Tea and coffee traditions.

[Cooper Registered Find all posts View Profile Close Cooper]

I am offering this new thread as I know that Finland is one of the very few countries that are keen on tea and coffee.

Every time I come to Finland I enjoy the coffee in nearly every cafe or restaurant (which is impossible in many other countries where the coffee is bad and the tea is commonplace).

Of course, we know about the centuries-old tea ceremonies in China but it is too far from us in distance and culture, do you agree?

[June Pelo Senior Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close June Pelo]

Coffee

I'm attaching some interesting comments about coffee.

June

[Cooper Registered Find all posts View Profile Close Cooper]

Coffee experiences.

Dear June,

Thank you for the post and for the interesting attachment.
You are always so prompt with answers and help!
Thank you very much!

By the way, when I stayed a month in Michigan (Detroit, Ann Arbor, Port Austin) I could not find a single place to have a cup of decent coffee. Is it so bad all over the USA or only there?
Or am I too demanding?

Sincerely,

[kpaavola Registered Find all posts View Profile Close kpaavola]

Coffee

It seems there are coffee "stores"/cafes on every corner in the larger cities. Whether it's "good" coffee or not is another story.

Gourmet and flavored coffees seem to have become very popular in recent years. I know I can't start my day without a cup or two or three...

[Cooper Registered Find all posts View Profile Close Cooper]

Starting with a coffee...

Thanks for the lead,

I also like coffee in the morning. Probably, everyone does.
Do you have instant coffee or regular one?

What brands do yoy prefer (let me guess - "Maxwell House", am I right?)

Here in Russia the people prefer the instant coffee. Probably the most popular brands are those of the "Nescafe" line.

If I drink instant - I prefer "Alta Rica" from "Nescafe".

But usually I bring some real good coffee from Finland and make it the old traditional way. Probably, more sugar than usual and some salt and peppers.

[kpaavola Registered Find all posts View Profile Close kpaavola]

coffee

Salt and peppers??? I've never heard of that. Sugar and cream are the usual additions here, based on taste.

Personally, I don't like instant coffee. I prefer Folgers but my wife likes Starbucks. I don't like flavored coffees either but that seems to becoming a popular trend.

Growing up, I remember at our friends camp, they boiled water and poured it into cups through a small strainer containing coffee grounds. My parents used a percolater, then later used a modern coffee maker. Today there are hundreds of models to choose. Always in search of the "perfect cup".

[Tracy Boeldt Registered Find all posts View Profile Close Tracy Boeldt]

Coffee

I cannot be without my "Bunn" coffee maker--it is the best! It makes your coffee in about 5 seconds, since the water is already hot in the reservoir. I can't do a thing unless I've had my first cup of "joe"! My husband & I prefer "Maxwell House" and I have to have my "Coffee mate--French Vanilla" creamer!
Tracy

[June Pelo Senior Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close June Pelo]

Coffee

I remember as a child visiting relatives, that they cooked coffee in a big enamel coffee pot where they put the coffee in first, added the water and then they put egg shell in - don't know if they also used any of the egg. They claimed that way made the best coffee, and it was the way most of our Swedish-speaking relatives made their coffee. Some people added a pinch of salt to the coffee pot but I don't recall why.

A few years ago SAS botched up our flight schedule in Stockholm so they gave us a handful of coupons to use and we used them for all the Swedish coffee we could find and brought it all home.

When I lived in Wash., D.C. my Swedish Lutheran church always held a Luciafest in Dec. which was attended by many people from the city. One of the newspaper reporters wrote about it and he mentioned that he always showed up because the Swedes made the best coffee in town.

June

[Karen Norwillo Registered Find all posts View Profile Close Karen Norwillo]

coffee

June, I, too, remember my grandmother adding eggshells to the coffee she brewed on her old wood-burning stove. I think I remember my Mom telling me it was supposed to cut the bitterness. I don't remember salt or pepper being added. Karen

[kpaavola Registered Find all posts View Profile Close kpaavola]

Adding salt

They say adding salt will also take the bitterness out of the coffee, if sprinkled on the grounds. I've never noticed a difference though.

[Margaret Rader Registered Find all posts View Profile Close Margaret Rader]

People in the Pacific Northwest are wired on coffee much of the time. A lot of people drink espresso drinks. There are espresso stands on corners everywhere, even in hardware store's parking lots. Lots of people are spending quite a bit on coffee, especially cafe lattes on their way to work in the morning. Some of the coffee is very good. Starbucks was born in Seattle.
In my opinion, flavored coffee is not actually coffee, but lots of people like it.
Most people I know buy beans and grind their own coffee before using an electric drip coffee maker (like Braun). The coffee we like, and that you can get in the best coffee shops, is much stronger than the usual restaurant brew.
I've wondered if the coffee craze in Seattle owes anything to the Swede and Finn heritage.

Margaret Holm Rader

[June Pelo Senior Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close June Pelo]

coffee

I've noticed that the coffee served by relatives in Finland tastes like mine - but I have one relative there who likes coffee so dark and strong I think it would curl hair. He said his whole family likes strong black coffee.

Another thing I've noticed is the small coffee cups used in Finland - two of them would equal one of our coffee mugs. When relatives from Finland visit me, they don't want their coffee served in a big mug and they don't want it served with the meal. Over there water or milk was served during the meal, and coffee was served later. When I take them to a restaurant here they turn their cup over so the waiter won't pour coffee in while they are eating.

Last weekend when I visited my cousin from Finland who now lives here, she served bread, cold cuts and cheese for breakfast - the same as they do in Finland. They make an open sandwich, which they eat with a knife and fork. We took some relatives out for lunch and had sandwiches, but they wouldn't pick them up to eat like we do - they ate them with a knife and fork. One elderly cousin from Finland asked if we would take her to eat at MacDonald's and then she proceded to use her knife and fork to eat her hamburger. She wanted to have her picture taken there so she could show her family in Finland that she had eaten a MacDonald's hamburger!

June

[Gita Wiklund Registered Find all posts View Profile Close Gita Wiklund]

Interesting June. Here in Sweden it is known that people from Norrland (northern part of S) prefer eating hamburgers etc with knife and fork. Maybe it´s the same in Finland. I believe that most people in Helsinki for instance don´t demand knife and fork for this kind of food. Am I right?

When I was in the US, I met only one american who made decent coffee (black in color). Everywhere else the coffee tasted more like water than anything else. I think that if you can see through to the bottom of the mug it´s not coffe - it´s just colored water.
When I visited a family in England, they were shocked to find out that I add one tablespoon of coffee per cup - while they just add one teaspoon. Most swedes and finns prefer strong coffee.

As for drinking coffee to a meal, it depend on what meal we are talkning about. Coffee is often served together with the breakfast meal, but we never serve coffee to lunch or dinner, only after the meal is eaten. When we eat dinner on a restaurant it´s common to have wine, beer or water with the meal. I was surprised when I was in England at a chinese restaurant and ordered beer to the meal, to hear that they never drink beer to a meal. Is it the same in the US?

[kpaavola Registered Find all posts View Profile Close kpaavola]

Chinese restaurants and coffee

Hi Gita,
Some of the Chinese restaurants here do serve beer, but not all. They even serve a Chinese brand of beer, Tsing Tao, or something like that. I think they might have to have a beer & wine/liquor license to sell it though, which may be why not all do. I've never seen someone have coffee in a Chinese restaurant, though.

"I think that if you can see through to the bottom of the mug it´s not coffe - it´s just colored water" This is exactly the saying my father used!

[Hasse Admin Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Hasse]

Re: Chinese restaurants and coffee

Originally posted by kpaavola
"I think that if you can see through to the bottom of the mug it´s not coffe - it´s just colored water" This is exactly the saying my father used!

We have a saying about the "colored water" - roughly translated:

"If this is tea I'd like coffee tomorrow, but if this is coffee I'd like tea tomorrow"