Coffee equipment
Coffee & Chocolate
Meet the Roaster
Meet the Roaster: Quo Coffee
Say hello to Quo Coffee! This month’s KaffeBox features a roaster we’re really excited about, because chances are, you haven’t tried them yet. Based in the small seaside town of Skärhamn, Sweden, Quo is a brand-new roastery with a focus on transparency, real sustainability, and a desire to do things differently. They’re also one of the first roasters globally to join Belco’s sail freight initiative, helping reduce the carbon footprint of coffee shipping, so that’s cool! Here’s our interview with them.
What’s the story behind your roastery? How did it all come together?
We’re a group of colleagues from previous endeavours who by chance came together in an attempt to create something new on the Gothenburg coffee scene. The coffee scene here is alive and well, but has stagnated over the past few years, which gave us the idea to start something different that “challenges the status-quo” of what is typically found in this region. Especially in a more rural area of the region, in which we have more opportunity to have a greater impact on the perception of what coffee is, and can be. We’re also aiming to impart this mission on all areas of the coffee industry, working heavily with our carbon impact, inherited carbon emissions in the supply chain, transparency, finding new longterm partners, and being a positive force in our small community.
What can you tell us about this month’s coffee?
We have several coffees in this month’s Kaffebox from producers we have worked alongside, and continued to collaborate with for over a decade now in different projects. Yaved and Yobani with their Variedad Colombia as coffee no.1, which is an incredibly balanced, clean, and consistent coffee. We’ve been delighted to follow their journey by encouraging experimentation, tasting improvements in quality year by year, and following their re-investment in new and more resilient varieties, and their quality of life and homestead.
Do you have a go-to brew recipe for this coffee?
We enjoy brewing all of our coffees in an Aeropress:
We brew inverted, with 15g of coffee to 200ml of water.
- Pour 15g of medium-fine (~700microns, or cupping-appropriate grind size) coffee into the aeropress.
- Pour 200ml of water at 95C onto the coffee and allow to sit for 2 mins. During this time, rinse your filter in the filter cap with hot water.
- At the 2 min mark give the coffee a light stir to “break” or allow the grinds to settle. Place filter cap on Aeropress and push to release excess air, invert and press.
The total brew can take between 2.30 and 3mins.
What’s your favorite way to brew coffee in general? Any pro tips for nailing it?
We’re always experimenting with new brewers and equipment, but the key elements are always great coffee and a good grinder. However, when we’re not brewing with an aeropress, we’re brewing in the Clever dripper, or with an April brewer. Practice is always a key part of nailing a brew, but also experimenting and trying new things! We will typically start with a standard recipe, and if we feel like it doesn’t suit that coffee, we’ll make adjustments to make it better. All coffees are different, and it’s very rare that you’ll nail it on the first try. For light roast, washed and bright coffees we’ll typically recommend a coarser grind, and a higher temperature.
What’s a moment from your roasting journey that stands out, either amazing or challenging?
Owning and operating a roastery is always amazing and challenging!
Especially being a new company in a sea of other micro-roasteries. The biggest challenge is finding the time to balance what needs to be done, with what we want to achieve. Being a small company, we don’t always have the manpower to push ourselves to be better, especially when it comes to transparency and sustainability, because this takes immense amounts of time and resources to communicate.
Starting with the outset of being better has allowed us to work more with a mindset of integrating sustainability into every aspect of what we do, which has led to some amazing collaborations. And community is an amazing part of our industry, since no individual (or company) is an island, we have to accept that we are a part of a bigger picture. Being open to this has allowed us to both share and receive fantastic resources which has allowed us to grow, and experience so many amazing things!
What’s next for your roastery?
We’ve only been in operation for four months now, so everything is still very new, and focused on finding stability. Future thinking is one of our foundational values, in aiming for B-corp certification, our first transparency report, and upcoming direct producer collaborations in new origins. Lots to look forward to on that front!
Tjörn is also a summer holiday destination, and we’re expecting a lot of visitors to the roastery which will be an incredible experience, and a way of showcasing our coffees to a broader audience. We’re also working on several projects with other local producers to showcase what Tjörn has to offer from a circular sustainability perspective, which will culminate in a festival of some sort!
Time to share the love: What’s a roastery you admire, and why do they inspire you?
This is a difficult one, because there are so many! Sey and Koppi are the two that we feel most aligned with in terms of quality and style, and who we share most feedback with. Swerl is another personal favourite, for their ease of perfection and consistency in quality. They are also the kindest people we’ve met! Not least, Tim Wendelboe are a great inspiration for their longterm producer relationships. We’re super encouraging of community and collaboration, and will always try to share as much as possible to encourage the coffee community to work together and be better, together.