Coffee struggles

Coffee might play very small role in most of the people’s lives, but as a Finnish person I have a lot to say about it. I think the biggest problem I have had while traveling and now living abroad is lack of good coffee (or coffee I consider good). As much as Croats love to live in their illusion as being “coffee country” they are far away from where I am. Here is a fun fact about Finland - Finnish people drink most amount of coffee worldwide, consuming up to 12 kg of that loved bean per capita. That is hell lot of coffee. Croats have been bragging about their coffee culture and I find it hard not to roll my eyes.

Why do we drink so much coffee in Finland? It is not only refreshing beverage to get your eyes open in the morning, but also it has deeply cultural meaning. We Finns love to talk over a good cup of coffee, preferably with long one. You hardly find hardcore Espresso drinkers, instead we drink normal filter coffee and of course long milky variations from espresso. Coffee is drank over conferences, at work with colleagues during breaks (sometimes three cups or even more) and offered to a friend as soon as they walk into your apartment. Therefore, coffee also has its social influence. When it might be sometimes difficult to have a social connection to another Finn, coffee saves the situation. You can at least talk about coffee while drinking it.

We do have “a coffeemaker” at work, but it hardly makes something, which can be called coffee. It is weak, wishy-washy and whole definition of “having a cup of coffee” lacks the social aspect. On the other hand, it is all I get at the moment so I keep drinking it. Not only quality leaves me hoping for something better, but also you have to press a button at least 5 times to get proper amount of it. I am used to full 2-3 dl cups and this coffee machine gives 1 dl at best (when picking most diluted option).

When I first moved to Warsaw, it wasn’t that bad. At least you can find proper coffee in almost all cafeterias around. Even with such good options, I made my parents to bring me a coffee maker from Finland, as well as few packs of my favorite coffee. It is nearly impossible to find coffee which is powdered for water displacement drip coffee makers. When I came to Zagreb, I already run out of my coffee and smallest cafeterias offer almost only tiny cups of coffee. “Coffee with milk” means espresso cup with milk on a side… I am not even that proud that I turned my Polish tea drinker husband into a coffee addict in Finland. At least we can now struggle together :D

After several attempts to find filter coffee from stores I finally managed to open my mouth and explain my coffee issue to one of my colleagues. She immediately knew where to ask. One of the key things to happiness here in Croatia is to ask things from someone if you don’t know something. For me, Finnish “I survive myself”- person, this has been a difficult step to achieve, but I am slowly getting there. Nevertheless, my colleague K asked her friend who apparently knows everything coffee related and few moments later I had an address to Franja caffe. This small coffee and teahouse offers great selection for tea lovers as well as solution for our coffee situation. It is also located conveniently in Ilica street, near Frankopanska.