National Coffee Day in Portugal

The origin of the date is unknown, being celebrated in various countries on different dates, with April 14 established as the global celebration. This date became rooted in the world over the years, but in 2015, the International Coffee Organization and its 74 member states and 26 coffee associations decided to celebrate the first official International Coffee Day on October 1, 2015.

In Portugal, coffee is known as bica or cimbalino, according to the region where we order the coffee.

If we are in Lisbon, the traditional term for espresso is bica, an acronym that stands for "Drink This With Sugar." When it started being sold in Lisbon, in the café "A Brasileira", the coffee didn't please the Lisboans, and so the slogan was created, so that people would add sugar to the coffee. Already in Porto you should order a cimbalino, as a reference to La Cimbali, the popular brand of coffee machines.

The Portuguese are among the Europeans who consume less coffee. On average, a Portuguese person consumes 4 kilos of coffee a year, which is equivalent to 2.2 cups a day.