Hello fellow coffee enthusiasts! I am so glad that you came to our weekly coffee date! This week, we will get started with our bean sized explorations of coffee, culture, and coffee culture!
Here in the states, we are on varying levels of social distancing or lock down, depending on our location. Many of us are really missing our expensive, artisan coffees every morning! I tend to drink coffee made at home or work throughout the day as well. This is a common practice in America, but did you know that there are places in the world where drinking coffee is considered more of a social event than something that you would enjoy throughout the day on your own?
Fact: Finland consumes more coffee per capita than any other country in the world.
Not only is it amazing to me that our friend in Finland consume more coffee than us in America, I was shocked to find that they generally are not drinking it on their own throughout the day! In Finland, coffee is a social lubricant and comes with some very specific, but easy to follow rules.
In Finland, it is considered rude to not offer you guests a cup of coffee, and often a cake of some sort to go with it. Even if a guest shows up unexpectedly, the host will generally put a pot of coffee on for them. It is considered rude for someone to leave the group before every member of the group has finished their coffee.
Because coffee is such a big part of Finland's social scene, it is common to find small, mom and pop type coffee shops on the corners, though they do have some of the larger coffee chains that we are more familiar with as well. So never fear on your travels, you will have plenty of access to your customary cup of Joe as well as a wide range of artisan coffees found in any one of the smaller shops.
Have you finished your cup of coffee? Me too! Thanks again for stopping by and I look forward to our coffee date next week! Join us again for your bean sized dose of coffee, culture, and coffee culture!
