Mér finnst þetta bragð of súrt, en henni finnst kaffið of beiskt.

Because finnast uses the person experiencing the opinion or impression in the dative case, not the nominative.

So:

• mér = to me
• henni = to her

This is very common with Icelandic verbs that describe feelings, impressions, or something seeming a certain way.

So mér finnst þetta bragð of súrt literally works more like:

• to me seems this taste too sour

Natural English translates it as I find this taste too sour or I think this taste is too sour.

Finnst is the 3rd person singular present tense of the verb finnast.

You often meet finnast in sentences about opinions or impressions:

• Mér finnst þetta gott. = I think this is good.
• Henni finnst myndin leiðinleg. = She thinks the movie is boring.

Even when the experiencer is I or you, the verb often stays in 3rd person singular if the thing being judged is singular, because the grammatical subject is the thing that seems a certain way.

In your sentence:

• þetta bragð is singular
• kaffið is singular

So finnst is singular in both halves.

They are related, but they do different jobs.

• finna usually means find, feel, or sense
• finnast often means think, find something to be, or seem

Compare:

• Ég finn lykt. = I smell a smell / I sense a smell.
• Mér finnst lyktin vond. = I think the smell is bad.

So in your sentence, finnst is not about physically finding an object. It is about someone’s impression or opinion.

Because they agree with the nouns they describe, and here both nouns are neuter singular.

• bragð is neuter
• kaffi is neuter, and kaffið is the definite form

In Icelandic, adjectives must agree with the noun in gender, number, and case.

So:

• masculine singular might look different
• feminine singular might look different
• neuter singular often ends in -t

That is why you get:

• súr → súrt
• beiskur → beiskt

Here they mean:

• of súrt = too sour
• of beiskt = too bitter

These are two different ways of making something definite or specific.

• þetta bragð = this taste / this flavor
• kaffið = the coffee

So the first uses a demonstrative:

• þetta = this

The second uses the definite article attached to the noun:

• kaffi = coffee
• kaffið = the coffee

Icelandic often puts the definite article on the end of the noun rather than using a separate word like English the.

They are in the nominative, because they are the grammatical subjects of finnst.

That can feel strange to English speakers, because in English we often think of I or she as the subject of the sentence. But in Icelandic with finnast, the structure is different:

• mér = dative experiencer
• þetta bragð = the thing that seems sour
• henni = dative experiencer
• kaffið = the thing that seems bitter

So the sentence is built around what seems sour/bitter to someone.

No. Icelandic of in this sentence means too, not English of.

So:

• of súrt = too sour
• of beiskt = too bitter

This is a very common beginner trap because the word looks familiar to English speakers, but it does not mean the same thing here.

Yes, but the meaning changes.

• mjög súrt = very sour
• of súrt = too sour

So mjög just describes a strong quality, while of suggests more than is good, acceptable, or wanted.

Compare:

• Kaffið er mjög beiskt. = The coffee is very bitter.
• Kaffið er of beiskt. = The coffee is too bitter.

Here bragð means taste or flavor.

That is the natural meaning in this context because it is being described as sour.

Be aware that bragð can have other meanings in other contexts, such as trick or move, so context matters a lot.

In this sentence, because of súrt, the meaning is clearly about taste.

Because Icelandic often follows its own sentence patterns, especially with verbs like finnast.

The structure here is:

• mér = to me
• finnst = seems / is found
• þetta bragð = this taste
• of súrt = too sour

A more literal English-like unpacking would be:

• To me, this taste seems too sour

That is why the Icelandic word order may feel unusual at first. It is completely normal for this verb pattern.

En means but.

It connects the two clauses:

• Mér finnst þetta bragð of súrt
• en henni finnst kaffið of beiskt

So the full structure is:

• I find this taste too sour, but she finds the coffee too bitter.

Its placement is straightforward here: it links two complete thoughts, just like English but.

Yes. You would keep the same structure, but change the dative pronoun.

For example:

• mér finnst = I think / I find
• þér finnst = you think / you find
• honum finnst = he thinks / he finds
• henni finnst = she thinks / she finds
• okkur finnst = we think / we find
• ykkur finnst = you all think / you all find
• þeim finnst = they think / they find

So this pattern is very useful to memorize as a chunk.

Yes, but the meaning would be different.

• Kaffið er of beiskt. = The coffee is too bitter.
• Henni finnst kaffið of beiskt. = She thinks the coffee is too bitter.

With er, you are simply stating it as a fact. With finnst, you are presenting it as someone’s impression or opinion.

That distinction is important. Icelandic uses finnast very often where English uses I think, I find, or it seems to me.