La Cabra was established in Aarhus in 2011 and began sourcing and roasting its own coffee in 2013. The original café, in the Latin Quarter of Aarhus, opened in 2012 and first held the roastery and the bakery in its basement. Both have since moved out, and La Cabra now roasts at a larger roastery in Nordhavn, Copenhagen, and at its North American roastery in Bushwick, New York. La Cabra has home users and subscribers in more than 60 countries.
Each coffee gets a single roast profile, chosen at the cupping table to show its character, never with filter or espresso in mind. La Cabra values clean, bright cups with clear flavour notes, rests its coffees to degas and brews with water of a chosen mineral content. It sources through trusted partners, directly with producers and through a few importers, and visits origin countries several times a year.
The Nordhavn roastery reflects the area’s port past and is split into a coffee bar, the production and the quality control room, with floors, seats and bar made from brick. In Copenhagen there is also a café inside the Another Aspect store in the fashion district. In Aarhus, beside the original café, there are a café in the BIG-designed Kampanilen and a bakery. Abroad, La Cabra runs a café in SoHo, bakeries in the East Village and Chelsea and the Bushwick roastery café, with its Loring roaster, in New York, two locations in Muscat, two in Bangkok and a café and bakery in Chueca, Madrid, in a building from 1855 that once held a goldsmith’s workshop. The bakeries make naturally leavened bread and pastry from local organic ingredients, without artificial colours or flavours. Tables are not reserved.
Coffee on the shelf
Photograph: La Cabra