# Why is coffee so good in Scandinavia? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 19, 2003, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-coffee-so-good-in-scandinavia/183002 "2003-06-19T20:33:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Iteki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/eada6e/32.png) [@Iteki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iteki)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-coffee-so-good-in-scandinavia/183002/21 "2003-06-20T14:28:34Z")
Sweden has the highest per-capita consumption of coffee in the world. This generally means that you get access to “the good stuff”. The same is true for Ireland and tea, we drink more than anywhere else, so we get higher quality leaves than anywhere else (in general). I don’t drink Swedish tea and I don’t drink Irish coffee, my life is good 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Iteki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/eada6e/32.png) [@Iteki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iteki)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-coffee-so-good-in-scandinavia/183002/22 "2003-06-20T14:52:37Z")
Checked my facts, and before somone comes in and corrects me, I will correct myself (I believed the Swedes, that’ll teach me!). Seems both Finland and Norway have higher consumption rates (2002 data). However at between 8 to 12 kilos per person per year, that is more than double the consumption rate of the US. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-coffee-so-good-in-scandinavia/183002/23 "2003-06-20T15:11:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by JRDelirious \* > \*\*Sounds like it’s not so much that (\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_) coffee so good, but that standard American coffee is just so bad. Overall, I think **Yeah** got it mostly right. \*\* Again, I know my good coffee. Though I’ve not been to Central America in years, I’ve toured coffee roasting facilities, can tell a Sumatra from a Peruvain blend, etc. etc. I’m pretty sure there’s a difference in brewing techniques: the coffee didn’t just taste better, it tasted _different_. At first I thought we were getting “Cafe Americano,” a shot of espresso with hot water, but I’m trying to figure out what exactly it was. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Alien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/57b2e6/32.png) [@Alien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alien)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-coffee-so-good-in-scandinavia/183002/24 "2003-06-20T15:23:28Z")
brew = add water to coffee :smack: sometimes my English really passes me by > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DanielWithrow \* > \*\*Interesting! A couple of clarifications: > > - Second, the coffee was very good even on Scandinavian Airlines on our way to Denmark. Unless they carry the coffee-brewing water with them from Scandinavia (instead of reloading water in DC), it’s probably not the water. > - Third, and this is most damning to my coffee-snob credentials, in at least one hotel _the tasty coffee was from a machine_. You know, one of those machines where you choose whether you want coffee, mocha, hot chocolate, latte, etc., hit a button, and it fills your cup with one serving of hot. > > Are those automatic machines pretty common in Denmark/Scandinavia? Does anyone know how they work, and whether they’re different (or rather how they’re different) from their US counterparts? > > Daniel \*\* First off, if you found the coffee on Scandinavian Airlines tasty, well, I think you got low standards. Drip-brewing is definitely the common way to do it in Scandinavia. Not entirely sure about those coffee machines though. I take it you are talking about those new machines (black machines with huge brownish mosaic patterned paper cups) which have been popping up the last few years. The coffe from those machines is rather tasty actually. I did observe one guy adding more beans to such a machine once, and they didn’t seem to use the Dutch method referred to above, but who knows. A little googling revealed that those machines are using something called “Arabica-coffee”, its beans are coming from Brazil, Columbia, Central-America and Kenya. Their latest model grind the beans, and “with the use of pressure” brews the coffee cup by cup. Maybe the basic secret to good coffee is adding a little more beans to get a nice black cup, a clean coffe machine, and drink it fresh. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-coffee-so-good-in-scandinavia/183002/25 "2003-06-20T15:27:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Alien \* > \*\*Drip-brewing is definitely the common way to do it in Scandinavia. Not entirely sure about those coffee machines though. I take it you are talking about those new machines (black machines with huge brownish mosaic patterned paper cups) which have been popping up the last few years. The coffe from those machines is rather tasty actually. I did observe one guy adding more beans to such a machine once, and they didn’t seem to use the Dutch method referred to above, but who knows. > > A little googling revealed that those machines are using something called “Arabica-coffee”, its beans are coming from Brazil, Columbia, Central-America and Kenya. Their latest model grind the beans, and “with the use of pressure” brews the coffee cup by cup. > > Maybe the basic secret to good coffee is adding a little more beans to get a nice black cup, a clean coffe machine, and drink it fresh. 😛 \*\* Coffee Arabica is just one type of bean; the other type, Coffee Robusta, is generally considered to be inferior. Arabica beans are what’s grown primarily in Central/South America; Robusta beans are grown primarily in Africa. Brewed with the use of pressure, huh? Interesting – that sounds like it might be espresso after all. Maybe we really were drinking something along the lines of Cafe Americano. As for my low standards with SAS coffee, what can I say? It was quite good, better than some of the drip-brewed coffee I had in Norway. That may have been because SAS coffee was brewed freshly, whereas the coffee I had in cafes had been sitting on the burner for awhile. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Alien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/57b2e6/32.png) [@Alien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alien)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-coffee-so-good-in-scandinavia/183002/26 "2003-06-20T18:05:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DanielWithrow \* > \*\*Coffee Arabica is just one type of bean; the other type, Coffee Robusta, is generally considered to be inferior. Arabica beans are what’s grown primarily in Central/South America; Robusta beans are grown primarily in Africa. > > Brewed with the use of pressure, huh? Interesting – that sounds like it might be espresso after all. Maybe we really were drinking something along the lines of Cafe Americano. > > As for my low standards with SAS coffee, what can I say? It was quite good, better than some of the drip-brewed coffee I had in Norway. That may have been because SAS coffee was brewed freshly, whereas the coffee I had in cafes had been sitting on the burner for awhile. > > Daniel \*\* Well, I think you have higher standards than me, so I guess you “got lucky” with SAS. 😉 Or they have improved, it’s been a while since I travelled with them. Anyway, a bit further googling about those coffee machines revealed a multi-national cooperation with a bunch of subsidiaries. They deliver both the machines and the coffee, and apparently you can order home, or so they say. The main company should be Autobar at: [http://www.autobar.com](http://www.autobar.com) The coffee itself is manufactured in Holland by ICS, at > **[ICS Vending: wide selection of hot drinks for vending machines](https://www.pelicanrougecoffeeroasters.com/ics-vending/)** > > Pelican Rouge Coffee Roasters is your one-stop-shop for coffee and coffee related ingredients in retail, vending, wholesale and the food service industry. The coffe line brand (both the machines and the coffee) is appearently called Cafe Bar (which consists of Cafe Bar BV International, and even more subsidiaries), but you could check out the Autobar webpage above, choose Vending & Food Services - Company List - Cafe Bar, for a list of additional websites. But I think the ICS webpage is where you want to go. Don’t take that pressure thing to seriously, it turns out it was mentioned on the Norwegian webpage of an _independant agent_ to the Cafe Bar Norway company, which is a subsidiary of Cafe Bar BV Int, which is a subsidiary of … ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2003, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-coffee-so-good-in-scandinavia/183002/27 "2003-06-20T19:00:18Z")
Excellent, **Alien**! I’ll poke around these sites a little more. In first glance, I can’t find anything about the brewing method they use, but I’ll keep looking. Thanks! Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2003, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-coffee-so-good-in-scandinavia/183002/28 "2003-06-23T15:44:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DanielWithrow \* > That may have been because SAS coffee was brewed freshly, whereas the coffee I had in cafes had been sitting on the burner for awhile. As far as I know (having heard it from the brother in law of an SAS flight attendant) they use instant coffee. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2003, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-coffee-so-good-in-scandinavia/183002/29 "2003-06-23T15:54:14Z")
Instant, huh? If so, it was far and away the best instant coffee I’ve ever tasted: instant normally tastes to me like charcoal juice. I’m pretty sure this wasn’t instant, at least not in the US sense of the term (nasty powder mixed with boiling water). Daniel [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-coffee-so-good-in-scandinavia/183002.md?page=1)