Jacobsen and Svart originally had its start in 2012, at a time when there were just 13 coffee roasteries in Norway. Since then, the industry has seen a real boom, and there are now more than 80 coffee roasteries across the country. The business started as a one-man project for Tony Jacobsen. “In the workspace of the roastery, there was an air conditioning system that I started using to experiment with humidity – drying the air to create better roast profiles. That was the start of a sort of “coffee hacking” that we haven’t left behind yet,” Tony says.
In 2014, Jacobsen and Svart moved their coffee roastery and ended up next to a chocolate factory. The small team saw increased demand in their new location, and Tony had the idea to establish a “slightly nerdy” coffee shop. The dream became a reality in 2015, when they started a coffee bar in Trondheim. The coffee shop was connected to a radio station, and they roasted their coffee in the back room. In 2019, they had big plans for expanding the business – but there were challenges ahead. When the Covid-19 pandemic hit, Jacobsen and Svart ended up closing its doors and filing for bankruptcy.
But in autumn 2020, a new partnership brought new energy to the project. Hans Erik Kleive, who has a strong background in running coffee bars and distilleries internationally, inspired Tony to give it another shot. The rest is history – their new coffee distillery located in Fjordgata in Trondheim was a great success, and the dynamic duo are now hard at work on their new project – a coffee bar in Brattørgata, in the heart of Trondheim city centre. “When the coffee bar opens, our chef has created a menu that is developed together with the coffee. Food that emphasises the fruitiness of our coffee is key,” Tony says. “We want to be a place with a fun atmosphere, and we’re no coffee snobs – even though so much work goes into our coffee, the only thing our guests should feel is that it’s good coffee.”
They’re driven by a true passion for their craft – but what is it about coffee that’s so special for them? “There’s something about the mornings. Seeing the steam from the coffee, cranking the grinder, setting the weight. It’s a ritual reminiscent of a kind of ceremony,” Tony says. “Coffee is a complex agricultural product with many chemical properties. The difference between coffee and for example wine, is that our process is much faster after we get the coffee from the farmer. It gives us a sense of meaning to find all the exciting flavours coffee can have. For us, hunting for coffee that tastes of florals, berries and fruit is a given, and the rest of the work is about trying to create a roasting profile where all this comes out in the brewed coffee in people’s homes. It’s a mix of science, craft and philosophy that is really inspiring.”
The team work closely with the farmers and importers they source their coffee from. “Today, we get our coffee from importers – it’s a kind of network of coffee farmers where you get a much fairer price for quality coffee, which makes it more profitable to run a business with “specialty coffee”. At Jacobsen and Svart, we’ve always called it “coffee”, period. For us, it’s a given that the coffee should have optimal quality, so we choose the coffee very carefully and have great confidence in our importers.”
The dedicated coffee lovers have plenty of plans for the future. “Right now, we’re focused on getting wind in our sails and pointing out the course for where the ship will go next,” Tony says. “We look forward to opening the coffee bar and showcasing the wonderful people we’ll be hiring, and we look forward to working with partners, guests, suppliers, coffee shops, hotels, restaurants and offices and everything that naturally falls within the Jacobsen sphere. People can expect us to be fun and a little bright spot in their everyday lives.”
