Coffee beans are actually the pits of a berry
Consuming too much alcohol a night prior often results in a hangover the next morning. Our brains sometimes can’t keep up for us to produce efficient work. Family get-togethers on cold nights often feel like missing something. There is a single solution to all these problems; Coffee.
We are addicted to this wonder of nature and can’t live without it. It energizes and refreshes us to efficient levels and makes us feel cozy and warm on cold nights. But do we know enough about it? Here are fifteen interesting coffee facts that you probably did not know.
It’s a Fruit
You read that right. Unlike tea that is leaves, coffee is a fruit. The coffee beans are pits of a berry that grows on bushes. There are red and green coffee beans with different characteristics. The red beans are comparatively less acidic and have a nicer smell. Red coffee beans result in lighter coffees. Decaffeinated coffee is extracted by making coffee beans go through a chemical process that takes the caffeine out.
A Goat Herder Discovered it
Yirgacheffe, a region in Ethiopia, is said to be the birthplace of coffee. It is believed that in 1500 A.D, an Ethiopian goat herder saw his goats eating coffee berries. He observed a change in the goats’ behavior as they saw a boost of energy and did not sleep that night. The herder told his local monks about it, who studied the cherries and used their pits to prepare a drink for themselves that allowed them to stay up all night and pray. The coffee then reached all parts of the world and, like everything else, got commercialized.
Car-Puccino
There is a 1988 Volkswagen Scirocco that runs on coffee grounds. It is not that big of a stretch as there are vehicles fueled by chocolate and poo. The carbon content in coffee runs its motors, and it was designed by the team of BBC science show, Bang Goes The Theory. The car needs a kilo of ground coffee to run each three miles and has an impressive (considering it runs on coffee) top speed of 60 mph. It can be 25 to 50 times more costly than the cars that run on gasoline, though.
Quit Coffee for a Year to Save for an iPhone
On average, Americans spend around $20 on coffee every week. That is $1092 a year. Young people spend more on coffee than older people. The Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max is currently priced at $1099. The choice is yours.
The Big Four
The four biggest coffee-roasting companies buy around 50% of all the coffee produced in the world. They are Nestle, Kraft, P&G, and Sara Lee.
Banned in Mecca
In 1511, soon after its discovery, the city of Mecca banned coffee consumption. It was believed by the authorities that it promotes idleness and encourages radical thinking.
A Little Behind Crude Oil
Coffee is the second-most traded commodity in the world after crude oil. It is worth over $100 billion globally and is the second most popular drink after water.
It Funded Olympic Athletes
In 1932, the economic conditions of Brazil did not allow the country to afford to send its athletes to the Olympics. What it did instead was to send them with a ship full of coffee that they sold along their journey to the United States, the 1932 Olympics host, to earn funds.
Coffee Invented the Webcam
Some researchers at the Cambridge University were so afraid that their coffee pot in the computer lab would get emptied during their absence. They invented the world’s first webcam to monitor it while away. It reminds us of Jennifer Lopez’s iconic green Versace dress being the reason for creating Google Image Search.
One of the interesting facts about coffee is that the most expensive coffee costs $600 a pound
$600 Cat Poop
The most expensive coffee comes from Indonesia that is made from the coffee beans that are digested by the Asian Palm Civet. It is a mammal in the cat species that ‘Kopi Luwak’ producers love. A pound of Kopi Luwak costs $600. Which of the two facts deter you more from it?
Beethoven
Beethoven loved coffee as much as we love his compositions. Probably more, as he would ensure 60 beans per cup before brewing his drink.
Bad Coffee Accounting for Divorces
In ancient Arab culture, a husband not being able to provide fresh, good quality coffee to his wife was considered as a valid ground for the wife filing for a divorce. The culture is still there but restricted to very limited parts of the country. And yes, it is the same country where coffee was once banned.
Cream or Cold?
If you are not a fan of cream in your coffee and like your drink to stay hot for a longer period, you would have to change your preference. Cream in the coffee helps it stay warm for a 20% longer duration.
Only Hawaii
Hawaii is the only state in America that grows coffee. The berry crop requires high altitudes (higher than 1300 meters above the sea level), low temperatures, tropical conditions, and nutritious soil to grow well. The continental United States has diverse and rich landscapes, but Hawaii is the only state suitable for growing coffee, and it is not the best in the world either. Very recently, some farms in California have started growing coffee bushes, but Hawaii has been growing the crop since before it was even a state.
A cup in 4.35 Seconds
Andre Ortolf is a Guinness world record holder from Germany who consumed a cup of coffee in just 4.35 seconds. And here we are, sipping it slowly to savor every bit of it.
There are two different species of plants that produce coffee. One is Arabica, originally cultivated in the Arabian Peninsula, and the other is Robusta, which has a higher amount of caffeine. Last year 25.56-million 60-kilogram bags of coffee were consumed in the United States. Europe imports more coffee than America or any other continent in the world. Brazil is the biggest exporter of coffee in the world. Reading interesting coffee facts is as fun as drinking it, isn’t it?
Be sure to shop Two Bit Rush Coffee Roasters' coffees. We offer a selection of single origin coffees, curated blends, and flavored coffees. Roasted daily and delivered fresh.
