This very much reminded me of the cheese in coffee (actually any hot beverage) culture in Colombia [1]. The same basic premise that the cheese softens but does not melt. Imparts a little extra flavor to the coffee but the best part for me is the cheese absorbs the liquid resulting in an awesome tasting cheese with unique texture. The first time I was introduced to this I thought the locals were trying to trick a silly foreigner into putting cheese into their coffee. Another favorite of mine in Colombia in putting achiras (like small cheesy bread sticks) in coffee [2].
Interesting. I wonder if other types of cheese would work in a cup of coffee, since I doubt I can easily get my hands on this kind. Maybe Butterkase, it's soft, mild, and buttery.
I was half expecting to read about coffee-flavored cheese.
I tried chocolate cheese once. We were thinking, chocolate = good, cheese = good. Chocolate Cheese = EVEN BETTER!
> In Finland there is a cheese called Juustoleipa. This translates into cheese bread. We make ours different but better with oven baking it until it has a browned crusty top. Pop it in your oven or microwave until it glistens. Serve it with your favorite dip as a delicious snack. Good as is!
I've seen many claim that the tradition came to northern Norway with Finnish immigrants. It seems likely, but really hard to say for sure who first did this thing around here.
I am a Swede but never heard of this at all and haven't seen it. Seems like something that is happening far up in the north? Maybe something new for the hipster coffee shops to try.
As a Dane, I feel like if it's coffee with cheese, shouldn't it be ostekaffe? Kaffeost suggests it's a cheese with coffee flavour. Though, I have never heard of this either.
They did specifically mention the Sami in the article
| Though it may be an unlikely pairing to some palates, among the Sami people of Lapland and other regions around northern Finland, Norway, Sweden, and Russia, sharing a mug of kaffeost is a welcome and welcoming ritual.
My brother's wife is no Sami, just a regular fin, and she, and her mother and sisters, actually use salt in coffee. To me as a regular Swede it's sort of insane.
Apropos salt in coffee, the way I heard it when growing up was that coffee brewed (or rather boiled) on meltwater didn't quite taste right, add some salt and presto! Having tried that myself I can easily believe that, meltwater doesn't taste the same as well-water. For the record, I tried myself, and yes, when boiling instead of brewing some salt will work, in brewed coffee though, not!
As a fellow Swede: having grown up in northern Sweden, I have both heard of this, and have personally witnessed cheese especially made for this practice in regular stores, but I have never tried it myself.
Swede here. Yes, I've heard of it and have witnessed it, but I'd say it's extremely uncommon (bordering “unheard of”) among people under the age of 80. In Sweden it's practiced mainly in the north.
Highlighting some ancient ritual and making it sound like it's a part of everyday life is typical for this kind of journalism.
I’m an American, but I lived a year in Kiruna (up north, mining town, part of Lapland) and it was a common thing among my friends from there. Common enough that I brought the tradition back to the US and enjoyed a cup of coffee-cheesed coffee just yesterday.
Wow. How was your experience there? Even as a native Swede, that’d be quite a cultural challenge, as well as harsh to deal with the total darkness during the winter.
I spent some time in northern Sweden, have seen and tried this. It seems pretty common for people who take coffee to work, on hikes, camping etc. I’ve never seen it in a cafe.
To me it’s just an much easier to transport milk alternative.
I grew up in Norrbotten (north of the gulf of botnia, northernmost part of Sweden). This was (and still is a thing). Anyway, my mother is from the province of Hälsingland (in the middle part of Sweden), there one eats ”ostkaka” (cheese cake), which is almost the same thing, but heated in the oven and eaten with jam. I therefore suspect these to be ”relic-dishes” and that this type of dairy product was once more widely spread.
And for those who have neither heard or eaten kaffeost, the most similar thing I can think of is Halloumi, though unsalted and made from predominantly cow's milk.
Glad to see a cherished local delicacy featured on HN! Growing up in northern Sweden, I learned to enjoy it even before I started drinking coffee. While it is a rather mild cheese on its own, when immersed in coffee it softens up and absorbs some of the liquid, giving it a texture somewhere between Camembert and Tiramisu.
It pairs well with the traditional Swedish way of preparing coffee, which is coarsely ground coffee seeping immersed in boiling water. Similar to a french press, the unfiltered particles in the coffee give it a more rounded taste, as do the fat the kaffeost disperses into the coffee. As far as I understand from traveling the area and talking to friends, it is more common to eat it like this in the northern parts of Finland and Sweden, whereas further south (but still in the "northern parts") it is enjoyed on its own together with cloudberries.
The article seems a little bit confused regarding locations, though. It mainly uses the Swedish name kaffeost and claims it to be a Scandinavian delicacy (i.e. excluding Finland), but it gives several names for the cheese in Finnish without mentioning Finland. My understanding is that it is mainly a Finnish thing centered around northern Finland and Tornedalia [1], at least originally.
Cheese in coffee is not that unusual. In France they dip the cheese comte in their coffee in the morning in the alpine area. It's probably mostly older people who do it these days.
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[ 5.9 ms ] story [ 102 ms ] threadI was actually looking for more different ways to flavor my coffee - not just heavy cream, or butter, but something else.
So might try both yours, and what the article suggested!
Thanks!!!
[1] - https://www.roastycoffee.com/cheese-in-coffee/
[2] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achira_(biscuit)
I was half expecting to read about coffee-flavored cheese.
I tried chocolate cheese once. We were thinking, chocolate = good, cheese = good. Chocolate Cheese = EVEN BETTER!
We were wrong. It was terrible.
For coffee, you'd likely want the one without other things in it ( https://carrvalleycheese.com/product/bread-cheese/ )
> In Finland there is a cheese called Juustoleipa. This translates into cheese bread. We make ours different but better with oven baking it until it has a browned crusty top. Pop it in your oven or microwave until it glistens. Serve it with your favorite dip as a delicious snack. Good as is!
Note the pairings recommended:
> Honey, jam, syrup, coffee
It looks like you can order it from there too.
Had it a few month ago in Kiruna .. just not that exciting.
| Though it may be an unlikely pairing to some palates, among the Sami people of Lapland and other regions around northern Finland, Norway, Sweden, and Russia, sharing a mug of kaffeost is a welcome and welcoming ritual.
Highlighting some ancient ritual and making it sound like it's a part of everyday life is typical for this kind of journalism.
To me it’s just an much easier to transport milk alternative.
And for those who have neither heard or eaten kaffeost, the most similar thing I can think of is Halloumi, though unsalted and made from predominantly cow's milk.
The article seems a little bit confused regarding locations, though. It mainly uses the Swedish name kaffeost and claims it to be a Scandinavian delicacy (i.e. excluding Finland), but it gives several names for the cheese in Finnish without mentioning Finland. My understanding is that it is mainly a Finnish thing centered around northern Finland and Tornedalia [1], at least originally.
[1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Me%C3%A4nmaa
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egg_coffee