Let’s Go Fika: Drinking Coffee in Sweden

Image: Joel, Erika, & Catrine NOT having fika in June 2024

by Erika Koss

As I walk through dozens of streets in Stockholm, I pass many cafes.  Many beckon me with a sing outside, “come inside for fika.” 

In Sweden, “having a fika” is not the same as just “drinking coffee.” The Swedish word “fika” cannot be translated literally into English. Fika is used as both a noun and a verb:  we can “have fika,” or we can participate in the action of “fika.” 

Fika has a long history in Sweden, and the tradition remains alive. But while the ritual is broad enough to include many different interpretations, it is neither a ‘coffee break’, nor ‘afternoon tea.’

To “have fika” does not mean grabbing a quick coffee at your desk or in an office kitchen. Fika lingers because it means pleasurable conversation with others.

To learn more about this longstanding tradition, I talked with two coffee professionals and friends, Joel Wredlert and Catrine Gyllensten, who both work at Johan & Nyström, one of the first specialty coffee roasters in Sweden whose motto is “Bättre Kaffe åt folket” or “Better coffee to the people.

On a rare sunny day in June 2024, a few days before World of Coffee Copenhagen, Joel & Catrine invited me to join them at the Johan & Nyström coffee bar in the neighborhood of Södermalm. 

Despite my own Swedish heritage, fika was not a part of what my grandparents brought over from Sweden to the USA, so I have some serious questions about the protocols of “fika.”

What follows is our spontaneous conversation about “fika” after we were drinking several coffees, ate light sandwiches, and talked about business. 

Erika: What is fika?

Joel: It’s a moment, a break. In whatever you do, you need to have a space for you and friends. It’s  a space, a time, for yourself.

Erika:  So fika is something you “do” – it’s a verb.

Joel:  Yes, in English, you’d say, “I’m going to fika.”

Erika:  “I am fika-ing”?  

Joel: Sure, it’s like, “Are you running? No, I’m not running right now, I am fika-ing.”

Erika:  Are we having fika now?

Catrine:  No. It’s not really lunch, just a light sandwich, but we are now during lunch hour, so this can’t really be a fika. What we just did, I don’t think we have a word for in Swedish—but it wasn’t fika.

Erika:  So, who decides when to fika?

Joel:  Although this is not a fika right now, it could turn into a fika. We could decide together, let’s fika!

Erika: Then I could ask you, “Do you want to go for fika?” 

Joel: Yes! 

Catrine:  It’s interesting.  When you’re a teenager, that is what you do, you “go to fika,” that is how you interact with your friends: you get a cup of coffee, get free refills and sit there for hours. Once you start working in a job, it’s the break from whatever you’re doing at work. Whether you are painting a wall, you’re working on a tractor, or you’re an office worker, it’s a proper excuse from what you were supposed to be doing.

Erika:  Do we have to sit down for fika? Or we can fika standing up? 

Catrine:  No, we must be sitting down.  It’s not a rush.  It’s a break and you’re allowed to – that is the key.

Erika:  Yes, and this break from work is not just allowed, right?  Fika is actually encouraged? 

Joel:  Yeah, it’s guilt free.  I like that aspect.

Erika:  What do we talk about during fika?

Catrine:  We don’t talk about whatever work we’re doing.  You don’t talk about the wall you’re painting, or anything about what you should be doing. You’re allowed to take this time not to talk about work.  If we’re having a fika right now, then the idea is “I’m not going to bother you with this work!”

Joel: Yes, if you’re on fika, I respect it.  

Erika:  Okay, let’s say we work together, and we have a project about a marketing campaign. I’d like you to edit something. But I can’t come ask you about this if you’re having fika?

Joel: Exactly.  If you’re on fika, no work. Tell me about it after fika.

Catrine:  Yes, if you bring me that document to edit, and if you don’t realize we’re having a fika break, then I’ll say, “oh, we’re having fika right now” and then you’ll say, “oh, sorry, see you later!”

Erika:  What is the connection between coffee and fika?

Joel:  Coffee and Sweden are very connected, because Swedes drink a lot of coffee. Coffee drinking has always been strong in the culture. For the fika break: it’s too early to drink booze, so let’s drink more coffee!

Erika:  What time is fika?

Joel: Anytime, but it does have a starting point and ending point.  We can grab a fika, then we decide, for an hour or two, whatever time, we are done with the fika. After, you can go for a walk, but that is something else.

Erika:  It seems there is always a cinnamon or cardamom bun served with fika.  Is this mandatory? 

Catrine:  It could be a sandwich or something else, like a cake, but there must be something to nimble on.

Erika: Is coffee required to fika?

Catrine: Technically you don’t need coffee, it could be tea or another drink. But most often, it’s coffee.  Coffee and a bun. 

Joel:  Kids can have fika, too, they might have lemonade on a hot summer day, or maybe hot chocolate in winter.

Erika: Why is fika essential in Sweden? 

Catrine:  One reason is because it’s so dark for most of year here.  When at work, we need the coffee for a pick-me-up, for an energy boost.

Erika:  Is fika seasonal?  Do you only fika in the winter when its dark?

Catrine: No, we fika all the time!  Including the summer.

Erika:  Can we fika with alcohol?

Catrine: No.

Erika:  Can you fika by yourself?

Joel:  That’s a tricky one. It would say it has to be with someone else. Fika always has a social aspect.

Catrine:  For example, if my sister is coming over with her family, it’s not a question, “are we going to fika?” We know we’re going to fika. The question we would ask each other is, “what time are we going to fika?”  Later, if I’m telling you about this, I would say, “My sister came over for fika.” 

Erika:  It’s a mutual decision?

Joel:  Yes, the point is we decide together. Unless it’s an invitation, then I might say, “come over for a fika at 3pm.”

Erika: So even more than the actual drinking of the coffee itself, fika is an event.

Joel: Exactly.  

Erika:  How many times a day do you fika?

Joel: At least two.

Catrine: It depends on what I’m doing that day. If I’m busy with work, it’s possible I might not have fika that day.  But let’s say you work in the manufacturing industry;  you probably have a proper scheduled break. Let’s say it’s 10-10:15am, and you’ll say to your colleagues, “let’s go fika.” 

Erika:  And a fika break is not the same as the lunch break, right?

Joel: No, never:  fika is its own break.  Like in a manufacturing industry job, you might have two fika breaks and then also one lunch break for 30 minutes. 

Erika:  What time of the day is fika?

Joel:  Anytime!  There’s morning fika, afternoon fika; there’s even evening fika. 

Catrine: It’s not on a set schedule, but it always happens, and everyone will know. Whoever is in the house knows, “at this time, we’re going to have fika.”

Erika:  Can we fika in the evening?

Joel: Yes, in fact, that’s how I started to drink coffee, during “evening fika”. Every night, growing up, we had dinner between 5-6pm and then, at 7pm or 8pm, we had fika, lemonade and vetelängd as cinnamon bun, but you make it into a long braid. Then you cut it and keep it for the next day. My parents drank coffee, and I drank lemonade.  It was always coffee, a good hour and a half, usually with the vetelängd, but always with coffee.

Concluding Thoughts on Fika:
There you have it.  Fika is an experience – one that has everything to do with the meaning of life – to enjoy, to slow down, to feel comfortable, to talk or gossip – especially with one’s family and friends. 

As the Nordic countries rank consistently at the top of ten of the happiest countries on earth, according to the annual World Happiness Report, I wonder if something as simple as having fika contributes to Swedish happiness? 

After my welcome at Johan & Nyström, my answer is, once again, Yes! 

About the writer:

Erika Koss, PhD, is a writer, educator, and researcher who views coffee through the lens of two life-long passions: literature and human rights. She is an Authorized Specialty Coffee Trainer and a co-creator of SCA’s Coffee Sustainability curriculum. Erika's PhD from Saint Mary’s University in Canada focused on coffee's gendered gaps in Kenya, and she has created a new gender and coffee course to help address this issue more globally.  As the founder of “A World in Your Cup Consulting,” she seeks to advance sustainability, gender equity, and decolonization of the beverage crops through education and research. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Erika lives in Nairobi, Kenya, with her younger son.  

Find Erika on IG: @AWorldinYourCup

www.AWorldinYourCup.com