As third-wave coffee culture has slowly but surely infiltrated every corner of the U.S., thanks in part to influences from Latin America, Australia, and Europe, there's one country that's just beginning to inspire the way the rest of the world takes its coffee: Norway. In a new series, CNN explores Norway — which is known for light-roast, steeped coffee — in an episode of Culinary Journeys.
For more than two months a year, the sun doesn't set at all in Norway's Arctic North. Norwegians combat the endless days with specialties like salted cod (which is so well-preserved it lasts years) and plenty of coffee.
Norwegians are among the biggest coffee-consumers in the world. According to coffee shop and roaster owner Tim Wendelboe, the trend came about largely due to prohibition.
"Before the Prohibition time [in the early 1900s], Norway was drunk," jokes Wendelboe, in the video. "I mean, everyone was drunk. If you drank the water from the river, you would get sick. So, you drank something fermented." Often beer or wine. Coffee was promoted as an alternative to alcohol, and the trend never really went away.
Though it's now served in a myriad of micro-roasteries and shops throughout Norway, Wendelboe still suggests serving it the traditional way: steeped, over a bonfire, and ideally in a tranquil, evergreen forest.
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