Finland's Coffee Madness

According to the International Coffee Association Finland is the world's largest consumer of coffee beans per capita. About 1% of all coffee beans in the world are imported to Finland. Finns consume an average 12 kilograms raw coffee per capita annually. It's over twice the amount of other Europeans. For example, Italy consumes 5,7 kilograms per capita annually and Spain consumes only 4,5 kilograms per capita each year. Actually Finns drink so much coffee that Finland's coffee consumption can't grow any higher. Finns are already high on caffeine 24/7!

Coffee arrived in Finland in the early 18th century when Finland was under Swedish rule. However, coffee drinking was restricted by high taxation, wars and prohibitions. The Swedish government thought that coffee had a negative effect on the national economy, public health and work ethics. A luxury tax was imposed on coffee in 1716. Coffee drinking was prohibited first time in 1756. The fourth and the final ban was removed in 1801.

At first, coffee was used as a medicine, which was sold only at pharmacies. Finns believed that coffee would cure everything from headaches to heart disease and depression. The first cafes of Finland were started in Turku at the end of 18th century. At first, coffee drinking became a habit among upper and middle class urban Finns. During the latter half of the 19th century coffee drinking spread to lower classes and rural regions. Usually coffee was served only on Sundays and holidays, but during the 1870s Finns started to drink coffee on weekdays as well.

During World War I the imports of coffee stopped. The imports were deregulated in 1919. The beginning of World War II led to another rationing period. The selling of real coffee was prohibited in 1941. All coffee available was Ersatz Coffee, which was a mixture of real coffee and coffee substitutes. The rationing did not end until 1954. 

All these periods of prohibitions and rationing made coffee even more desirable for Finns. Coffee was seen as a forbidden fruit. Soon Finns were ranked among the biggest coffee consuming nations, and finally during the 1970s Finland surpassed Sweden as the biggest coffee drinking country in the world.

The majority of Finnish people prefer light roast coffees to darker roasts. Finns use the highest quality coffee beans, and water in Finland is soft and clean, so there is no need for darker roasts to hide any possible taste defects. The post-war period, when coffee was scarce, may also explain the preference for light roast coffee. Light roast beans give more coffee than dark roast beans.

Coffee has become a Finnish institution. Serving coffee is regarded as the most important act of hospitality, and not serving coffee to a guest is taken as an insult. Therefore coffee is served at every occasion. Finland is the only country where coffee breaks are statutory.

How The West Was Won: Finnish Log Construction in America

Nothnagle Log Cabin is the oldest log house in North America and the second oldest wooden house in the United States. It was built between 1638 and 1643 by the Finnish settlers of the New Sweden colony. The colony was founded by the Swedish Crown in 1638. (Those days Finland was a part of the Swedish kingdom.) The settlers were mainly Finns, more precisely Savonians, who were called the "Forest Finns". They had moved from Savonia in Eastern and Central Finland to the forest areas of Central Sweden during the 16th and early 17th century. Then they were forced to move to America by the Swedish Crown. In the 1650s more than 50% of the New Sweden's population were Finns.

Nothnagle Log Cabin represents typical old Savonian architecture and building technique. The logs were double dovetailed to provide a close fit, and gravel was pounded between the chinks in the logs. No nails were used, hardwood pegs were used as fasteners. There is no ridgepole in the roof. The fireplace was built of bricks brought from Sweden. The greatest contribution of the Finns to the development of the New World is this Finnish forest house building technique. Swedish, Scottish, Irish, English, Dutch and German settlers learned the technique from the Forest Finns. 

Morton Homestead (above) was John Morton's home. John Morton (1724-1777), a US founding father, cast the decisive vote for the US independence. He was a great-grandson of Martti Marttinen, a native of Rautalampi, North Savonia, Finland. The oldest part of the main building was built in 1654. An adjacent building of similar design was constructed in 1698. Morton Homestead is located just about 12 miles from Philadelphia. Tervajärvi Homestead (below) is located in Sumsa Village, Sotkamo, Kainuu region, Northern Finland. Tervajärvi (literally "Tar Lake") Homestead was founded in the middle of the 18th century. The main building is a museum nowadays. Both buildings are fine examples of the old Savonian style log house building technique and architecture. 

A lifelong Idahoan and preservationist in Long Valley, Frank W. Eld, has written one of the best books about Finnish log house building technique in the US: "Finnish Log Construction -The Art: The Story of Finnish Log Construction in America". Frank has worked more than 40 years in museum and preservation work focusing on the restoration and preservation of Finnish log structures in America. The book covers not only the early history of the first American log cabins built by the Finnish settlers of the New Sweden colony in the 1630s, but goes into a fair amount of detail on the defining characteristics and unique building methods used. The book is richly illustrated with dozens of photographs of the houses, saunas and barns built across the US as well as examples of comparable structures in Finland. There is also a section on the non-Finnish log house and how it differs from those constructed by Finns. The book tells how the Savonian style log cabin became a symbol of the American pioneering spirit and an icon of the American frontier, and how it conquered the West.

Blue Velvet in Kainuu, Northern Finland

Nocturne by Eino Leino (1878-1926)

The corncrake's song rings in my ears,

above the rye a full moon sails;

this summer night all sorrow clears

and woodsmoke drifts along the dales,

I do not laugh or grieve, or sigh;

the forest's darkness breathes nearby,

the red of clouds where day sinks deep,

the blue of windy hills asleep,

the twinflowers scent, the water's shade;

of these my heart's own song is made.

You, girl as sweet as summer hay,

my heart's great peace, I sing to you,

O my devotion, tune and play

a wreath of oak twigs, green and new.

I have stopped chasing Jack-o'-Lantern,

I hold gold from the Demon's mountain;

around me life tightens its ring,

time stops, the vane has ceased to swing;

the road before me through the gloom

is leading to the unknown room.

-translated by Keith Bosley.

Eino Leino is the most loved Finnish poet. He was born in Paltamo, Kainuu region, Northern Finland. Nature, love and despair are frequent themes in his works. Leino is held to be the most important shaper of national romanticism in Finnish literature.

Cloudberries: The Best Kept Secret of Scandinavia

Ladies and gentlemen! These are cloudberries!

Cloudberries are an essential part of Finnish cuisine. Cloudberries grow in bogs and marshes everywhere in Finland. These berries are extremely delicious, soft and juicy and they are often made into jams, juices, tarts and liqueurs. Surprisingly cloudberries taste like tropical fruits! Cloudberries and cloudberry jam are used as a topping for ice cream, pancakes and waffles.