coffee for the summer, we have a new webshop in the works and we are looking forward to celebrating our 20th anniversary next year.
Have you got a favourite brewing recipe?
Right now we are most enjoying cold brewed Gathaiti and Fabian Zarama!
Many of our members will try your coffee for the very first time. What can they expect?
The Fabian Zarama microlot from Colombia, the Gathaiti AA and the Mbrizi from Burundi are all outstanding coffees we really hope that your subscribers will like the coffees! They will be experiencing the true Norwegian taste of lightly roasted coffee which think lets the coffee taste its best. It allows the complex and fruity flavours of these truly special coffees to stand out. We would recommend brewing at around 65-70g per liter.
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