Time Travel: Zoégas Coffee Shop
Written by Christopher A. • 8 years agoDid you know that Swedes are the most coffee indulging people in the world? Apparently 4,6 cups a day of this dark, tasty liquid keeps these unassuming and laid back tribe of people getting out of their warm beds in the morning. Being a Swede – I should know.
Every coffee connoisseur should also appreciate and understand that the ambience and style of a coffee shop can make the world of difference when enjoying a cup of joe. In Helsingborg, a small harbor town in southern Sweden, you can travel back in time to circa 1901 and enjoy it in Zoégas café.
Zoégas has been in business since the 19th Century, but the current location has been their base since the turn of the century. The whole building was actually home to not only the production of their coffee, but also the whole Zoéga family, who resided in the upper floors of the grand building (that is currently up for grabs).
The coffee is freshly ground in the shop. And while you wait you can have a cup of delicious espresso, or go outside and enjoy the patio during the summer months (Sweden does actually get a few days of sun each year, believe it or not). The display windows are home to six large coffee grinders, with hypnotic wheels, that has spun endlessly since their installation in 1931. A feature that was much appreciated when a (much) younger version of my self passed by the place with my family a few times a year for a jaunt over to Denmark – where the Danes probably could smell the fresh coffee all the way from Sweden on a sunny day.
Take a virtual tour with Google inside Zoégas Coffee Shop in Helsingborg, Sweden.
The interior of the coffee shop is largely unaltered since the 1930s and still feature the original ceiling mural and mahogany panels. There is also a original phone booth featuring a bakelite phone, however this was closed just a few years ago, but everything still exists behind the booth entrance. You can take a virtual tour through all of it here above.
Zoégas coffee roastery was founded over 100 years ago and are still going strong today, although the actual production have moved to different premises. In fact, they are the second largest coffee producer in Sweden. And over 60% of all dark roasted coffee that is sold today, come from the one and only, Zoégas.
