Facts about Dan Stenqvist:

• Born: 1992, Gävle
• Living today: Malmö
• Role: Blogger, roaster, co-founder and co-owner of Solde Kafferosteri
• Brand: Solde

Dan Stenqvist's interest in specialty coffee began in the late 1990s. At that time, he was a professional tennis player competing around Europe. During these trips, he encountered a new type of coffee bar that was beginning to emerge and described the experience as “cool and inspiring.” In 2003, he discovered Café Nesta in Malmö, which was co-founded by Toni Petersson, who later became the CEO of Oatly. Dan soon started working part-time at Café Nesta and learned the craft of brewing coffee. Aldo Gelateria Cafeteria in Malmö Saluhall, Malmö's first coffee bar founded by Aldo Castiglione, also became a major source of inspiration.

In the early 2000s, the internet took off, and blogs became a new format for sharing inspiration and experiences. Dan co-founded Sweden’s first digital coffee forum, Kaffeforum.net, and started his own blog, “Bloggen för livsnjutare,” which covered both the Swedish and international specialty coffee scenes. The Third-wave coffee movement, which emphasized coffee’s quality, traceability, and sustainability, made a strong impression on him and fueled his growing interest in brewing the “perfect cup of coffee.” The goal was for the coffee to taste of its “origin,” which at the time required roasting beans of high quality and lighter than the traditional Swedish and Italian roasteries. Dan started traveling around Sweden to visit and cover everything happening on the specialty coffee scene, which he documented on his blog. When Johan & Nyström was founded in 2004, Dan considered them pioneers for Swedish specialty coffee bars. They began communicating about coffee in a new way by focusing on origin, traceability, and roasting. Previously, most coffee bars had served Italian beans without providing any detailed information about them. It marked a turning point. 

At this time, several specialty coffee bars were established in Malmö. Solde Kaffebar, started by Johan Carlström and Johan Westesson, was one of them. They opened their doors in 2006. Dan was involved from the start, working as a barista while studying in Lund. In 2009, they co-founded Solde Kafferosteri with Dan. He recalls it as a time when the industry was “bubbling” worldwide, with a strong movement emerging among a group that shared an interest in small-scale production, craftsmanship, and quality over quantity. Hipster culture in Sweden was developing, and alongside the growing interest in specialty coffee, many microbreweries were launched. Dan loved the whole lifestyle, with its bikes (he is an avid all-around cyclist), clothing, music, simplicity, and down-to-earth approach. With Solde Kafferosteri, a new journey began. Dan and his colleagues started learning how to source coffee, understand different qualities, roast, and even build a brand. It was time, as Dan put it, to become “coffee professionals.” 

Dan continued to work at both Solde Kaffebar and Solde Kafferosteri, but in 2023 he had the opportunity to also get involved with Nordic Style Coffee in Malmö, which was just starting to build a digital concept around specialty coffee, including an app to document coffee experiences.

How would you describe the development since the early 2000s? 

“Traceability is entirely different today, thanks to digital advancements. It’s much easier to get information and contact farms directly. Even the farmers have improved their quality, thanks to modern technology. You can access much better and even more unique beans today. The impact of YouTube and social media has also benefited the specialty coffee industry, where new knowledge spreads faster than 20 years ago. In the beginning, we roasted alone and drew our own conclusions, which took time and didn’t always taste good. Today, all the information on how to roast coffee is available online, and anyone can train to become a coffee roaster via the internet. 

What does Nordic Style Roasting mean to you? 

“Nordic Style Roasting isn’t really its own style. When the paradigm shift occurred, and we began talking about origin and quality, lighter roasting became a given for everyone, regardless of the country they operated in. Dark roasting was something the big roasteries did, using beans of lower quality. However, the Nordics landed on the world’s coffee map when the World Barista Championship (WBC) began in 2000, and the winners for the first few years were exclusively from the Nordic countries. The competition led many to associate light roasting with the Nordics.”

What do you see for the coming years in specialty coffee? 

“Twenty years ago, we wondered when the wider public would appreciate the joy of drinking a light-roasted Ethiopian coffee with a distinct character of bergamot. It’s still slow progress, but more people seem to see the potential in building businesses around specialty coffee, and that’s a sign that the market is maturing.”