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the
bean
scene  nov 2000 |
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Having lived in Vancouver in the 90's and taken the many compulsory pilgrimages to Seattle that proximity to that bean mecca requires, I felt smugly complacent on a recent trip to Helsinki. The Finns claim it is the coffee drinking capital of Europe, if not the world, and I decided to allow them their fifteen minutes of fame safe in the knowledge that I, of course, knew better. Surely this Baltic backwater could not challenge the true giants like France, Italy, Brazil or the Pacific Northwest! I was in for a shock. There are coffee houses everywhere. Every corner store has a table and a couple of chairs so it can sell coffee, gas stations attract customers based on the quality of their blend rather than the price of their gas, and coffee is included with almost every restaurant meal or snack. The Finns even distinguish between an out and out cafe and one found inside a gas station or store by giving them different names (Kahvila versus Kahvio). An early morning walk through the main market place uncovered tented cafes next to the fish and vegetable stalls, full of suited businessmen squatting on low benches next to gas heaters while the proprietors competed for the passing trade by displaying the internal temperature of their tent-cafes on blackboards. (I never found out if these counted as a Kahvila or a Kahvio.) Apparently Finns consume fourteen kilograms of coffee per capita annually, which is the equivalent to nine cups a day each! If you assume that there are a few who don't actually like coffee (no accounting for taste) and those still in diapers who haven't been introduced to the nectar yet, this probably means that the coffee drinkers in Finland actually drink in excess of ten cups a day each, every day of the year! Finnish custom is that all house-guests should be served coffee. Traditionally you say 'no' three times, and then accept by saying 'OK, just half a cup', which turns out to be a few litres of the stuff. I spent hours trying to befriend locals so they would invite me home. Time Magazine recently predicted that Helsinki would overtake London as the swinging capital of the new millennium. And it is clearly coffee that is driving Helsinki in that direction. In an effort to regain some of my initial smugness I decided to allow them their champion status based on quantity. But, what about quality and in particular variety (which I feel North America excels at). I entered a cafe in a theatre foyer (how else could a theatre possibly attract customers without a hundred-seat cafe next to the ticket office?!) to ponder this question only to discover that this particular cafe only served cardamom-flavoured coffee. The beverage assistant explained to me (in the standard perfect English that all Scandinavians speak) that this is the flavour they preferred and that they could attract enough customers without bothering to serve anything else! I had discovered coffee fascism! Perhaps I was overreacting but it wouldn't surprise me if a young Mr. Hitler started by rejecting all jello-pudding flavours other than vanilla! My suspicions were further aroused when she recommended a glass of cucumber-flavoured water as the perfect accompaniment to my coffee. All Finnish coffee outlets provide jugs of water so that you can help yourself, and these are often flavoured with slices of lemon or cucumber. In fact, virtually all Finnish cafes work on the self service and honour system. Without being condemned for furthering a new world order, I have to admit that both the coffee and the water were excellent. After four days I returned to England. I used British Airways so as not to confuse air traffic control or customs but my system was so full of caffeine (decaffeination being the work of the anti-Christ according to one Finn I spoke to), that I reckon I could very easily have skimmed the waves under my own steam all the way home! So, don't despair if any future European travel takes you closer to the Arctic Circle than the Mediterranean. You will not struggle to find a decent cup of coffee. |
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