Drop Coffee in Stockholm

It has been more than 10 years since I last visited Drop Coffee in Stockholm. And trust that a lot can change in a decade. When I was just getting started with The Coffeevine’s subscription service, I had only built a handful of close relationships with leading roasters across the continent. But Joanna Alm of Drop Coffee was one of the first. And to this day, she remains a close friend, an inspiration and a real pioneer of the Swedish specialty coffee scene.

Thus, it shouldn’t come as a big surprise that I did everything possible to have a catch up with Joanna at Drop Coffee during a recent visit to Sweden. The café has undergone a lot of changes since I was last there. Back then, the roastery was still housed in the back and the interior looked different. When I arrived, Joanna was already there and we gave each other a big hug. These days, she’s married with kids (married to none other than coffee’s legendary Stephen Leighton) and she’s not roasting that much any more her self.

She has a competent team working behind the bar and in the roastery that takes care of the day to day business. The café is now much bigger than I remembered thanks to the additional seating area in the back where the roastery used to be. We sat down by the merch from where we could get a good view of the coming and going.

Joanna really helped set the scene in the Swedish specialty coffee scene thanks to her visionary style and mission to roast for clarity and sweetness. I also remember her as one of the first people to work with an omni roast profile for both filter and espresso. Drop’s iconic cardboard retail boxes have graced countless café shelves around the world and appeared in many a Coffeevine box too.

Recently, Drop has been introducing a slightly updated brand identity which according to Joanna is ‘still evolving’. It’s not so easy to let go of something that is so intricately connected to your brand like this particular packaging. The great things is that Drop’s coffee has seldom tasted better. We had a variety of filter brews that were prepared for us while we sat there catching up on life and each batch was absolutely delicious.

There is still a small selection of dishes and pastries. After all, there is no such thing as Fika in Sweden without something sweet. I really learned that while I was out there visiting the city’s best coffee shops. However, when it comes to consistency and quality, Drop is still the one to beat and with Joanna and Stephen at its helm, the future is looking as bright as that outstanding coffee that we enjoyed.