The Italian term caffè sospeso can be translated into English as “suspended coffee” or “pending coffee”. The mysterious term refers to an old tradition from Naples: someone who got lucky would pay for two cups of coffee in cafés but drink only one of them. Afterward, someone living in poverty could ask for a sospeso, that is, the coffee paid in advance by the unknown benefactor and have a coffee free of charge. The tradition claims to have a 100-year-old history, although, it lived its heyday during hard times and became less widespread in periods when the population lived in relative economic prosperity. Nowadays, following the 2008 financial crisis, the phenomenon experiences a revival and even crossed the borders of Italy. There has been reports of caffè sospeso in Bulgaria, Canada, Australia, the US and... Hungary as well.+1 Coffee Movement
If we translate caffè sospeso into Hungarian we encounter a small problem: the literal translation sounds strange. Literally it is “felfüggesztett kávé”, but for some reason this is not working in Hungarian. Therefore, when this new form of charity appeared in Hungary, some of the people involved in the movement realized that they need a more catchy word for it. They settled for ”Adj egyet ajándékba!” i.e. „Give one as a present!” which certainly sounds better than the above mentioned literal translation.
Not just coffee
Interestingly, the suspended coffee phenomenon did not stay within the walls of Hungarian cafés. Not long after the first suspended coffees were served for people in need, cafés started to expand the offer for sospeso – you could buy extra sandwiches, shakes or whole meals. And once this happened, there was no stopping – today you can even buy extra haircuts or theatre tickets. Those places which participate in sospeso charity are scattered throughout Budapest, but you can find them with the help of a searchable map on the website of the movement. (www.adjegyetajandekba.hu) Places that participate has the following sticker on their door:Grassroot charity
Some consider the “suspended coffee” movement to be the symbol for grassroot charity. Its peculiarity lies in its twofold nature: it is personal and impersonal at the same time. It is personal because it is you who buys the extra coffee/shake/haircut, but it is also impersonal in the sense that your identity remains in the shadow. I also believe that it is not just giving away from the perspective of the grantor, but to a certain extent it is a new form of sharing without the limitations of space and...time. Highly-populated, urbanized city life is strongly characterized by a feeling of constant lack of time. Possibly, one of the reasons behind the popularity of the movement is precisely that sospeso offers a simple, comfortable way of charity which do not demand any extra time from the grantor – just extra money.
If you become interested in the movement you might also want to check out their facebook page: Suspended Coffee Magyarország
Alexandra Medzibrodszky, Hungary, History
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