Part One by kyle larson

“I hear the coffee is good in Oslo,” the woman seated next to me, over a typically oversized glass of airport beer, says. The conversation had started up between us as I sat in Newark/New York Liberty Airport, at one of those terrible sports bars, waiting to catch my flight to Oslo, Norway. As dirty and tacky as the airport bars can be, crowded as they are with impatient, semi-alcoholic businessmen and women mumbling into their cell phones, the opportunity for a conversation about one's profession can present itself. Alison is a representative for a box-making company and I am a barista. An unlikely pairing, but the conversation about both of our jobs carried on.

“You're so lucky your company is sending you to Norway just to learn more about your field,” she says excitedly, setting down her beer. I heartily agree.

The reason I am sitting in this unlikely place conversing with a box salesperson is that I am at the start of a barista exchange. The concept of the barista exchange is relatively new to the specialty coffee industry, and is one of the more exciting ideas to come about in the last few years as the professional barista community continues to develop. More and more baristas are pouring over blogs, message boards and online articles with the intention of learning what others are doing in different parts of the world and why they are doing it. This barista community owes a great deal to the people who maintain these websites and forums, because they foster an exchange of ideas that would be very difficult to engage in without organization.

Now baristas are actively taking this electronic exchange to the next level, visiting and working in cafés as close as the next neighborhood or as far as half a world away, in an effort to pool information, share techniques and fuel one another's passion for coffee. There is no official barista exchange organization in existence, and frankly, one wonders if there really needs to be. Driven by a desire to invest in the future of the specialty coffee industry, retailers, roasters and baristas are increasingly on the lookout for ways to generate ideas and streamline techniques. Barista exchanges are one outstanding way to do so.

Since the beginning of my continuing education in the craft of espresso preparation, Oslo has always caught my eye. Of course, the country of Norway has produced two World Barista Champions (WBC)-Robert Thoreson in 2000 and Tim Wendelboe in 2004-and is known as home to some of sleekest cafés in the world. But the sense of passion for coffee excellence that I perceived to be there was what intrigued me the most. Thanks to the Internet and a few Norwegian bloggers, I often find myself reading articles about baristas geeking out with coffee, or taking frequent café tours of Oslo, or visiting different roasteries in the city. All of these articles stoked my desire to visit Oslo, and now, it was actually happening.

Normally, you can find me pulling shots at the Stumptown roastery in beautiful Portland, Ore., teaching new baristas about coffee, as much as I can. But today, I am on the express train, 30 minutes outside of Oslo. The landscape is a lush green that reminds me of the countryside right outside my home in the Pacific Northwest. There is no sign of the city yet, just scattered country homes and empty highways. Once off of the train I walk through the Oslo station and out into the city. Again, I am struck by how similar Oslo looks to the cities of the Pacific Northwest. The sky provides a dull-gray blue that makes the pavement appear barely lit. It looks like it is about to rain, so I begin the search for Robert-the aforementioned WBC champion-and Mie of Java/Mocca, my hosts on this exchange.

After a few misdialed phone calls, Robert and Mie greet me and get me moving as soon as possible. As we make our way through the streets of Oslo, Robert and Mie point out interesting sights and then all of a sudden, I see my first Norwegian café, Stockfleth's. We decide to stop in.

“You're going to notice right away that the coffee here is roasted much lighter than you are used to,” Robert says. How can it get much lighter than what I am used to? I wonder. The first time I tried Stumptown's coffee, I was amazed at how light, bright and clean it was compared to coffees I had tasted before. I did not think it was possible to go much lighter without losing the sweetness. I was wrong.

The shot at Stockfleth's was brighter than I would have liked, but it was balanced. I gazed around the café I had seen so many times online, took in the aromas of the coffees laid out, sipped my espresso, and soaked it in. Then I suggested to Robert and Mie that we move on. The reason I came to Oslo was to experience Java and Mocca, Robert and Mie's cafés, so it seemed appropriate to get things started right away. Robert and Mie agreed.

Java is Robert's first café, and the café that was the genesis of Mocca, and now Kaffa, the roasting company. Robert explained how he feels it is important to keep the two cafés, Java and Mocca, as individual as possible. All of the roasting for both cafés is done at Mocca. It is located in a small space that used to be a flower shop. At the time of my visit, the storefront was covered by construction on the upper floors, so it was hard to tell there was a café behind the beams and boards. Robert and Mie were both very proud to be showing me their café and with good reason. It is the most honest, straightforward and beautiful café I have visited in Europe. Robert designed everything in the space, right up to painting the La Marzocco Linea red. The customers stood patiently in line, awaiting their espresso.

As I took my seat at the bar, Charles, an old friend I had met in Portland the year before, came around the bar and handed me a shot made with an espresso blend called Caffe Forte.

“Here is what you need after a long flight,” he said, and I wasted no time. I slurped it, spaying the crema across my palate, and was reminded of my favorite espresso experiences in the world. This was certainly heading to the top of the list. The shot of Caffe Forte was perfectly balanced: body, sweetness and clean acidity. I knew I was in store for good coffee, but this made me even more excited to start learning. There is nothing like traveling across the world for 18 hours (including hellish layovers) to be greeted with a shot of espresso that was not only beautiful, but different than any I had enjoyed before.

The baristas exchange had begun.

Want to learn more about "swapping"? Then order this back issue of Barista Magazine!