“Where Fire Meets Ice”
Hello!
ok…about us. We are a couple of coffee enthusiasts who, in keeping with Svalbard’s ethos, carry an adventurous mindset with our skills and approach to coffee.
So, upon arriving to the island with a Husky (Ming-ming) and a small backpack we quickly made friends and discovered many people who were wishing for more variety in their food and drink.
But It is, of course, just coffee. Yet to many throughout Scandinavia and the world it has gained a cultural appreciation and provides a social experience beyond the drink- important for the dark season.
Life here, in high arctic, can be difficult and not without the minor sufferings that the cold can bring. But we view this as a positive as once back in the warm, the sofa is softer, the coffee tastier and the ache in the muscles feel honest and pure.
This is why we created our Motto and logo, to reflect this Dichotomy - “Where Fire meets Ice”. Indeed not many know that inside our logo are two Celtic runes ‘Isaz’ (Ice), as the lower line, and ‘Kenaz’ (Fire), as the upper two lines. ‘Isaz’ represents stillness, purity and needing to take a pause while ‘Kenaz’, passion, energy and transformation. Together they make the rune ‘Sowilo’ meaning sun, personal growth and sucess. Perhaps you will agree it is rather fitting and gives a nod to our Scottish and French origins also.
And in being a small scale, part time roastery we try create that feeling with an almost tailor-made coffee experience to the visitors and residents of Svalbard, whilst also allowing room to provide occasional experimental and rare coffees such as our Barrel aged coffee and premium offerings.
While coffee is shipped to the island regardless, we thought, “why not decide what coffee arrives, roast it fresh, know where it comes from and who grew it?”
Therefore farming transparency is key for us and you can relax in knowing that the farmers who cultivate our beans are fairly compensated and are able to grow coffee sustainably as to ensure the future of generations and that their lives are improving in small measure to our daily drink. Our care extends beyond the cup!
The roastery consequently offers a support of the Norwegian coffee culture whilst maintaining a global connection to our coffee farmers and in this pays tribute to the history of Svalbard itself. This norwegian soil is our home and our multicultural community makes it a vibrant and exciting place in which to grow.