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Kaffa Oslo has been crowned the Nordics Best Roaster 2026, securing the top position in one of the most respected roasting competitions in the Nordic coffee industry. The announcement was made during the Nordic Coffee Fest, where leading roasteries from across the region competed in a peer-assessed event focused on sourcing and roasting excellence.
The competition evaluates roasters through two main categories: Mandatory Coffee, where all competitors roast the same green coffee provided by the organizers, and Sourced Coffee, in which each roastery presents a coffee it has sourced and roasted according to specific competition parameters. The roastery with the highest combined score across both categories is declared the champion.
You may read: Nordic Coffee Fest 2026: The Largest Coffee Event in Gothenburg
- Winning coffee from Peru
Kaffa Oslo’s sourced coffee entry came from Peru’s Cajamarca region, produced by Familia Alarcon. The coffee was a Geisha variety, processed using a fully washed method and sourced through Collaborative Coffee Source AS. The reported green coffee price for the lot was 20 US dollars per kilogram.
- Strong Nordic competition
The 2026 finals brought together some of the most recognized roasters in the Nordic region. Finalists included:
- Good Life Coffee Roasters
- Gringo Nordic Coffee Roasters
- Coffee Collective
- Solberg & Hansen
- Sensei
- Original Coffee
- Norange
- Muttley & Jack’s
- Te & Kaffi
The competition also presented awards for second place, third place, and the Public Choice Award, reflecting the high level of participation and public interest in the event.
- Mandatory coffee from Colombia
For the Mandatory Coffee category, competitors roasted the same green coffee supplied through a collaboration with Caravela Coffee.
The coffee originated from Colombia, produced by the Las Orquídeas producer group, including farmers Gilma Cupaque and Nubia Yaneth Paz. It featured Colombia F6 and F8 varieties and was processed using the washed method.
The harvest took place between April and June 2025, and the beans were dried using sun and air drying on parabolic patios and raised beds.
- Scientific study unveiled during the competition
Alongside the announcement of the final results, organizers revealed a research project conducted by CoffeeMind in collaboration with Nordic Coffee Fest.
The study, titled “Linking Sensory Descriptive Analysis and Judge Preferences in the Nordics Best Roaster Competition: A Consumer Science Approach,” analyzed how sensory characteristics influence judge preferences in competition coffees.
Researchers compared sensory descriptive analysis of selected coffees with judges’ scoring data from the Sourced Coffee category. Using statistical methods commonly applied in consumer science, the study examined how specific flavor attributes relate to preference among expert judges.
- Understanding the drivers of preference
The analysis evaluated attributes such as acidity, sweetness, fruit notes, bitterness, and fermentation characteristics, linking them with the competition’s judging scores.
According to the researchers, combining sensory science with competition results provides a clearer understanding of why certain coffees perform better during professional evaluations.
Organizers say the initiative represents a new approach to studying coffee quality within roasting competitions, offering insights that may help roasters refine sourcing strategies and roasting profiles in future events.
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