Malin Helgman: Coffee Insurrection Hero Chapter #37

Published by Tanya in Coffee Insurrection Hero · 16 December 2021
Tags: Malin_Helgman, Interview, Löfbergs, Sweden

1-Introduce yourself: who are you, where are you from, where do you work and what’s your job.

I am Malin Helgman, coffee lover who dream about becoming a coffee geek. In the last two months, I have 100 % focus on Löfbergs engagement on the Era of We platform. We are the first roaster onboard, and I am managing our part of the platform together with my fantastic team.

My roots are from Värmland, and I have been living in several cities in Sweden. Which I love, because I have friends to take a cup of coffee together with, in almost every city I visit.

2-When and why did coffee become important to you?

Coffee started to become important to me when I was a little kid, visiting my grandparents. Everyday, at 11 am and 3 pm, they had a cup of coffee. Since I thought this was very cozy, I started to join their tradition when I was 4 years old during my visits. I received a cup of coffee with a lot of milk and sugar, while they were having a traditionally black cup of coffee.

3- Do you remember the first coffee you had that was more than “just a cup of coffee”?

Some years ago, I had a cup of Geisha coffee: this was the day I started to understand more about coffee and how different processes and varieties affects the taste of the cup you are drinking. But during the last year, I think I have started to experience this even further. To drink a cup of coffee from an estate where you know the farmer, is a totally new experience for me. And thanks to Era of We, everyone has the possibility to experience the same as I do every day now more.

4- What’s your favorite thing about going to work in the morning?

For me it is important to work with something meaningful, and to make the coffee industry more sustainable, what would be more meaningful than that? Coffee is so important for so many people and businesses, and to be able to help people increase their coffee experience meanwhile we improve the whole coffee industry, is what I love with my job.

5- What’s your favorite brewing method and why?

I love the hand brewing methods and the taste of a cup of coffee brewed in a V60 is fantastic. It is so clean.

6- Which is the best coffee you ever tasted?

I think it is Sudam Rume from Ama Estate in Brazil, the taste is so unique from the previous cup of coffee I have tasted.

7- Is there a country of origin that you tend to favor coffee from? Why?

The notes of blackcurrant in a coffee from Kenya is really something I appreciate because when I taste it, I always start to think about my grandmother and the blackcurrant juice she made for me when I was a child. But in general, I am not a fan of a specific origin, I rather like the possibility to taste different coffees every day.

8- Suggest us a roastery to check (not the one you working at/you use at work).

Blue Bottle in California is an interesting roastery.

9- What’s the most important things you’ve learnt while working in the business?

There are a lot of exciting things to learn about coffee, and you will never be able to know everything, but in the coffee industry there is a lot of people with enormous knowledge who welcome you to learn even more.

10- How your work and the specialty coffee world are coping with Covid and the new challenges for hospitality?

The only positive thing with covid is that we have been challenged to do things in totally new ways, and we have been forced to be more digital. We have started to do business in new ways but also learned to create relationships in new ways. Thanks to this, it is normal for me to build relationships and do business with new people online.

11- How do you see the specialty coffee scene in 10 years?

I think more and more people will start to understand that coffee have 2-3 times more tastes than wine, and if we could take the specialty coffee through the same journey in the coming years as wine, I think it would be fantastic.

12- Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

In my dreams, I see myself as a true coffee geek.

13- Any last word? Any tip or suggestion you wanna share with someone that want to start this path?

If you want to learn more about coffee, sign up on www.eraofwe.com . You will get access to a lot of information about coffee, you will be able to create relationships with the farmers who have grown your coffee and you could ask questions to coffee experts.