14 Interesting Things About Coffee

Many of us start our day with a cup or even a whole pot of coffee.How much do you know about coffee? Here are 14 interesting things about coffee you might not know.

2. In the beginning, coffee was not drunk at all, but eaten: Africans used fat to shape coffee fruits into balls and then eat them.

3. The spread of Islam has made coffee more popular — alcohol was banned, but coffee was okay.

4. There is a so-called “bean belt” that goes around the globe once. Outside of this “belt,” the coffee plant does not grow.

5. The King of England banned coffeehouses in England in 1675 because, in his opinion, people only meet there to concoct conspiracies against him.

6. Coffee grows on trees that can grow up to 30 feet but are bred so they do not grow taller than three feet.

7. Hawaii is the only country in the US where coffee grows.

8. Coffee is the second most traded commodity in the world. The most-traded commodity is oil.

9. Coffee beans are plowed and dried, after which you remove the bean, which is roasted at about 500 degrees Fahrenheit. After a few minutes, the bean makes a “pop” and gets twice as big, the same is repeated after a few minutes. Then the bean is ready.

10. A Belgian named George Washington invented instant coffee in Guatemala in 1906

11. Espresso is not a particular kind of coffee, the bean and the roast are like other types of coffee. The only difference is the preparation — a lot of pressure on the bean, hot water with finely ground coffee.

12. The Americano comes from American WWII soldiers who drank an espresso with water because of the strong aroma.

13. How caffeine works: In the human brain, there is something called adenosine that “only” depends on certain receptors. When the two come together, one becomes sleepy. But when caffeine is added, the receptors connect from adenosine to caffeine, not adenosine. The brain reports a problem, and thus it produces adrenaline.

14. The most expensive coffee in the world, the Kopi Luwak (“cat coffee”), usually costs more than 300 euros per kilo. The coffee fruits are plowed by coffee farmers and then fed to cats, which bear the fruits. The enzymes in the cat’s stomach act on the bean and enhance its taste. Since the cat cannot digest the bean, she excretes it again, and the coffee farmers clean the bean and roast it, then sell it.

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