Sipping Skadi

Winter’s cold is the perfect excuse for drinking copious amounts of coffee.  A daily coffee out is a small luxury that promotes adventure and doesn’t hurt one’s health or checking account.  In the past several years, the coffee craze has hit the Twin Cities, once a coffee dead zone where Starbucks, Caribou and Dunn Bros. reigned supreme.  Many new shops have opened, and it’s difficult choosing the cream of the crop when each has certain drinks and pastries they make well.

Although I have a ritual of an afternoon cappuccino, I like to switch things up on occasion.  That’s where Skadi comes in, a special winter coffee drink at the Bachelor Farmer Café.  I discovered it on Tuesday, when I swung by for my usual order of their Brussels Sprouts and Camembert sandwich (open faced, of course).  The cardamom simple syrup enticed me, so I had to try it.

Skadi is not a traditional Nordic coffee drink, rather it’s the name of a Norse goddess associated with winter and outdoor pursuits.  The drink and accompanying molasses cookies embody the goddess' spirit, warming up hungry and thirsty visitors from the icy cold outdoors.  The marriage between espresso and cardamom is a match made in heaven, and a little cinnamon is sprinkled on top to bring out the cardamom’s earthy warmth.  The liberal use of cream helps the espresso-based drink go down smooth, as do the aforementioned molasses cookies.  They're a tiny triumph whose diminutive size makes them a guiltless treat.  Order one with your next breakfast or sandwich at the Café, and you’ll feel Hygge (the trendy Scandinavian concept of keeping cozy during winter) through and through.

Location: The Bachelor Farmer Café