20 facts about coffee you didn’t know!
We like to think we are wisened to the world of coffee, we think we know our beans.
For the most part, we know exactly what we are talking about, that’s what comes with over 15 years of experience.
Except we didn’t know everything, and we don’t expect you to either, we learn things about coffee every single day that blow our minds.
If you think you’re a ‘coffee expert’ prepare to learn a few things…here’s 20 facts about coffee you might not have known before!
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Giddy goats
Coffee was originally discovered in Ethiopia around 800AD after farmers saw that goats were prancing around after eating what we now know were coffee cherries.
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Let me Finnish
The country that consumes the most coffee is actually Finland, where the average per person consumption is a whopping 12kg per year!
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Sold by the bag
Wholesale coffee is sold in ‘bags’, with a bag containing 60kg of fresh beans.
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Key world export
Brazil might be the world’s biggest exporter of coffee at 55 million bags in 2016, but it’s actually Vietnam that comes in second with some 25 million bags being exported in the same year.
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Cryogenic coffee
The first food to be given the ‘freeze-dried’ treatment to increase lifespan was actually coffee! This started during World War II to help preserve foods for longer.
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Petrol power
Only petrol is traded more than coffee on the world commodity markets.
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Wake up and smell the coffee
Coffee is most effective if consumed between 9:30 am and 11:30 am, and globally we consume almost 2.25 billion cups of the stuff every single day!
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Beans, beans the musical fruit
Coffee beans aren’t officially ‘beans’, instead, as they come from a fruit, they are actually fruit pits.
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Death before Decaf
Decaffeinated coffee is not technically ‘caffeine-free’, instead it contains anywhere from 2-12 milligrams of caffeine per cup, conversely standard coffee contains anywhere from 95 to 200mg per cup.
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Monks
One of the most popular coffee drinks, the ‘Cappuccino‘ takes its name from the resemblance of the drink to the clothing worn by the Capuchin monks.
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Stay hydrated
Contrary to what you might have heard in the part (or present) coffee does not dehydrate the drinker…so drink up!
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Thirsty beans
On average it takes 140 litres of water to grow, process and then make a single cup of coffee.
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Caffeine boost
Whilst there is more caffeine per unit in an espresso than most other coffee drinks because it’s often diluted with milk or water, the total caffeine content is less than a standard filter brew coffee.
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Chewy coffee
The first Ethiopian farmers and tribes that noticed the effect of coffee actually chewed the beans instead of brewing and drinking the drink we now know as coffee.
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Barista’s nightmare
Beethoven was so particular about his coffee, that he insisted each cup be made with exactly 60 beans. A barista’s worst nightmare!
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Lethal dose
You can actually overdose on coffee, but it would take well over 100 cups to reach a lethal dosage.
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Dark Roast
Darker roasted coffee actually has less caffeine than lighter roasts as the roasting process burns off some of the caffeine content.
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Wine
Coffee’s originals name, qahwah, comes from the Yemeni term for wine. In Turke, it was called kahveh, until the Dutch referred to it as koffie, where we get the English term coffee.
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World’s most expensive
Kopi Luwak is often quoted as being the most expensive coffee in the world, often costing around $50 per cup, and is coffee beans from the poo of the cat-like Civet. We’ve spoken about this before – in which we lambasted the treatment of captive Civets. If you happen to buy Kopi Luwak, please ensure it’s from wild Civets!
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G.I. Joe
American G.I. Joes during World War II drunk so much coffee that the drink soon became known as a ‘cup of Joe’.
Did you learn anything? If you have then feel free to share this article with your most knowledgable coffee-drinking mates!