National Coffee Day in Switzerland

It's a little known fact - the Swiss export more coffee than chocolate and cheese. Coffee in Switzerland has been around for a very long time. Even in the 17th-century, coffee houses in Geneva and Neuchâtel were famous, and since the country is a melting pot of different cultures, the country picked up the tradition. Coffee culture: Coffee is served in Swiss restaurants, but only at the end of a meal, in real cups, and small sizes. Do not order a milky coffee concoction at this juncture. That's so American.

The Swiss drink a lot of espresso based milk drinks. Filter coffee is shunned as a weak drink. They also drink a lot of 'kaffee-crème', a long coffee pulled from the espresso machine. They drink between 2-5 cups a day and spend around $25-50 a week on coffee in cafés.

Marking the long and unique history of the drink is National Coffee Day on September 28. The day was first celebrated in Japan in 1983, and is now celebrated globally as a way to promote fair trade coffee and raise awareness for the plight of the coffee farmers.