Why Coffee is More Like Wine Than You Think, How a Jura Importer Became My Local Soccer Guide for the Day, and Honoring a Quiet Giant of the Loire Valley

Hey guys!

It’s been a little over a week since I got back from Europe, but I’ve still got a few more takeaways from Copenhagen to share, one involving specialty coffee, the other an unexpected invite to a championship soccer match. I’ll also be ending with a tribute to one of our favorite Loire producers, whose recent passing left a deep mark on the wine world. Hope you enjoy 🙏

Why Coffee Is More Like Wine Than You Think ☕️ 

A behind-the-scenes tasting with Coffee Collective in Copenhagen

While our time in Copenhagen was mostly focused on wine, one of the most educational moments had nothing to do with grapes at all. It came in the form of a coffee “cupping”, a kind of tasting ritual that, as it turns out, is a lot closer to wine than we expected.

Let me rewind a bit. During Karakterre weekend in Vienna, I met Klaus Thomsen, a key figure in the global coffee world. Back in 2007, he co-founded Coffee Collective, a Copenhagen-based roastery and café that was way ahead of its time, long before most people were talking about origin, transparency, or sustainable sourcing. Since then, Coffee Collective has helped redefine how coffee is grown, sourced, roasted, and experienced. Think of Klaus as the coffee world’s version of a natural wine importer: part educator, part advocate, and fully committed to transparency and sustainability.

We got to talking, and when I mentioned we’d be in his hometown of Copenhagen later that week, he generously offered to show us around his roastery.

A few days later, my brother and I found ourselves in the Godthåbsvej neighborhood, just northwest of the Copenhagen city center, walking into Coffee Collective’s main facility. We thought it would be a quick tour. Instead, we were greeted by a round table covered in about twenty small cups of lukewarm coffee, arranged in a circle. It looked more like a science experiment than a tasting.

Klaus explained that this was called “cupping”, a standard method used in the coffee world to evaluate multiple brews side by side. We were given the names of the producers and the origins of each coffee and a small spoon to try them all with. The styles were all surprisingly delicate, more like tea than the heavier roasts we were used to.

Some had bright floral aromatics, others leaned into citrus or dried fruit. And while none of them tasted like wine, going through them one by one made it easy to pick up on the nuances. You could clearly sense how different growing regions, processing methods, and roasting techniques shaped what was in the cup.

A fun fact we learned was that coffee actually contains more aromatic compounds than wine, over 800 to 1,000 compared to wine’s 200 to 300. That means, at least chemically, coffee tasting can be even more complex than wine.

The whole experience reminded us that coffee, like wine, is a deeply agricultural product, shaped by people, place, and process. Huge thanks to Klaus for the valuable experience.

A Championship Send-Off in Copenhagen ⚽️ 

How a Wine Shop Visit Turned Into a Day at the Danish Soccer Championship

This story starts with a visit to Krone Vin, a small but mighty wine shop run by Lasse Kruse, who imports many of the Jura greats into Copenhagen: Labet, Cavarodes, L’Octavin, you name it. We’d been told it was a must for any wine lover passing through the city, and it absolutely lived up to the hype. Lasse welcomed us with open arms and poured some incredible bottles from Switzerland and France, including a few gems from Mythopia and, of course, Labet.

At some point, I casually mentioned that I’d be on my own the next day; my brother and friends were flying out a day earlier, and I had nothing planned. Without hesitation, Lasse asked if I liked soccer, and if I wanted to join him and his son at the Danish Superliga championship match, where his club, F.C. Copenhagen, was playing. I said yes before he could even finish the sentence.

The next morning, I met him back at the shop (which, mind you, is closed on Sundays), and we spent a few hours in the cellar talking about wine, farming, and philosophy. He opened more bottles, just for fun, just to share, and then packed me into the front seat of his carrier bike and pedaled us to the stadium.

The energy at the match was absolutely electric. The F.C. Copenhagen fans were really on another level, chants, flares, flags, and while there wasn’t any wine in sight, the atmosphere was intoxicating enough. The team won 3–0, clinching the championship and sending the crowd into pandemonium.

After the match, we quickly returned to Krone Vin, popped a few celebratory bottles, and biked over to the nearby park where fans were still partying. It was truly one of those surreal days you couldn’t plan if you tried.

I’ve said it before, but the wine world is full of small, generous moments, people who go out of their way to make you feel welcome, to open their cellars, and bring you into their lives. It’s one of the greatest joys of this whole journey: not just the bottles, but the people who share them. Thank you again to Lasse for the special day

Producer Highlight ⭐️ 

One of our favorite parts of wine is the discovery: we’re constantly being put on to new regions, producers, and cuvées from our friends. We’ll never be able to try EVERY wine, but we want to take a moment to mention some producers that excite us!

That’s it for this week! It’s been nice settling back into a routine in New York after a long month of travel. Also, big thanks to everyone who came out to the Blind Tasting at Community Wine and Spirits yesterday, we really appreciate you taking the time out of your evening to join. We’ll definitely be hosting more like it soon!

Besides this, we’ve got a ton of fun pop-up events coming this Summer too, so stay tuned for info!

Thanks so much for reading along, and as always, drink responsibly 🥂