Local Drinks

1. kaffe

   Coffee

   Usage

   Norway has one of the world's highest per-capita coffee consumptions, second only to Finland (SSB / Norsk Kaffeinformasjon). "Kaffe" on its own normally means filtered black coffee; asking for "en kaffe" in a café gets you filter coffee or an americano depending on the place. The same word also covers the coffee break itself

   Grammar Note

   Masculine noun (en kaffe, definite kaffen). The word covers the beans, the drink, a serving of it, and the light meal that goes with it

2. kokekaffe

   Boiled coffee

   Usage

   It is coarsely ground coffee put straight into boiling water. It is not filtered — the grounds settle at the bottom of the cup — and it survives as the way coffee is made in mountain cabins, on camping trips and beside a fire, sometimes called bålkaffe. You will meet the word outdoors rather than in a café

   Grammar Note

   Masculine noun (en kokekaffe, definite kokekaffen): "koke" (to boil) + "kaffe" (coffee)

3. te

   Tea

   Usage

   The word covers the dried leaves, the drink infused from them, and the light meal taken with it. Cafés normally serve it as a teabag. Herbal tea is urtete and green tea grønn te

   Grammar Note

   Masculine noun (en te, definite teen). The identically spelled verb "te (seg)" means to behave and is unrelated

4. kakao

   Cocoa, hot chocolate

   Usage

   The word covers both the cocoa beans or powder and the drink made from them with sugar and milk. It is the standard hot drink at ski areas, cabins and winter stalls; with whipped cream it is "kakao med krem". "Varm sjokolade" means the same thing

   Grammar Note

   Masculine noun (en kakao, definite kakaoen)

5. solbærtoddy

   Hot blackcurrant drink

   Usage

   It is hot blackcurrant squash. Despite the name it contains no alcohol: a plain "toddy" in Norwegian is hot water, sugar and spirits (or wine or squash), but solbærtoddy is a non-alcoholic drink for all ages, served for colds, after skiing, and outdoors in winter

   Grammar Note

   Masculine noun (en solbærtoddy, definite solbærtoddyen); "solbærtoddi" is also standard. It is "solbær" (blackcurrant) + "toddy"

6. saft

   Fruit squash or cordial

   Usage

   Not the same as English "juice". One meaning is the liquid in plants, berries and fruit, but in everyday use it means a sweetened cordial diluted with water. Supermarkets stock both concentrate (to be mixed with water) and ready-to-drink versions; solbærsaft and eplesaft are the usual flavours. Ask for "juice" if you want pure fruit juice

   Grammar Note

   Masculine noun (en saft, definite saften); the feminine ei saft / safta is also allowed

7. brus

   Fizzy soft drink

   Usage

   It is a carbonated drink with sweeteners and flavourings. The best-known Norwegian brand is the orange Solo, launched in 1934 and the country's top-selling soft drink until the 1960s. Bottles and cans carry a deposit (pant) that is refunded by the reverse-vending machines in shops. Swedish uses "läsk", not "brus"

   Grammar Note

   In the drink sense "brus" is masculine (en brus, definite brusen). A separate neuter noun "et brus" means a rushing or roaring sound

8. eplemost

   Cloudy pressed apple juice

   Usage

   It is juice pressed from apples. Hardanger is Norway's fruit-growing district and "Eplejuice frå Hardanger" holds a protected geographical indication (the registered name keeps the Nynorsk spelling "frå"). It contains no alcohol; fermented apple drink is sider, a different thing

   Grammar Note

   Masculine noun (en eplemost, definite eplemosten): "eple" (apple) + "most" (pressed juice)

9. melk

   Milk

   Usage

   Supermarkets sort it by fat: helmelk (whole), lettmelk (semi-skimmed), ekstra lett melk and skummet melk (skimmed). People go by carton colour, but the colours differ between dairies, so read the label. Bokmål writes "melk"; "mjølk" is permitted but leans Nynorsk and rarely appears on packaging

   Grammar Note

   Masculine noun (en melk, definite melken); the feminine ei melk / melka is also allowed and "melka" is common in speech

10. kulturmelk

    Cultured sour milk

    Usage

    It is milk fermented with a lactic-acid culture. It is sour, eaten at breakfast with cereal or jam, and sold in cartons that look much like milk and stand right beside it, so it is easy to pick up by mistake. Sweden's filmjölk and Denmark's kærnemælk are the equivalents under different names; kefir is a related, thicker cultured milk

    Grammar Note

    Masculine noun (en kulturmelk, definite kulturmelken), with feminine ei kulturmelk / kulturmelka also allowed: "kultur" (culture) + "melk" (milk)

11. gløgg

    Hot spiced Christmas drink

    Usage

    It is a hot Christmas drink of red wine, spirits or water with sugar, spices, almonds and raisins. The same word covers both alcoholic and alcohol-free versions; Christmas markets and cafés label the latter "alkoholfri gløgg". The alcoholic kind has to be bought at Vinmonopolet

    Grammar Note

    Masculine noun (en gløgg, definite gløggen). The identically spelled adjective "gløgg" means quick-witted and is a different word

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