Interesting Coffee Facts
Interesting Facts about Coffee
1.Coffee is the second most traded commodity on earth.
According to the Global Exchange, there are approximately 25 million farmers in over 50 countries involved in producing coffee. The number one commodity? Oil.
2.In Italian espresso means "when something is forced out."
This refers to the way espresso is made — forcing boiling water through pressed coffee grounds. And, although espresso has more caffeine per volume than coffee, because it's consumed in smaller quantities, it actually has about a third of the amount of caffeine as a regular cup of coffee.
3.Coffee was the first food to be freeze-dried.
The process of freeze drying — when fresh foods are placed in a dryer where temperatures drop to negative 40 degrees F — first started during World War II to preserve foods.
4.There are two types of coffee beans: Arabica and Robusta.
Seventy percent of coffee beans are Arabica. Although less popular, Robusta is slightly more bitter and has twice as much caffeine.
5.The majority of coffee is produced in Brazil.
Brazil produces 40% of the world's coffee, which is twice as much as 2nd and 3rd place holders, Colombia and Vietnam.
6.Hawaii is the only state in the U.S. that commercially grows coffee.
Kona coffee is the United States' gift to the coffee world. Because coffee grows best in climates along the equator, Hawaii's weather is optimal for harvesting coffee beans.
7.Coffee was originally a food.
Coffee berries were mixed with fat to create an energy-rich snack ball. It was also consumed as a wine when made from the pulp of coffee berries.
8.Coffee is actually a fruit.
Coffee beans as we know them are actually the pits of a cherry-like berry that are grown on bushes. Even though coffee is actually a seed, it's called a bean because of its resemblance to actual beans.
9.The world's most expensive coffee is $600 a pound.
And it comes from the faeces of a Sumatran wild cat. The animal — called a Luwak — is unable to digest coffee beans. In the process of digesting the beans, they are fermented in the stomach. When the beans are excreted, they produce a smooth, chocolaty coffee.
10.You can overdose on coffee.
However, you would need to drink over 100 cups to consume the lethal dose of caffeine.
11.New Yorkers drink almost seven times as much coffee as the rest of the U.S.
However, Finland is the most caffeinated country, where the average adult consumes the equivalent of four or five cups of coffee a day.
12.Coffee drinkers have a lower risk of Alzheimer's disease.
Researchers found that older patients with high levels of caffeine in their blood were more likely to avoid Alzheimer's. Studies have also shown that caffeine has positive effects on type 2 diabetes and Parkinson's disease. It has also been shown to protect against skin cancer in women.
13.Coffee stays warmer when you add cream.
Coffee with added cream cools about 20% slower than plain black coffee.
14.But when you add milk, it weakens the effects of caffeine.
Our bodies absorb coffee much slower when it has added fat milk content, which decreases the stimulants.
15.The largest cup of coffee ever was brewed in July 2014 in South Korea.
It was over 3,700 gallons. The largest iced coffee was brewed in Las Vegas in 2010 and was 1,500 gallons — ice not included.
16.Coffee was brought to New Amsterdam (present day New York City) in the mid-1600s.
However, it didn't become very popular until after the Boston Tea Party in 1773. The Civil War and other conflicts helped boost the popularity of coffee.
17.George Washington invented instant coffee.
Not that Washington. Chemist George Constant Washington experimented with dried coffee before he created Red E Coffee — the first brand name instant coffee.
18.Just smelling coffee can wake you up.
A group of scientists reported that simply inhaling the aroma of coffee can alter the activity of some genes in the brain, reducing the effects of sleep deprivation. And when you do drink that cup of coffee, caffeine reaches your blood fast, like 10 minutes fast.
19.Dark roast coffees have less caffeine than lighter roasts.
Even though the flavour is often stronger, roasting actually burns off some of the caffeine.
20.Decaf does not mean caffeine-free.
An eight-ounce brewed cup of decaf coffee actually has two-to-12 milligrams of caffeine. In comparison, a regular cup of coffee has anywhere from 95 to 200 milligrams. (Twelve ounces of coke only has 23-35 milligrams of caffeine.)
21.In the United States, 80% of adults consume caffeine every day.
According to the Food and Drug Administration, the average intake is 200 milligrams, or about two five-ounce cups of coffee.
22.Americans consume 400 million cups of coffee per day.
This is the equivalent to 146 billion cups each year, making the U.S. the leading consumer of coffee.
23.The average worker spends $20 a week on coffee.
That totals nearly $1,100 annually.
24.The original definition of coffee means "wine."
Coffee's original name, qahwah, came from the Yemen term for wine. In Turkey it was called kahveh, until the Dutch referred to it as koffie, where we get the English coffee.
25. Can you believe that they actually tried to ban coffee (even in Italy!!) Here is a quick breakdown of why and when….
- MECCA
Coffee was banned in Mecca in 1511, as it was believed to stimulate radical thinking and hanging out — the governor thought it might unite his opposition. Java also got a bad rap for its use as a stimulant — some Sufi sects would pass around a bowl of coffee at funerals to stay awake during prayers.
- ITALY
When coffee arrived in Europe in the 16th century, clergymen pressed for it to be banned and labelled Satanic. But Pope Clement VIII took a taste, declared it delicious, and even quipped that it should be baptized. On the strength of this papal blessing, coffeehouses rapidly sprang up throughout Europe.
- CONSTANTINOPLE
After Murad IV claimed the Ottoman throne in 1623, he quickly forbade coffee and set up a system of reasonable penalties. The punishment for a first offense was a beating. Anyone caught with coffee a second time was sewn into a leather bag and thrown into the waters of the Bosporus.
- LONDON
In 1675 London, coffee was at the centre in a war between the sexes. Women, you see, are barred from most male gatherings. So, if their men weren't at work or the pub, they were spending time at coffeehouses - everywhere and anywhere but home. In fact, women surmised that coffee encouraged their men to drink more liquor. Hell hath no fury! So women circulate a petition entitled, "The Women's Petition against Coffee," which stated that coffee made their men impotent and was creating a "very sensible decay of that true Old English vigour." -- Coffee creates lazy, flaccid lovers?? I say Poppycock!
The men of England shoot back, as men are apt to do, with "The Men's Answer to the Women's Petition against Coffee" claiming quite bluntly that coffee made their erections "more vigorous," the Ejaculation more full." Good show, old boys! If you'd like to read this battle in full with all of its old world charm click here.
Around this same time, though thoroughly unrelated to the lascivious claims of the warring sexes, King Charles II orders England's coffee houses closed. Charles, it seems, is afraid of a war of a different kind: revolt. Coffee houses breed the kind of talk and ideas that might run counter to his royal rule. Protests are so severe Charles' coffee ban lasts only eleven days.
- SWEDEN
Sweden gave coffee the axe in 1746. The government also banned “coffee paraphernalia” — with cops confiscating cups and dishes. King Gustav III even ordered convicted murderers to drink coffee while doctors monitored how long the cups of joe took to kill them, which was great for convicts and boring for the doctors.
- PRUSSIA
In 1777, Frederick the Great of Prussia issued a manifesto claiming beer’s superiority over coffee. He argued that coffee interfered with the country’s beer consumption, apparently hoping a royal statement would make Prussians eager for an eye-opening brew each morning. Frederick’s statement proclaimed, “His Majesty was brought up on beer,” explaining why he thought breakfast drinking was a good idea.