Why go
Brazil in the hopper, roasted since 2008
The currently-roasting list is short and named: Sertao and Da Lagoa, both from Brazil, which is more than most cafés will tell you about what is in the grinder. The house has been roasting since 2008, and its operating idea is stated plainly enough to hold it to: import good beans, roast them carefully, brew them as well as it can. Everything else follows from that. Naming the lots is the tell: a roaster that publishes what is going through the drum this week has to keep it good, and the list changes as the coffees run out.
The business trades as Kaffismiðja Íslands and runs well beyond the café counter, into wholesale, subscriptions and an online shop, so the same roast reaches offices and home brewers across the city.
Three rooms in a walkable city
Kárastígur is the original shop, Brautarholt came second, and Freyjugata makes three. Central Reykjavík is compact enough that its serious coffee stops sit within a few minutes of one another, and these rooms belong to that everyday pattern rather than standing as a destination.
One of the owners has made the point that coffee matters unusually much in Icelandic culture, particularly through the dark months, when the café routine becomes part of the structure of a day. That is the register here: bright, clean and minimal, counter service, and busy the way a neighbourhood fixture is busy rather than the way a landmark is.
How to drink it
Plan the visit around coffee rather than food. Order an espresso first, then a brewed cup of whichever Brazilian lot is current, because the two together show what the roasting is aiming at and where it lands. If one of them works for you, buy the bag on the way out, or set up a subscription so it keeps arriving.
This is a vertically integrated operation rather than a café pouring anonymous beans, and that is the practical reason to choose it: the people who bought the coffee, roasted it and set the recipe are the same people handing it across the counter. That is rarer than it sounds, and it is the whole argument for drinking at a roaster's own bar rather than somewhere that merely stocks good beans.
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Frequently asked questions
What should I order at Reykjavik Roasters?
An espresso first, then a brewed cup of whatever is currently roasting, which has recently meant Brazilian lots named Sertao and Da Lagoa. Tasting the same coffee two ways is the point of drinking at a roaster's own bar, and any lot you like can go home as a bag.
Does Reykjavik Roasters roast its own coffee?
Yes, and it has done since 2008. The company imports the green coffee, roasts it and brews it across its own rooms at Kárastígur, Brautarholt and Freyjugata, and also supplies wholesale customers, subscriptions and an online shop, so the coffee in the cup is the same one sold by the bag.
Compare nearby places
| Venue | Type | Area |
|---|---|---|
| Kaktus Espressobar | Café | Miðborg |
| Te & Kaffi Laugavegi | Café | Miðborg |
| Canopy Central Café | Café | Reykjavík City Centre |
| Kaffi Ó-le | Café | Reykjavík |
| Skool Beans | Café | Vík |
