First posted August 9, 2018:
I was not aware of this facet of the culture that is Finland.
From NBC News:
To Americans, drinking alone can sound, well, lonely, but the Finns see a solitary drink at home in your skivvies as a form of self-care.
Were the wicked queen from Snow White to turn to her magic mirror and ask, "Who is the happiest of them all?" it's not a stretch to imagine that the mirror would flash on a Nordic person eating cloudberries in a sauna. Scandinavia, though surely not without its problems, just seems to get so much right. Every year one of these Northern European countries tops the World Happiness Report (this year Finland cruised in at #1), driving our outsider's fascination with lifestyle trends like hygge and lagom, along with the Nordic diet in general — and now, kalsarikännit, aka päntsdrunk.Quite a bit more, including cocktail recipes
The name says it all, or most of it, anyway; päntsdrunk means to drink an alcoholic beverage in your pants — specifically your underpants, and it's picking up interest in the U.S. There's even a new book out called "Päntsdrunk: Kalsarikanni: The Finnish Path to Relaxation" by Miska Rantanen, indicating that this seemingly self-explanatory term is packed with heritage and nuances, and is rooted in a distinctly Finnish way of interacting with the world and one’s self.
“The original term for [päntsdrunk] is ‘kalsarikännit’, a tongue-in-cheek expression of a Finnish feeling, basically meaning ‘that feeling when you are going to get drunk at home, alone, in your underwear — with no intention of going out,’” says Heikki Väänänen, CEO and founder of the Finnish startup HappyOrNot. “However, nowadays many Finns throw the term around between close friends to hang out casually at home, and enjoy each other’s company in a quiet setting, with a few drinks, and, of course, sauna.”...
However, should the urge to go out strike, there are still places where you can find what was once a dominant social and/or recreational activity:....
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