Reykjavík Grapevine - 25.08.2017, Síða 30

Best Of Reykjavík
For your mind, your body and your wallet
30The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 15 — 2017
SELECTION
FROM BEST OF
REYKJAVÍK
2017
Best and Longest Happy Hour
Bravó
Laugavegur 22
Bravó! For having the longest
happy hour in Reykjavík. Nine
hours to be exact—exactly the
amount of time it would take
to watch all three extended
edition of ‘The Hobbit’. What
a day! Yes, from 11:00 to 20:00,
you can enjoy a 700-900 ISK
beer, 900 ISK glass of wine, and
a 800 ISK shot of Brennivín in
a cozy room filled with throw
pillows and artsy people chat-
tin’ away. It’s any cheap alco-
hol-lovers’ dream.
Best Vegan Lunch:
Garðurinn
(Ecstasy’s
Heart
Garden)
Garðurinn (Ecstasy’s Heart
Garden)
Kaffihúsið Garðurinn offers
a diverse menu of cosy filling
vegan food. Their menu chang-
es daily, but always contains a
gluten-free vegan soup option.
With a homey vibe and a great
outdoor area, this place is per-
fect for a quiet lunch—and you
might find yourself here for
much longer than planned.
gpv.is/bestof
Get to know Iceland
“My dad hates this stuff with a vengeance, I
love it. This is the biggest splinter in my fam-
ily. Oh bitter nectar.”
CITY GUIDE
Sveinbjörn’s guide to
Reykjavík Coffee
Words Sveinbjörn Pálsson Photos Art Bicnick
First things first - there’s no such
thing as “best” when it comes to
coffee advice. People have differ-
ent palates and different needs,
so really, this guide isn’t so much
about finding coffee for you as it
is finding you and then getting
you some nice coffee. But this is
totally fine, as you’re probably in
Iceland to find yourself anyway.
So. Who are you? The first
question is how preoccupied you
are with taste. If you’re a big taste
snob like me, you’re gonna want
to visit one of the speciality coffee
places. There are three places that
stand out, that represent three
different eras in coffee.
Italian Coffee
First you have the classic Ital-
ian coffee. This is the dark roast,
bitter thick brew that hits your
palate in a sharp but pleasing
way. The king of the crop in Ital-
ian style coffee is Kaffifélagið on
Skólavörðustígur, but most of the
smaller vendors go for this style.
Bismút on Hverfisgata is a new
contender in dark roast, a sparse
minimalist standing-room place.
Third Wave / Scandinavian Coffee
In recent years a new style of cof-
fee making has come forth. It’s all
about roasting the coffee lightly,
so it’s less bitter and burnt, and
leaves more of the taste of the
beans behind. While Italian cof-
fee is all about consistency, mix-
ing together reliable sources of
beans to make a trusty tasting
coffee that’s the same year after
year, Third Wave is about variety.
Single-origin coffee means beans
from one farm. They are lightly
roasted so they taste different ev-
ery time. There are slight nuances
between farms, regions, plants
and so on. Also, since you can re-
ally taste the beans, you can be
sure you’re only getting the best.
This makes for a very pricy cof-
fee if you buy beans or powder to
take home, as this type of coffee
needs to be completely unadulter-
ated first rate stuff. Also this can
mean that you might get a cup that
tastes pretty weird. It’s more sour
than bitter, so the espresso can be
a bit much as well. My dad hates
this stuff with a vengeance, I love
it. This is the biggest splinter in
my family. Oh, bitter nectar.
Reykjavík Roasters is the flag-
bearer for the Third Wave, in the
North Atlantic ocean. Pallett in
Hafnarfjörður is also a popu-
lar place for this cup, especially
among British journalists.
Transitional style
This term I cribbed from type-
face history. I have no idea if it’s
a real thing. I really just made it
up to describe Kaffitár in Bankas-
træti. It sits somewhere snugly
between the Italian and Scandina-
vian styles, darker than the fruity
Scandinavian tones, but not quite
the deep aroma of Italian.
African
Not sure if this is a thing. Well, it is
now. This is a super dark brew, or
burnt, really, to my weak-ass pal-
ate. I think my dad would like this
one, many of my friends swear by
it. I don’t. The place of legend for
this style of coffee is Café Haiti, a
place with a slightly corny decor,
and a good selection of cakes, or
in other words, a relaxing, unpre-
tentious space. And the service is
lovely and friendly, and it never
seems very crowded.
American mega-franchise style
huge cups of industrial coffee
I didn’t know this was a thing,
but my friend told me she misses
the American mega-cups of Star-
bucks, with their bland taste and
huge selection of sweet flavours. If
this is what you’re hankering for,
Dunkin’ Donuts is the only game
in town. Their bagels are also a
steal, and tasty too.
A solid latté
If you’re looking for a pretty great
latté and consistency, Te & Kaffi is
the place to go. They’re all over the
place and they’ll do you Starbucks-
like frappos, but their regular cof-
fee drinks are much better than
what you’d expect from a chain,
certainly a few steps above Star-
bucks, Costa, Segafredo and the
like.
Just an Espresso for me, please
Most people that are into espres-
sos go for the Italian variety, as
the Scandinavian light roast can
get pretty sour. Kaffifélagið and
Bismút are popular spots for
espresso.
Pumpkin spice latté frappuccino
with extra sprinkles
Te & Kaffi is the best at “speciality
orders”. By the way, I ordered the
vaunted “Pumpkin Spice Latté”
the other day, years after hearing
Americans buzz about this drink
of legend. Did you know that it’s
just a regular latté plus sugar and
cinnamon? And most cafés have
cinnamon, that you can just get
for free. Don’t get a pumpkin spice
latté! Just ask for some cinnamon
and sugar. Or better yet, grow the
fuck up and stop diluting your
coffee with sweeteners like an
overgrown toddler. Wean off the
sweets. No time like the present.
You can do it, we believe in you!
I’m just looking for the best ambiance
If you’re a bit of an arty type, es-
pecially of the younger genera-
tion, you’ll probably like Stofan. If
you’re looking for a place to camp
out with your laptop, Te & Kaffi is
solid. Babalú on Skólavörðustígur,
and its neighbour C is for Cookie
on Óðinstorg are popular with
the free-er spirits. The young hip
kids camp out at Prikið in the af-
ternoons. Kaffibarinn’s afternoon
crowd is 50/50 guidebook tour-
ists looking for Damon Albarn,
and DJs taking a break from the
day job. And if you’re looking for
somewhere where you can wash
your clothes or stash your scream-
ing children while you have a sly
latté, the basement at Laundromat
is your place. If you’re still trying
to make up your mind after this,
you should probably just have a
Red Bull.
Reykjavík Roasters, the coffee snob ground zero
Bismut, the artful minimalists
SUPER JEEP
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