It’s National Coffee Day, and there is a national flag out there in the world that features a cup of coffee along with a cuckoo bird.
Which should tell you that the Republic of Önneköp, the micronation that flies this flag, is no ordinary place.
It’s a village in southern Sweden that is also a micronation, a very tongue-in-cheek one by all accounts, but a pretty well established one; it declared its independence from Sweden a couple decades ago.
By the way, I’ve heard the name pronounced “OH-nuh-SHOP,” and this micronation definitely has more umlauts than any other.
Önneköp is home to a couple hundred people, about a quarter of whom are considered government ministers.
I’ve also read that some residents are part of a secret military force but don’t know it; that’s how secret it is!
The guy behind the small country is its culture minister, Arnold Wernersson; it’s been reported that he legally changed his name to Arnold the Adventurer.
Önneköp is more or less headquartered out of his museum, which is a museum about the history of human cannibalism (!)
So it may be that a lot of the national effort is centered on the museum and encouraging people to check it out.
But there’s also the national flag, which has red, white, blue and green sections.
The black silhouettes of a coffee cup and a cuckoo bird represent the national drink, which is known in English as “cuckoo-coffee.”
It’s hot coffee and vodka, which is very on brand for this place.
And while it’s official Önneköp policy that a drink like this will never lead a person into mischief, once in a while things happen.
According to Atlas Obscura, in 2012 two members of the local air force parachuted into a neighboring town’s carnival in the hopes of making it theirs.
The carnivalgoers took this all in stride; I guess with Önneköp everything is done in fun, even the invasions.
These days every barista and/or TikToker seems to have a special way to make coffee.
Back in 2019, the Chinese chain Mellower Coffee made a splash with something called Sweet Little Rain.
Above a hot Americano coffee in a big mug, they place a stand that holds a large serving of cotton candy.
The steam from the coffee rises up and makes the spun sugar “melt” down as if it was raining sweetness, like the name suggests.
This takes time to play out, so you can’t rush your way through your order.
Önneköp (Arnold’s Cannibal Museum)
Republic of Önneköp (Atlas Obscura)
Magical Cup of Coffee Comes with Floating Cotton Candy Cloud That “Rains” Sugar (My Modern Met)
For less than the cost of a cup of coffee a month you can support our show on Patreon
