The Story
La Cabra Coffee is a modern coffee company established in Aarhus, Denmark in 2012. Curious about what lay further down the coffee chain, we threw ourselves into sourcing and roasting our own coffee, our own way, in 2013.
The first location was a tiny shop in a neighbourhood away from the city centre, with a small, dedicated team and a dream to bring something new and exciting to the city. But in just one year, the coffee shop wasn’t enough and the guys behind La Cabra decided they wanted more: their dedication to providing exceptional coffee experiences was turning into a real obsession, they were curious to know more, to do more.
Part of the advantage of growing in a small town is the lack of external influence, allowing us to forge an honest and novel approach to coffee. This honesty and dedication led to a reputation at home in Aarhus, where a passionate team still runs our coffee bars and bakery. The company’s growth has been remarkable— today La Cabra is a widely recognised coffee roaster; we are proud to be working with many valued and quality driven wholesale partners to create exceptional coffee experiences in cities across the globe, and with dedicated home users and subscribers in more than 60 countries.
Over the past few years we have further expanded our coffee horizons, moving to our larger roastery in Copenhagen, and opening our first international locations in New York, Bangkok and Oman. Recently, they moved their roastery to Copenhagen and expanded internationally with locations in New York, Bangkok, and Oman.
It has gained international recognition, ranking 5th in the 2024 @roastfulcoffee Top 100 roasters in the world, as judged by a panel of 32 esteemed industry professionals.
Sourcing & Relationships
The character of a coffee cherry comes to life as a result of highly specific conditions, which require great skill on the part of the producer to create. We only work with trusted partners to source our coffees, both directly with producers and with a select few devoted importing companies, but always with utmost quality in mind.
Through direct partnerships and frequent visits to origin countries, La Cabra guarantees freshness and quality, inviting enthusiasts to delve into the intricate nuances of coffee’s origins.
We visit origin countries several times a year, building relationships with skilled individuals, those who pour their work into the field, those who give their care to each plant and ripening cherry. Their expertise and passion is inspiring, and only pushes us further to present their work as best as we can.
Going with the seasons is just as important as finding the most interesting producers in La Cabra’s core origin countries and working closely with those producers to share knowledge. It’s crucial to the team to ensure that they don’t fuel the stereotype of a roaster going to origin countries to tell producers what to do.
We also hope to offer the freshest coffee experiences, by reflecting the seasonality of coffee harvesting as closely as possible in our offering.
The roastery also emphasises freshness, so the current range of coffees is made up of coffees that are in season at the time of harvest. This commitment to transparency extends to their sourcing philosophy, where we embrace innovation and traceability in each step from cherry to cup and maintain close relationships with producers across their core origin countries.
Roasting Philosophy
We make all of our roasting decisions at the cupping table, deciding on a single profile that we feel best showcases the character of a specific coffee, the unique fingerprint that led us to it. Traditionally speaking, many have perceived this as a compromise, a ‘halfway house’ between filter and espresso, but this has never been our view.
According to La Cabra roasters, each coffee has a single ideal profile that allows them to bring out the most interesting flavour aspects. They have held fast to this philosophy for several years. Some coffees, they say, could be developed more to make them more accessible, but that would clash with their philosophy and the transparency of their coffee.
With a few exceptions, they roast most of their coffees in what they call an omni roast, meaning that the coffee is suitable for both espresso and alternative methods. By roasting lighter, they can bring out the flavour notes better. According to La Cabra’s philosophy, darker roasting tends to obscure the origin-specific flavour notes they value so much.
As Mikkel said: “We try to bring out the very best flavours of each coffee instead of trying to make the coffee suit your brew method.
At our end of the chain, we roast with the aim to showcase and unveil innate quality and complexity, showcasing our carefully chosen raw material in the most delicious way possible. This is a straighforward approach to coffee, paying attention to green coffee quality above all; creating the most transparent expression of a specific coffee, never with ‘filter’ or ‘espresso’ in mind.
We value clean and bright cups, with clear flavour notes that reflect their place of origin. Through these bright coffees, we aim to take you with us on our journey through the seasons of coffee, shedding light on the intentional decisions that shape each cup.
What to Try
Rituals is our opportunity to share new experiences with you every month. Join our journey through the changing seasons of coffee, featuring seasonal exclusives and high-quality micro-lots from around the world. Their current Rituals subscription features Juan Peña produces some of the most exciting coffees we have tasted from Ecuador, a wide variety of expressions, mainly focussed on the Typica varietal. The first is the signature washed Typica, here more fruit forward than the coffees from Hacienda La Papaya, with the florals softened somewhat. The second coffee is the natural lot of the same varietal from the Yacuri farm; soft, floral and creamy.
Profiles is a place to come home to. The two taste profiles Terra and Luna are created with intention; to enable complex and characterful espresso-based drinks, and comfortable filter coffees. For those seeking exceptional lots, their Highlights collection features fleeting opportunities; limited production and a relentless pursuit of quality mean these lots move quickly, and may not return and includes offerings like A limited lot of Anaerobic Bourbon from the Shyira station, with wild florals, tropical fruit and cacao nibs. A softly floral honey processed Pacamara lot from four time Cup of Excellence winner Raul Rivera in El Salvador.
Their Ensemble collection showcases partnerships with three of our close partners; Wilford Lamastus at Elida, Juan Peña at Hacienda La Papaya and Pedro Sagastume at his farm Los Quetzales. The approach emphasizes seasonality and producer relationships, with We aim to reflect the changing seasons explicitly in the selection we present. Here, we find the archetypal flavour profiles of the regions we work in. For convenience, their steeped coffee line offers individually dosed, ground, and sealed in nitrogen-flushed ready-to-brew bags, maintaining the clear aromatic character of freshly ground coffee for over a year after roasting.