But Grant, who was winning national horse-riding competitions atop steeds bred by her father when she was only a child, is delightfully humorous, amazingly warmhearted and breathtakingly humble. It comes as no surprise then that one of the qualities she looks for in future employees at Kaffitár, the celebrated Icelandic roastery and four-café chain for which she has worked for more than 10 years, is humility.

One of the founders of the World Barista Championship Board and a barista competition judge since the beginnings of the contests, Grant has advocated for widespread recognition of the barista as a coffee professional since the mid-1990s. Though she continues her enthusiastic involvement with the WBC organization, Grant is quick to point out what she sees as one of the best results of competitions: inspiration. She says competitions are the best forum for barista brainstorming. As committed as she is to raising awareness of baristas through international competitions, however, Grant’s heart and soul are solidly back in Iceland, where she works every day as the general retail manager of the company’s cafés, teaching baristas about coffee origin and production, about roasting and preparing espresso, and imparting her infectious passion for everything to do with the bean.

Sonja Grant: Well, before I tell you that, I have to tell you about the first time I tasted coffee. It was when I was 10 years old at a family party. I wanted to be like the grown-ups in my family and drink coffee. And in my memory, it was a horrible experience. Industrial coffee with a lot of milk and a pile of sugar. I got very sick immediately. I wonder why!

But I got interested in this social drink that kept all the grownups talking and laughing for many hours late into the night. I was brought up drinking hot tea with milk and sugar, so this coffee stuff sounded very interesting. So then, for several years, I drank many litres of this black hot drink, especially when I was supposed to be in school.

When I moved away from my hometown, Akureyri, to Reykjavík at age 17, I started to experiment with the coffees that were on the market in Iceland. This was back in 1987, when Gevalia and a local industrial roastery, Bragi, from my hometown dominated the market.

So we could say that by 1987, I was serious about this black drink. But I did not know anything about specialty coffee until 1994 when I heard about Kaffitár.

B-Mag: What inspired you to dedicate your life to coffee?

SG: I have always been interested in people and, well, I believe that my destiny was decided when I applied for a job at Kaffitár. Kaffitár had just opened its first café, a tiny little place. It was not a busy place to begin with, and since I like people, I think this was perfect for me because I could talk to my customers while I was making their cappuccino. Addalheiour Héoinsdóttir, the owner of Kaffitár, opened my eyes about specialty coffee. I knew about the different qualities of all kinds of spices and food, especially meat, because my parents are farmers and my mother had been working in a meat factory for 25 years. So I could understand the difference between qualities of fresh material, like coffee beans.

Working with Addy made me realize that good coffee was something special, and I enjoyed educating the customers about coffee from different regions, and as a barista, meeting all these people and serving them coffee drinks that tasted different than coffee they had had before. It would just make my day back then, 10 years ago, and I still love to wake up and go to work.

B-Mag: Can you explain the evolution of specialty coffee in Iceland?

SG: Icelandic people are always in need of new things. Coffee has been an available product since the 18th century in Iceland—the oldest story about coffee here dates back to around 1766. But when the Vikings went to Valhalla around the year 1000, they might have tasted coffee.

Coffee and sugar were luxury products until middle of the 19th century that were saved to offer to guests. Even if a person was so poor that he had nothing else to offer, he had to have coffee, sugar and, if his wife baked pancakes to offer as well, he was a very good host. Simple and honest. This was the same throughout the countryside. But this was in the old days. Nowadays, Icelanders drink more coffee that most others nations. In the 1990s, Icelanders became interested in specialty coffee. People here in general enjoy good things, eating good food and drinking tasty beverages, like gourmet wines. And more and more Icelanders are discovering that in some places in Iceland, you can get coffee of the highest quality served by some of the best baristas in the world. Coffee in general was not good some years ago, but that has changed thanks to small roasteries like Kaffitár.

B-Mag: Why do you think coffee and espresso are so popular in the Nordic countries?

SG: It is difficult to say. One reason could be the same as why the Russians drink so much vodka—to keep them warm.

Another reason could be that we are without a doubt Vikings, and we like to drink strong drinks. In Iceland, we have a special saying about the brewing method of coffee for sailors: “They brew the coffee so strong that they have to use knife and fork to drink it.” This method of making “sailors-coffee” is famous in Iceland.

Another reason coffee is so popular in the Nordic countries is because coffee was a luxury product in Scandinavia many years ago and therefore is still very popular at social events. And since we like new things, we always have to develop to increase quality.

B-Mag: Iceland, Norway and Denmark are countries that are known for the high regard in which they hold the craft of the barista. Why?

SG: Nordic countries are known for design, good food and a high standard of living. We want to have everything, good food, good wine and a good cup of espresso. We are a small part of the world, but one that has a big ego and a huge heart. We do not have the Latin passion, but I think we are creative, serious and ambitious people who want to enjoy life. I think this is the main reason that so many skilled baristas can be found in the Nordic countries.

The profession of the barista was not recognized until recently, 10 to 15 years ago, in the Nordic nations. But because many Scandinavian baristas are so skilled, they have earned respect from their customers so that being a barista is now a profession that many people aspire to achieve.

B-Mag: Tell us about Kaffitár. When did you begin working there, and what was your job?

Anyway, I was invited for interviews at both places. The pet shop was located very close where I rented a flat, so I went first to see them. I did not get the job, thank god. On the morning of the job interview at Kaffitár, Hjalti, my boyfriend, and I discovered that we both had lice! But it was getting late, and I had to get to the interview, so I took all my hair and put it up in a schoolteacher’s knot and drove down to meet Addy. It was the most horrible experience to sit there and try to sell myself, knowing that I had insects in my hair.

B-Mag: How has espresso culture in Iceland changed since you’ve been with Kaffitár?

SG: The first espresso machine came to Iceland in 1958 and was in one of the first cafés in Iceland. It was called MOKKA. It is still a very popular café in downtown Reykjavík, but, of course, the quality of the espresso drinks has not been updated. In the beginning when we served espresso to people, they shouted at us because they were paying for a cup of coffee that was not even full! They ordered espresso and had it served, and it was a very little amount of liquid in a small cup. They did not think that they were getting much for their money. But every day, week and month of the year we got better feedback from our customers so we knew that we were doing something right.

The barista technique, 10 years ago, was very funny when I think back to it. We used the tamper that came with the grinder, and when we discovered that we should use a different tamper, we called the tamper “aumingja jappa” and that means “tamper for losers.” It was a very thin and light aluminum tamper. It was funny. We really thought that we were professional baristas, because in Iceland we were. I know that many countries have the same stories to tell. We were very curious and we asked ourselves many questions and experimented with different barista techniques and studiously tasted our drinks and blends. And when we started to organize the first barista championship in Iceland, we started for real to develop in the right direction with our barista skills.

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