this is a double post but they're a few days apart so I don't think it matters
So here's the deal. I currently live in the second largest city in Sweden, and I've done so for an entire week. Being a rather large city, with rather big hipster crowd, I figured I'd find some really nice coffee here.
I have not.
In the centre of town, there are coffeeshops literally everywhere. I mean, maybe every fourth store-front is a café/coffeeshop, and I'm not even exaggerating. Most of them are part of big chains, and all of them have some kind of decent coffee, but nothing great. And mostly, it's incredibly expensive. Heart crushingly expensive. For the price of one large cup of black coffee, you could buy two or three days worth of food, or fuel to drive a car something like 40-50 km (64-80miles). It's not cool.
If I'm paying 35-40 sek ($4,5-$5,5) for a cup of coffee, I'd expect it to be amazing. But it never is. None of these places have any information about the were the beans were grown, how they were washed, exactly what kind of roast they've got, or anything like that. Nothing. Stupid. So it's a low-medium quality product to the price of a high quality product.
So why does this happen? After giving it some thought while walking around in the city today, I came to the conclusion that it is because people settle for food and drink that is nowhere near as good as it could be. It goes way beyond coffee. Bread, pizza, and beer are just a few examples. The rise of beer is coming, and burgers are in the middle of their revolution. High quality burgers have become so popular in Sweden that fast food chains have had to lower the prices on a lot of their low quality junk, to adjust to the demand and market. I want this to happen to coffee. I'd gladly pay $4 for a shot of espresso if it's an actual experience, but not if it's just another half decent cup of coffee. But maybe I'd just as gladly pay $1,5 for the half decent one, since it's usually way better than nothing.
So I see it, there's a hole in the market. Or maybe two holes in the market. One being gourmet-coffee, for the same price as the big coffee chains. Same type of business, but with high quality coffee, simple as that. Second is the cheaper model. An espresso or a cup of coffee for like $1-2, with quality being as high as possible within the margins of that price. Also no other stuff, like sandwiches or salads, or maybe not even seating.
So there's that. Make it happen. Be more nerdy about coffee, demand higher quality. Next time you're in a coffeeshop, ask were the beans were farmed, how they were washed, and what type of roast it is.
sry for long post, but didn't know where else to post it
![[tk]](/data/avatars/m/113/113646.jpg?1745610659){kind=avatar}
