Kamil’s Coffee Concert

An Icelandic invitation for coffee is simply impossible to refuse.

So there we are, sitting in a neat row on a wooden bench that rocks slightly every time someone moves. In front of us, Kamil begins to unpack boxes, grinders, scales and various mysterious pieces of equipment.

For a moment, it looks like a shell game.

Which box is hiding the little ball?

Except there is no ball.

This game is about espresso.

And espresso, as we are about to discover, is serious business.

There are rules.

The right amount of coffee. The right beans. The right roast. The right grind. The right water temperature. The right pressure. The right extraction time.

Nothing is left to chance.

We sit quietly and watch as Kamil weighs, grinds, checks, adjusts and explains.

This is no longer making coffee.

This is a performance.

A small Icelandic coffee concert.

The rest of us are the audience.

Every now and then somebody dares to ask a question, but mostly we simply watch the ritual unfold. Tiny scales appear. Coffee is weighed to the last gram. The grinder starts. Freshly ground coffee fills the air with a smell that, after days of camping, feels almost indecently luxurious.

Then the little hand-operated espresso makers come out.

One pink. One blue.

At this point, even Vašek is watching with the concentration of a man witnessing a scientific experiment.

Kamil presses.

Waits.

Checks.

Presses again.

And finally a thin stream of dark espresso begins to fall into the cup.

Nobody speaks.

We have reached the climax.

The first coffee is handed over.

Then another.

And suddenly the rocking bench, the cold Icelandic air and all those mysterious boxes make perfect sense.

We drink slowly.

Not because there is very much of it.

There isn't.

But after the ceremony we have just witnessed, gulping it down would feel almost disrespectful.

Outside, Iceland continues doing what Iceland does.

Wind. Mountains. Cold air. Endless space.

And on one slightly unstable wooden bench, we sit with tiny cups in our hands and enjoy what may well be the most carefully prepared coffee of the entire journey.

Some people bring instant coffee to Iceland.

Kamil brought a laboratory.

And we were very grateful he did.