Josh and Stephanie Lindstrom recently opened up their Fika Coffee shop in Lutsen in the Clearview building. Josh buys and roasts coffee beans from several locations around the world and sells his product wholesale and in retail shops. This is the first time the couple has run their own Fika Coffee house. Stop by and learn what “Fika” means.
Lynch, an American film producer, scriptwriter, songwriter and general Renaissance man, was on to something when he made the observation above, but he wouldn’t have to worry if he entered the new Fika Coffee shop in Lutsen because there are no bad cups of coffee served there.
At first it’s the smell of freshly ground coffee beans that welcome customers as they enter the new shop located in the Clearview building, but then the shop’s owners, Josh and Stephanie Lindstrom, greet customers warmly and after the customer picks out a brew, Fika begins.
What does Fika mean? Well, in Swedish Fika means to “have coffee” and that often means to have coffee that is accompanied by Swedish pastries or small sandwiches. In Sweden the Swedes like to take a Fika break twice, sometimes even three times a day.
The Lindstroms’ coffee shop is remodeled space that is brand spanking new.
On Friday, June 24, as customers strolled through the door, Josh took a moment to talk and Stephanie took over serving coffee with scones or muffins made by Elfvin Bakery.
Soon ice cream from Love Creamery in Two Harbors will also be on the menu, said Josh.
“We’re doing a ‘soft’ opening right now,” Josh said. “We will do a grand opening sometime later in the summer.”
Josh said the business opened June 20, the first day of summer.
Inside the new 900-square-foot shop are a few tables and shelving that now hold books, mugs, canteens, and will soon hold T-shirts. More furniture and products are coming, said Josh.
Johanna Kindvall, the author of Fika: The Art of the Swedish Coffee Break, with Recipes for Pastries, Breads, and other treats, a book sold at Fika, designed the wallpaper that decorates the walls, said Josh.
Bags of Fika coffee in a wide variety of blends sit on the cement espresso bar countertop crafted by local carpenter Woody Seim. Two artistic metal birds are embedded in the cement on either side of the counter top. These were crafted and fabricated by Joe Hall of Lutsen, said Josh, and give the countertop a warm feel.
Behind the espresso bar are several brew pots, an espresso machine, and off to the left there is about 300 square feet of dedicated space where the roaster sits near a stainless steel table used for weighing, measuring and bagging coffee. Nearby an assortment of burlap sacks filled with green coffee beans rest patiently waiting to be processed and portioned into small bags for commercial sale.
Josh, who roasts, blends and brews the coffee on site, offers coffee made from beans grown in Guatemala, Peru, Nicaragua, Brazil, Ethiopia and Burundi.
Last year, said Josh, he processed and sold about 10,000 pounds of coffee. He took a one-week trip to Guatemala and visited two coffee plantations with a buyer, and he said he would like to do more of that in the future.
The coffee shop is the third leg in the Lindstroms’ business plan. To date the couple have been selling their coffee in stores locally and through their website, as well as to several outlets in the Twin Cities and two places in Michigan.
Plans to open a retail store have been in the works for years, but finding the right location took some time.
“We are also in the process of redesigning our labels for our bags of coffee right now,” Josh said.
Stephanie said she plans on working at the coffee shop about a day and half a week during the summer. During the school year Stephanie is a full-time elementary school teacher and the couple’s three children, Claire, age 9, Sophia, 7, and Leif, 5, also need a lot of attention.
When asked if the kids help, Josh smiled and said yes, when the kids are at the store they were “eager beaver energetic enthusiastic helpers.”
Josh has been roasting and selling coffee beans for more than three years, and over that time his business has steadily grown. Last year he was operating from three different locations to get the job done, roasting beans in one place and bagging them for sale at the community center while taking care of orders and business at home. The coffee shop gives the family a place to centralize their business, he said.
Fika Coffee will be open from 7 a.m. until 2 p.m., Monday through Thursday and from 7 a.m. until 5 p.m., Friday and Saturday. For now the store will be closed Sundays, but that may change, said Josh.
Josh will keep the store open in the winter, and he hopes to expand his online sales through his fikacoffee.com website. If you are in Lutsen, stop by for coffee and take some time to learn the art of Fika.
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