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The Coffee City of Oslo
Oslo is a mecca for coffee lovers! We've even released a separate physical city guide for this particular city.
Norwegians are at the top of the world when it comes to coffee drinking. Two out of three drink coffee every day and we drink an average of four cups of coffee every day.
In Norway we have a long tradition and history of coffee drinking. After the war and five long years of replacement coffee there was little coffee left in Norway and Europe. In Norway it was manko on dollars, and coffee was not a priority to spend the dollar on. The way they then got coffee was through barter. Norway sent rock fish to Brazil that they could use for their bacalao, and back the Brazilians sent coffee.
Award-winning again and again
What makes Oslo a coffee town out of the ordinary is that the enthusiasm for coffee is combined with the tenacious efforts of skilled baristas.
Oslo is full of coffee shops, and several of these are award-winning. The baristas have long traditions of participating and doing well in competitions at home and abroad. The World Barista Championship was established in 2000 and is based on the Norwegian Barista Championship, which was started in 1998.
Several baristas who have done well in championships have, in time, started their own coffee roasters and coffee shops. Some examples are Tim Wendelboe, Java/Mocca, and Supreme Roastworks.
Coffee tourists fill the streets
In the early 2000s, when Robert Thoresen and Tim Wendelboe won the World Barista Championship, Norway and Oslo received a lot of attention. Many went to Oslo to learn about what they were up to. With this foundation, more and more tourists began to go to Oslo with the coffee shops as their destination.
Typical coffee shops frequented by coffee tourists include:
These are coffee places that have become famous even beyond the borders of the country.
Fond of good coffee? Check out our map of Norway's best coffee shops.