As you may have seen in the program, there are a lot of coffee breaks, or “fika” in Swedish. Swedes tend to drink a lot of coffee or “kaffe”. The average Swede swallows down an impressive five cups a day.

Fika med bulle (baked by Lotta) 

Fika times are important ­— eleven o’clock in the morning and three o’clock in the afternoon. Traditionally you would have a sweet cinnamon bun while sipping coffee with your friends and colleagues, a “bulle”.

But as you already have figured out, two fika a day don’t add up to the average five cups. There are several tricks. A refill is often referred to as a “påtår” and a second refill as a “tretår”. Of course, you have a cup at breakfast and a second when you arrive at work. The eleven o’clock fika, with påtår, a cup at lunch, the three o’clock fika and a cup to round off your dinner. Well, these cups add up to seven, a healthy and well-balanced amount suitable for a nice and social character.

You may now object that seven is more than the average five cups a day. Obviously not all Swedes have fika with bulle. We just don’t know where to find them.