Finland: the happiest country in the world is the one that drinks the most coffee – 02/08/2023 – Café na Prensa

“Reindeer meat and a cold shower every morning. Nobody said that being happy is easy, but, according to the Finns, facing these two tasks is already half the battle”, writes Ivan Finotti, in this Folha, in an article about the course of happiness promoted by the government of the Nordic country that is considered the happiest in the world, according to the UN World Happiness Report.

There is, however, another ingredient that certainly thickens the broth of Finnish happiness: coffee – a stimulating drink that helps improve mood and disposition, according to research.

The country is the biggest consumer per capita of coffee in the world. Each Finn consumes 10.4 kg of coffee per year, according to the most recent data from the International Coffee Organization (ICO). To give you an idea, Brazil has an annual consumption per capita of 4.8 kg.

“A Finn starts his day with a cup of brewed coffee, and for most people, the first thing they get home from work is to make a cup of coffee in the afternoon. And of course, you also start your workday with a cup of coffee. of coffee,” explains barista Jori Korhonen, from the Paulig Barista Institute, in Helsinki.

In a text published on the institute’s website, Korhonen says that it is even provided for in some collective bargaining agreements in Finland that there must be two 15-minute coffee breaks over the course of a working day.

The barista says that if you are invited to a Finnish person’s house, he will probably offer you a coffee and it’s rude to refuse.

In addition, the drink is part of the main Finnish celebrations. “It is very strange that coffee is not served at a wedding, christening, funeral or birthday party,” writes Korhonen.

The other Nordic countries, which occupy the top positions in the UN happiness ranking, are also among the 10 that consume the most coffee in the world.

However, it is not just about quantity but quality. The Nordic countries are mainly responsible for the so-called third wave of coffee, a movement that emerged in the late 1990s and marked a search for more complex drinks and lighter roasts.

Today, the region has some of the most highly regarded coffee shops and baristas on the planet.

Even the big chains serve great coffee. The Espresso House, which is a kind of Nordic Starbucks, has very fruity and high-quality beans for such a large chain – it is almost ubiquitous in the largest cities in the region, with more than 500 stores, 73 of them in Finland alone.

Coffee is so integrated into Finnish routine that they have several words for different types and moments of coffee: “aamukahvi” (breakfast), “päiväkahvi” (breakfast), “iltakahvi” (afternoon coffee), “läksiäiskahvit” (farewell coffee), “mitalikahvit” (medal coffee, when a Finn wins a medal in some sport), “matkakahvi” (travel coffee) etc.

O coffee in the press tried to interview Korhonen, that Paulig Institute barista, for this piece. But it’s summer in the northern hemisphere and the interview request was answered with an automated vacation message. You must be having your “lomakahvit” (holiday coffee) or “kesäkahvila” (summer coffee).

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