Great coffee for great minds: Stockholm roast at Health Hack Day

Do you think your regular coffee holds up to the standard of a good coffee? Then you probably haven’t tasted the magical beverages of Stockholm Roast, a micro-roasting house managed by two true enthusiasts. Öner Kulbay and Johan Ahlgren offer high-quality coffee, produced in ways that respect people and environment. During Health Hack Day, they pampered hackers, staff and guests with their top-of-the-line brew. We asked Öner a few questions about their story and what coffee is all about.

Tell us how you came to open up your own roasting house!

– The short version is that I suggested to Johan that we should go to India and visit coffee plantations, to learn more about how the production works from start. While we were there, we talked a lot about the coffee that is served today, and how our restaurant experiences are always destroyed by that last, bitter cup of coffee. There and then, we unconsciously decided to start a big roasting house some time in the future. One year later, we had made the idea come true.

What is really good coffee to you? And what are your advice to those who really want to make good coffee at home?

– To us, a really good coffee is when we finally, after months of hard work, f.find the right coffee, brew it to perfection and find the right grinding for it. That is good coffee!

– To make good coffee at home you basically just need to get a coffee grinder, use freshly roasted coffee and grind it just before brewing.

How does coffee affect your health?

– For some people, coffee can increase blood pressure and lead to headaches and dehydration (but the last one is only if you overdose it). But aside from that, research has shown that coffee contains incredible amounts of anti-oxidants. This, combined with the up to 1,000 unique combinations of substances in coffee, might reduce the risk of several diseases and conditions, including stroke and infection.
– During the last 50 years, scientists have thought the opposite – that coffee and caffeine was dangerous. However, it is important to point out that ecological coffee grown without pesticides is far better. I think you understand the point if I just say DDT!

How did you like serving coffee at Health Hack Day?

– Serving coffee at HHD12 has been very rewarding. We have met a lot of interesting programmers, students and entrepreneurs. We got a lot of good feedback and it has been an honor to be here in Hoa’s beautiful locales. It has been truly inspiring. We have a feeling we will see each other again soon!

/Kajsa