Ottomans, Taxes and Twins

A short history of coffee and the origins of Fika in Sweden

1657

Swedish King Karl X Gustaf sends a statesman—Claes Rålamb—to Constantinople to negotiate with the Ottoman Sultan.

The trip doesn't go super well, but Claes becomes maybe the first Swede to drinking coffee. He writes:

1685

The first shipment of coffee first arrives in Sweden, likely into Gothenburg.

It probably was coming from Mocha, a port in Yemen that dominated coffee trade, reselling beans from Ethiopia.

Late 1600's

Coffee is available for purchase in pharmacies, but it's expensive.

Coffee is initially used for medicinal purposes, and stockpiled by pharmacists to treat disease.

It begins to become popular among wealthy members of society. Mainly men are dranking coffee.

1700 - 1721

The great Northern War. Sweden has an empire and is briefly kinda badass.

Sweden isn't known for empire, but in the early 18th century it had territory in Northern, Central and Eastern Europe.

After Sweden gets a new young ruler in 1697—King Carl (Charles) XII—the Tsardom of Russia (allied with Denmark-Norway) senses opportunity to contest Swedish empire. Eventually they win.

🇸🇪 Swedish Alliance

🚫 Anti-Swedish Alliance

1709 - 1714

After being defeated at the Battle of Poltava by Russian forces, The Swedish empire is officially over. Swedish King Carl XII flees in exile to the Ottoman empire, where he lives for 5 years.

He first goes to Ozu Castle (present day Ukraine) and then later invited by the governor of Bender (present day Moldova) to take refuge there.

He basically bums it there for 5 years—so long that they actually build an entire Swedish village outside of Bender called Karlstad ("The Second Stockholm").

1713

The Skirmish of Bender. Merchants and locals in Bender get tired of Carl XII's BS—running up huge debts, trying to convince them to attack Russia.

Townsfolk and Janissaries attack him. He kills at least one ottoman soldier sword-fighting. He is captured, and put on house arrest.

1714

Carl XII returns to Sweden, with a group of Ottoman soldiers and escorts (who he promises to pay back).

He also brings with him a Turkish coffee maker and the new custom of drinking coffee. This helps coffee's popularity grow among the Swedish people.

Interestingly, he also brought back a Turkish recipe for meatballs which eventually became Swedish meatballs.

1710

The first coffeehouse opens in Stockholm.

In 1728 there were some 15 cafés listed in Stockholm.

Sundbergs Konditori, Stockholm's oldest running coffeehouse (1785)

1746

The Collegium Medicum warns against excessive use of tea and coffee.

The next year the government imposes a heavy tax on coffee products.

Failure of coffee and tea drinkers to confess themselves and pay the tax resulted in a heavy fine and ‘confiscation of cups and dishes,’ seizure of the paraphernalia supporting the use of these psychoactive intoxicants.

King Gustav III also ascends to power, and he really doesn't like coffee

He may have been paranoid that coffee gatherings brewed anti-monarch sentiment.

In addition to convincing the Swedish botanist and avid coffee drinker Carl Linneas to write a dissertation on the negative effects of coffee, Gustav commissioned what is now jokingly called “Sweden’s first clinical study.

1756

A ban on drinking coffee is introduced in Sweden, after elites outlaw home distilling of grain liquor.

There was a grain shortage in the country at the time and the nobility, clergy and burghers had pushed through a ban on the production of spirits.

This outraged farmers and farming representatives in Parliament, who in turn pushed for a ban on coffee, believing it to be a beverage for the elite.

The ban lasted for 10 years. Punishments included fines, having one’s cups and saucers taken away, and later, imprisonment.

Special "coffee police" chased offenders who were heavily fined or even flogged.

1799-1802

Coffee is banned again

The monarchy and ruling government still thinks coffee is a little sus.

1817-1823

Coffee gets banned, one last time

During the last prohibition, a guild, also known as a coffee guild, arose, with people who refused to put down their cups and secretly went into the woods to drink coffee.

1809

Sweden makes it legal to brew small amounts of liquor (brännvin) for personal consumption.

1855

The Swedish government backpedals. and decides people are brewing too much alcohol, and outlaws brännvin.

This makes more room for coffee to have a central role in Swedish life.

The term "fika" allegedly originates,

It may simply have a bastardization of the Swedish or dutch slang for coffee (kaffi and koffie respectively), but popular legend is that it originated as a code word used during the coffee prohibitions.

while there was no longer a need to drink coffee in secret, this code word proved popular and long-lasting.

Coffee starts to become less of a bro club, and fika becomes more a formal social ritual—organized by women.

Baking also becomes more popular with the arrival of the iron stove

One might say that the fika phenomenon emerged around the middle of the 19th century, when the tradition of coffee breaks came into being, coffee breaks being a female activity where women socialised by offering coffee and cake.

"Kafferep" starts to develop as an elaborate social ritual centered around coffee and cake

The recommended order to eat cakes:

Early 20th Century

Coffeehouses start to combine with bakeries and patisseries

Fika's and coffee are now firmly a part of Swedish culture. It's not uncommon to put on your Sunday clothes and go fika.

Fika, Explained

Drinking coffee and eating sweets is relatively easy. Intentionally slowing down is harder.

Overview

Pressbyrån

The Swedish equivalent of 7 Eleven sells fika deals (coffee and a pastry)

Sveriges Järnväg

The Swedish national train system has cars where they sells coffee & sweets

7 Eleven

Even American chains like 7/11 in Sweden cater to Sweden's appetite for fika

IKEA

Everyone's favorite furniture store loves to fika too

The idea of "Lagom"

Lagom is a word that roughly translates to "not too much, not too little."

It's an idea that permeates many aspects of Swedish society. Lagom means living sustainably, taking breaks, avoiding greed, and achieving balance.

The archetypical Swedish proverb "Lagom är bäst", literally "The right amount is best", is also translated as "Enough is as good as a feast",or as "There is virtue in moderation".

Equality & Non-Hierarchy

Swedes are generally known for modesty and egalitarianism, both socially and economically.

They don't use titles like "mr" and "mrs", and being ostentatious or boasting is culturally generally frowned upon. This modesty comes with benefits and drawbacks.

They also have famously high taxes, and less wealth inequality than most countries.

Taking Breaks

Swedish law ensure that all Swedes get a lot of vacation and paid leave.

Under Swedish law, after working at a company for 12 months all Swedish citizens are entitled to a minimum 25 days of paid vacation, regardless of age or type of employment.

Traditionally, Swedes would take four or five weeks off in the summer, head to their country houses (usually in July), and the country would more or less shut down.

Swedes also get 240 days of paid parental leave, per parent. Despite the time off, Swedes have a per capita income similar to the US.