Fika: The Swedish coffee break
The Scandinavian nations are some of the world’s largest coffee drinkers, with coffee being an essential in a Swede’s everyday life.
You might have heard Fika mentioned a few times, maybe on TV or read somewhere online (case in point!) and are wondering, what the heck is ‘fika’?
Fika is essentially a coffee break, the concept has the basic meaning “to have coffee”, and is often accompanied with pastries or sandwiches.
In some ways you could say it’s a bit like afternoon tea, but with more of an emphasis on the coffee break with friends, colleagues or family.
Unlike afternoon tea, Fika is a social institution that is commonplace in workplaces across Sweden, with at least one break being made for Fika during a normal working day.
It seems that in most cases though, two instances of breaks are taken during a Swedish working day at around 9am and 3pm. Whilst we use coffee as a way to wake-up and power us through the day, Fika is seen as a more social event, especially in the workplace.
How to be Swedish: Have regular coffee breaks, called FIKA. https://t.co/MsTSiYyYTv #fika @sweden #howtobeswedish pic.twitter.com/TOPv8MOPrJ
— Hej Sweden (@HejSweden) June 16, 2016
Employee’s gathering to not only socialise, but discuss private and professional endeavours. It’s even considered rude not to join your workmates at Fika!
Traditionally Swedes have a pastry, with cinnamon rolls being the baked good of choice with their coffees.
This probably explains the major reason that coffee is often one of the most consumed drinks within the Scandinavian regions, taking time out to slow-down and appreciate a true break from ones day with coffee, as opposed to grabbing a drink in-between meetings, travelling to work and general day-to-day tasks.
The best thing about Fika? There is no set rule-book. So you can enjoy the break as you see fit.
It’s quite common for people to pack a flask of coffee to take to work for the specific purpose of Fika, almost unheard of here in the UK, where our high-proportion of tea-drinkers would balk at having to consume flask-made tea twice-a-day!
But such is the incorporation of this tradition into everyday Swedish life, it’s become an integral part of the lifestyle, maybe taking time out each day would have a positive impact on our own day-to-day lives.
Which has got us thinking…maybe there is room in all of our lives for a little more Fika…