The Great Swedish Coffee Prohibition
Work through vocabulary and idioms, explore cultural context, dive into grammar, then test yourself with the quiz below.
00Read Along
Follow the story sentence by sentence. Hover or tap any line to reveal the English translation, or show them all at once.
à ret Àr sjuttonhundranittiofyra och en iskall marsvind viner genom Gamla Stans trÄnga grÀnder.
Det Àr mörkt ute men bakom en tung trÀdörr i en hemlig lönnkrog fladdrar stearinljusen.
HÀr inne sitter folk och begÄr ett sjukt allvarligt brott.
De dricker kaffe.
PÄ den hÀr tiden var kaffe strÀngt förbjudet i Sverige, eftersom kungen var helt sÀker pÄ att det var ett livsfarligt gift.
Myndigheterna tvingade folk att lÀmna in sina dyra kopparkannor och polisen var stÀndigt pÄ jakt efter kaffedrickare.
Men svenskarna vÀgrade ju att ge upp sin Àlskade dryck.
IstÀllet fixade de mörka och hemliga kaffehus djupt nere i kÀllarna.
Plötsligt hörs tunga fotsteg utanför dörren, och stÀmningen i rummet blir helt iskall.
Kungens vakter dundrar in genom dörren med ett jÀkla ovÀsen.
Folk skriker, vÀlter sina stolar och försöker febrilt gömma de varma kopparna under borden.
En kvinna borta i hörnet hÀller snabbt ut sitt kaffe i en blomkruka.
Vakterna haffar Àgaren, men doften av nyrostade bönor dröjer sig kvar i den fuktiga luften.
Sveriges farligaste och mest Àlskade dryck överlevde trots allt kungens förbud.
01Vocabulary & Idioms
Flip vocabulary cards for meaning and context, then review practical idioms used in real conversations.
#1 · Click to flip
lönnkrog
Vocabulary
#2 · Click to flip
förbud
Vocabulary
#3 · Click to flip
gift
Vocabulary
02Cultural Notes
đKaffeförbudet (The Coffee Prohibition)
In the 18th century, Sweden banned coffee on five separate occasions. King Gustav III was convinced coffee was a deadly poison, which led to a black market of secret coffee houses called 'lönnkrogar'. Authorities confiscated coffee equipment and the police hunted for coffee drinkers, but the bans were ultimately unsuccessful and inadvertently helped establish the foundation for Sweden's modern coffee-centric 'fika' culture.
03Grammar Deep-Dive
Complex Sentence
âHĂ€r inne sitter folk och begĂ„r ett sjukt allvarligt brott.â
This sentence demonstrates the 'V2' (verb-second) word order rule in Swedish main clauses. The sentence begins with an adverbial phrase, 'HĂ€r inne' (In here). In Swedish, when a main clause starts with an element other than the subject, the finite verb must occupy the second position. Here, the verb 'sitter' (are sitting) is in the second position, followed by the subject 'folk' (people). The structure is [Adverbial] [Verb] [Subject].
04Comprehension Quiz
Complete Section 1 (Active Listening) and Section 2 (Reading Comprehension), then check your score.
Section 1
Active Listening
Q1.Why was coffee forbidden in Sweden according to the story?
Q2.During the raid, what did a woman do to hide the evidence of her coffee drinking?
Q3.What happened to the owner of the secret coffee house (lönnkrog)?
Section 2
Reading Comprehension
Q4.What is a 'lönnkrog'?
Q5.The Swedish word 'gift' can be confusing for English speakers. In the context of the story about King Gustav III, what does 'gift' mean?
Q6.What historical period does the story take place in?