Fika along with hygge and lagom makes a triad of popular Scandinavian terms referring to a recipe for a good life: simplicity, moderation, spending time with loved ones, and coffee, without which one couldn’t achieve full happiness.
While the world gets its caffeine kick in a rush, the Swedes choose to stop. According to the dictionary, fika means a break for coffee and cake, but our Northern neighbors understand it much more broadly. It’s a ritual, a moment to experience community and to bond with others (with oneself, too). Mindfulness is the key component: being here and now. Fika is a cup of coffee with which you leave the desk and focus only on strengthening social bonds. It’s a mood booster, collective work enhancer, and an element that makes Swedish reality less grey than elsewhere - despite frequent darkness outside.
The cup should be large and fit a significant amount of filter coffee - the Scandinavians have been leading the statistics in terms of coffee consumption per citizen for years. Finns (with their incredible result of 12 kilos per year), Norwegians, Danes, and Swedes occupy the first four positions on the list. People in Northern Europe excel not only at drinking coffee but also at caring for its quality, flavor, and innovations in preparation.
Specialty coffee
The term specialty coffee means coffee that surpasses others in terms of quality, flavor, and diligence in preparation.
Coffee has its own ‚sommeliers’ - Q-graders, who have to give at least 80 points on a 0-100 scale to be located in the specialty segment. This term refers to specially selected beans, of tried origin - contrary to less selective commercial coffee production standards. In the commodity sector, beans might be defective, from unripe or overripe fruit, lower quality, or from unknown sources. The roasting lasts longer and the coffee is roasted darker to conceal imperfections and to standardize the flavor. Adding artificial aromatic oils serves the same purpose. Specialty means authenticity and the best that coffee has to offer. The definition of specialty covers not only coffee but also the awareness of the road that the beans have traveled - from the farm to the cup. It also means caring for details on every level.
In order to achieve the highest quality, coffee has been flowing through the world in waves. The first was mass production and large companies which have made coffee widely available. The second wave involved the popularization of cafes and the emergence of first chain coffeehouses, along with increased interest in a variety of coffee drink flavors and ways of serving. The third wave means the emergence of small roasteries and cafes offering freshly roasted coffee of tried yet varied origins. This wave places quality over quantity. It coincided with espresso alternatives entering the scene: Chemex, drip, or aeropress, known as third wave or alternative methods. Currently, much is said about the fourth wave, whose definition raises more controversy. The shared elements mentioned are usually expert analyses and innovation in making coffee and experimental processing methods, as well as spreading knowledge among caffeine enthusiasts.
Scandinavian pioneers
Thanks to enthusiasts from Norway, Denmark, Sweden, and Finland, at the turn of the 21st century specialty coffee gained popularity around the world.
Scandinavian roasters were able to set the direction of the third wave, already strong and in full swing - because, thanks to the great popularity of filter coffee, a ready base of customers preferring brighter, softer flavors have already been there. They could buy more arabica and roast it lightly, without having to nod at the worldwide fandom of strong, bitter robusta and intense espresso. Such names as Tim Wendelboe and Klaus Thomsen (Coffee Collective) are still uttered with respect and admiration. These roasters had introduced into cafes the Cup of Excellence-auctioned coffees, which are officially the world’s best. Thanks to this move, mixes of unknown-origin beans were replaced by single-origin coffees, offering a depth of flavor from one particular place. The Scandinavian pioneers paved the way for direct trade and introduced building direct relationships with farmers. They have also contributed to the first world coffee tournament, the World Barista Championship. Tom Obracaj, a Pole involved in this initiative, had been organizing the Polish edition of the event for many years.
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