More kahvi, sir? How Finns became the world’s greatest coffee drinkers
Think of great coffee drinking nations and you probably think of Italians sipping their cappuccinos or the Spanish enjoying cortados. One nation unlikely to even make your top ten is Finland. You will be surprised to hear then that Finns are the world’s number one coffee drinkers. Incredibly, your average Finn drinks 12 kilos of the black stuff per year, far ahead of Italy (5.7 kilos per year) and Spain (4.5 kilos per year). This is how the obsession began.
A 17th century super drug drink
We can thank Turks, imprisoned by the Knights of St John on Malta, for introducing coffee to Europe. It reached Finland a hundred years later in the 17th century via Russia and Sweden. At first the drink was considered so fine it was only enjoyed by the upper classes and drank during special occasions. The heady brew was believed to have medicinal properties. According to the Finns it had the ability to cure ailments ranging from headaches to heart conditions. Consequently it was only stocked by pharmacists. This was likely the main reason why Finns first fell in love with coffee. In their eyes it was not only a delicious drink, it was a super powerful wonder drug.
Mesmerising the masses
By the 18th century coffee had become an everyday drink for the masses. The prestigious beverage once reserved for holidays was being consumed daily. As coffee spread through rural Finland people began consuming it thrice per day. This was revolutionary. Now java was being consumed in such large quantities that it formed an integral part of the main meals of the day. Traditionally the Finnish would take coffee with pastries and dip the pastry in the coffee. Others would pour the hot beverage in a saucer and drink it from there as it would cool faster.
Cheers to java
In the early 20th century the popularity of coffee gained another boost. In 1919 Finland enacted alcohol prohibition as one of the first acts after independence from the Russian Empire. Four previous attempts to institute prohibition in the early 20th century had failed due to opposition from the tsar. Now alcohol was banned and coffee became the best substitute. Coffee culture became a mainstay of Finnish society.
spent 11 euros for 250g coffee beans which roasted in Finland last week but it tastes like reindeer pee, almost the same as paulig juhla mokka.
So I can drink six coffees in Finland and it would be socially normal?
If you work 10 – 12 hours in a day its normal to drink 8 – 10 cups :D
Man! You must feel like you’re on crack. I do a day max!
I admit, I sometimes feel like a bad Finn for… uh… not… really liking coffee all that much. I prefer tea. I drink it a lot. I do LOVE to have a latte or cappucino even, but just… plain ol’ coffee… not so much. If I must have it, I’ll have it with milk and sugar. I feel like a terrible person. A terrible Finn. I’m sorry.
Note that majority of coffee consumption in Finland comes from light roasts.
Very astute. Of course one drinks a lot when there’s no flavor or satisfaction.
Well mostly its thin as water and no tast anyway, and my finnish parents brings swedish coffe to our countryplace every summer. And they dont brew strong coffe normaly at home.?
I started drinking coffee when I was 26 years old…why did I wait so long? So I’m making up for all the missed years.
We need so much coffee to stay warm and awake in the winter. That is all.
I’ve read that when coffee imports were severely restricted after WW2, the Finnish government itself sold coffee on the black market to raise money.