July 12. 2025

On a cloudy summer day the Roastery team headed out for a trip to see Verner. The sweet man behind the apple juice we so gladly serve to our customers in the coffee bars. As we drove through the classic Danish farm lands into the kommune of Frederikssund we started approaching a large grove of trees and soon we saw a wooden sign with beautiful typography with the writing, Bellingehus Biodynamisk Fugt with a charming red house behind it. The importance of visiting producers encapsulates all of the offerings at Prolog not just within coffee. The connection between soil, seed, plant, water, sun, harvesting, processing, packaging and consumption is not dissimilar in these industries. So it is a joy for us to walk along Verner’s land and hear his stories of new species, varieties and the long history of farming biodynamically. 

The act of farming biodynamically is beautiful and the most pure way to cultivate and be in complete connection with the environment. Verner uses natural methods and concoctions to help ward off pests and unwanted bugs for the season. As we stroll through his garden and rows of fruit trees he shares the amazing effects of wormwood tea to help keep his bees healthy. Throughout his land there are many bee houses but with a significant decline compared to previous years. Unfortunately there is a disease taking hold in bees and making them very confused with a type of Alzheimer's that makes them unable to get back to their bee hives. We were all so impressed by his extensive knowledge of natural remedies and the history of farming biodynamically. As we made our way we tasted so much delicious fruit, saskatoon berries, black currants, plums, cherries and we even saw tiny kiwi quince, pawpaw plants. The varieties of apples he cultivates are wild, each with different characteristics. He let us know that for apples it is important that they are small but for pears the opposite is true, the larger the pear, the more delectable it is. A nice thing to keep in mind :) 

We ended the day with a saskatoon berry cake and a cup of coffee. We spoke about our own experience with coffee and the similarities when visiting coffee farmers on origin trips. It was a grounding and lovely day giving us a new perspective and knowledge of what it takes to produce biodynamic apple juice. We will be sipping Verner’s apple juice with an even bigger appreciation.