Fikarummet

I have written about fika a few times before. Visiting industrial work sites (like the airport or the paper mill) shows that the lunch/breakroom is pretty consistent no matter where you go. You have tables and chairs, patterned curtain panels, cute floor lamps (picture the Ikea display breakroom) …and a coffee machine.

There is a lot of talk about which machines provide the best coffee, and at the University there is some envy about the building with the ‘good machine’. However, coming from a place where coffee is not provided (although there was a coffee club at SOEH and for a modest contribution every week you could get milk and nice fair-trade coffee), it seem miraculous to have a FREE push-button machine with lots of choices: plain brewed coffee with sugar or milk, cappuccino, wiener melange, mocha and hot chocolate. Hot water is dispensed for tea. Nice!

Recently we have a new addition to the fika-menu: cardamom milk! It is great with tea. When the weather is warmer I may try to make some at home with cardamom pods. Divya says this is a popular summer drink in India, you can buy it chilled from vendors on the street and it cools you down in the hot, hot weather. It won’t get that hot here, but I think it would still be a nice treat.