Coffee-flavored Christmas traditions around the world

Get ready for an exciting journey through coffee-flavored Christmas traditions around the world. In this article, we will take a tour among some of the countries that, during the holiday season, are distinguished by the most curious customs dedicated, precisely, to coffee.

Christmas traditions around the world: Sweden

In Sweden, Christmas is a cherished holiday. Celebrations begin on December 13, the day dedicated to St. Lucy. Tradition dictates that the firstborn girls wear a long white dress with a red sash at the waist and, on their heads, a wreath of cranberry branches in which candles are embedded. The girls sing Christmas carols and offer saffron sweets and, most importantly, steaming cups of coffee to passersby.

Bûches de Noël, France's signature Christmas dessert

As famous in France as panettone is in Italy, the recipe for bûches de Noël spread after World War II. The original version called for a genoise pastry filled with buttercream and rolled, then covered with chocolate to simulate the bark.

Today, as with many recipes, French pastry chefs have experimented with different recipes with various creams. Hazelnuts, tiramisu, lemon, passion fruit and, one of the most popular, coffee cream.

For decorations, room is left for creativity and imagination: from the simplest, to respect tradition, to the most original, with the addition of wafers, small chocolate sculptures, coffee beans, and more.

The French also have a very important tradition related to coffee. If you want to learn more, find out how coffee is drunk in France.

Christmas traditions in Greenland: the Inuit holidays

Christmas night in Greenland is perhaps one of the most atmospheric in the world. In Inuit villages, families are used to throwing parties and visiting each other. They bring gifts wrapped in brightly colored cards that usually consist of model sleds, handcrafted clothing, and gloves made from sealskin.

A lot of coffee is eaten and drunk during these festivals, and it is traditional for the men to take care of the women by serving them food.

These moments of celebration and sharing are called kaffemik. The table is set with many varieties of food, but what is never missing is precisely coffee accompanied by delicious cakes.

Two coffee drinks typical of American Christmas

In America, Christmas is one of the most celebrated holidays during the year. It is looked forward to with anticipation, and decorations are put up with an unbridled passion for detail. Homes are overwhelmed with illuminations and decorations of all kinds, and people compete with their neighbors for the most Christmassy garden.

Prominent among the many Christmas traditions are those related to the world of food, particularly coffee drinks. After all, it is the Americans who have spread one of the main ways of consuming coffee around the world: American takeout coffee.

Even to warm up the holidays, perhaps during a game or movie night in front of the fireplace, Americans have come up with tasty coffee drinks, such as Spiced Christmas Coffee, made with cinnamon, brandy, and cardamom, or Santa's Christmas Coffee, with cloves, cinnamon, and brown sugar.