Drinking coffee in the land of fika and geothermal geysers
When it comes to drinking coffee, Icelanders are
over-achievers. They rank #3 in the
world in terms of per capita consumption, with Finland and Norway taking the
top 2 spots. And although this small Nordic
island country only has 350,000 people, there are cafes everywhere. In fact, Iceland’s home-grown café scene is so
robust that there is no need for Starbucks in Iceland.
Coffee permeates Iceland’s culture, affecting every aspect
of life, from work, to play, to love. Although coffee didn’t come to Iceland
until 1703 (very recently given the long, long history of Europe), by the
mid-1700’s, virtually every household in Iceland had a coffee grinder and
roaster.
Coffee plays an important part in love rituals in Iceland. In
a famous Icelandic novel, published in 1935 by Halldor Laxness, coffee-drinking
took center stage. This novel depicted
the hard-scrabble life of Icelandic peasants, oppressed by debt-bondage and an
inhospitable landscape. There were moments of sweetness, however, including a
wedding scene in which everyone in attendance drank 5 cups of coffee each---what
a celebration!
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On the rugged shore near the Intercontinential Divide in Iceland. |
Traditionally, women were judged by their ability to brew
good coffee for their families---and even now, it is expected that if a visitor
drops by, a cup of coffee will be forthcoming. As a visitor to Iceland earlier this month, I
experienced that wonderful ‘coffee hospitality.’ Icelandair serves amazing
coffee. In our hotel in Keflavik, breakfast (which started at 4 am) was
accompanied by unlimited coffee, and beautiful white ceramic cups---which were
also highly functional and sufficiently large to limit the number of trips back
and forth to the coffee counter.
Perhaps you’ve heard of the term ‘hygge,’ a Danish word that
means ‘cozy, charming, and special.’ Well there is another Scandinavian term
widely used in Iceland---Fika (fee-ka). Fika means ‘stop whatever you are doing
and enjoy your coffee.’ It’s basically
the northern European ‘coffee and cake’ tradition on steroids.
As summer wanes and fall approaches, I am prepping for a
long season of hygge and fika with friends and family, and although I am not
Icelandic, I am a coffee over-achiever and I know how to fika like a pro!
Learn more about the hygge and fika traditions here. https://wowair.us/magazine/hygge-and-fika/
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