FACTS ABOUT COFFEE
  • An average chocolate bar contains 30 milligrams of caffeine; a cup of coffee contains 100-150 milligrams of caffeine.
  • According to a Harvard study involving 20,000 participants, regular coffee drinkers compared to non-coffee drinkers showed 1/3 fewer symptoms of asthma.
  • A scientific report issued at the University of California claims that the steam rising from one cup of coffee contains as much antioxidants as that of three oranges. Antioxidants contain heterocyclic compounds that inhibit cancer and heart disease. It’s good for you!
  • Some human body studies have shown that the body can absorb up to 300 milligrams of caffeine at any given time, which is about 4 normal-size cups. More than that is eliminated, and does not give additional stimulation. In addition, the human body uses up 20% of the caffeine in the system per hour.
  • Every year 400 billion cups of coffee are consumed, making it the world’s most popular drink.
  • Coffee lover Beethoven was so particular about his coffee that he used exactly 60 beans for every cup he prepared.
  • Until the end of the 1800s, people would roast coffee at home. The favorite way was to use popcorn pots and stovetop frying pans.
  • In the early years of the United States, coffee was generally consumed between meals or after the evening meal.
  • Dark roasted coffees actually have less caffeine than medium roasted coffees. The longer coffee is roasted the more caffeine is lost.
  • It takes five years after planting for a coffee bean to bear fruit.
  • The Turks started grinding and roasting coffee in the 14th Century and 300 years later in the 1600s they were the main distributors of coffee on the world market.
  • In some parts of Africa they soak coffee beans in water and spices and chew them like candy.
  • Adding milk to coffee became popular after a French doctor in the 1680s recommended it for medical reasons.
  • In Europe coffee was first known as “Arab wine”. The word “coffee” derives from the Arabic word for it, “kahwa”.
  • Jamaica Blue Mountain is generally regarded as the world’s finest coffee.
  • Japan is the world’s third biggest coffee-consuming country.
  • Australians have increased their coffee consumption six-fold since 1940, and now consume 60% more coffee than tea.
  • In the 16th Century, if the family of a Turkish woman’s husband were unable to keep a full store of coffee in the cupboard, she would divorce.
  • Scandinavians drink 11.97 kilograms of coffee annually per person, making them world leader in coffee consumption. As for the Italians they drink only 4.5 kilograms per person per year.
  • Companies that started to produce decaffeinated coffee then began selling the removed caffeine to pharmaceutical companies.
  • After coffee beans have been roasted and start to cool, the steam releases about 700 chemical ingredients.
  • Depending on the soil and climate, one Arab coffee tree can produce about 5.44 kilograms per year.
  • Some green coffee beans can be stored for years without roasting and experts believe that if stored properly they gain in quality over time.
  • Before the first French coffeehouse opened at the end of the 1700s, Arab street sellers in Europe sold coffee in the Arab style. The Arabs were the forerunners of today’s espresso wagons.
  • Caffeine is one of the forbidden substances listed by the International Olympic Committee. Athletes whose urine contains more than 12 micrograms of caffeine per liter are liable for removal from Olympic competitions. This level can be reached by drinking 5 cups of coffee.
  • Citrus fruit flavors have been added to coffee for hundreds of years.
  • The highest degree and at the same time the least degree of the use of coffee as a medicine was in England in the 1600s. Strange mechanical medical devices were being used to make a mixture of coffee, hot butter, honey and oil for treating patient. Very soon after that tea had replaced coffee as the national drink.
  • Coffee beans display a similarity to wine grapes in terms of the impact of temperature, soil, elevation, rainfall, dryness and level of ripeness when harvested.
  • Generally coffee is roasted within a temperature range of 204o - 218o C. If roasted too long it tends to scorch. It is usually roasted for 10-20 minutes.
  • Coffee is rated according to three criteria: quality of the bean (height and species), quality of preparation and size of the bean.
  • The coffee raised in over 45 countries is traded globally.
  • Coffee actually owes its popularity to how well it complements almost every sweet dessert.
  • Coffee sacks are usually made of hemp and when filled with green coffee beans weigh about 60 kilograms.
  • Coffee trees do not shed their leaves and can grow over 4.7 meters high, but normally in order to make the harvesting of the beans easier, they are cut back to about 2.44 meters.
  • A grove of coffee trees is self-pollinating.
  • The flowers of the coffee tree have a very pleasant aroma resembling something between jasmine and orange. When these flowers open, coffee beans the size of small berries appear. It takes 4-5 years to get a trade harvest.
  • Coffee, along with beer and fruit oil, is on the list of the “10 most distinct aromas.”
  • Coffee is second only to petrol in percentage share of commodities on the world market.
  • After the roasting of coffee beans that are to be flavored for the trade, they are partially cooled to 38o C. Then when the pores of the beans have opened, making them more absorbent, the flavors are added.
  • If the coffee beans have been thoroughly ground and prepared with boiling water, this is known as “Turkish Coffee”. Today it is still made in this way in Turkey and Greece or wherever Turkish Coffee is served.
  • Flavored oils that are used for making flavored coffee are added to the coffee beans immediately following the roasting process.
  • Frederick the Great used to take his coffee with champagne and a little mustard.
  • “Hard Bean” refers to coffee that is grown at over 1,500 meters above sea level.
  • Ice coffee has been popular in Japan since 1945.
  • Espresso is such a basic need in daily life in Italy that the government sets the price.
  • Shops that sell coffee in Japan are called “Kissaten”.
  • Arabs started to plant coffee in the 14th Century. The first trade coffee in Arab territory was planted and harvested near the port of Yemen.
  • In 1763, there were more than 200 coffee shops in Venice.
  • Of all the coffee flavorings Irish cream and hazelnut are among the most popular.
  • An extremely high dose of coffee could cause death. One hundred cups in four hours can kill the average human being.
  • 90o C water is used in most modern coffee-making methods.
  • October 1 is official Coffee Day in Japan.
  • Coffee beans that are being roasted too long can easily catch fire.
  • 2000 ripened, hand-picked Arabica coffee fruits are normally needed to make approximately 450 grams of roasted coffee. Since there are two beans in every fruit, 4000 coffee beans are needed to make 450 grams of roasted coffee.
  • Arabica is an original coffee plant. In Ethiopia it still grows in the wild. The Arabica coffee tree does not drop its leaves and wild trees can grow 4-6.10 meters high.
  • It is generally accepted that the Arabs were the first to make coffee.
  • The small quasi-fluid oily particles in coffee, which give coffee its aroma, are the source for making coffee essence or coffee oil.
  • People in Italy whose job is coffee preparation are on average 48 years of age. This is a highly respected job in Italy.
  • An American adult consumes an average of 100 liters of coffee annually, in other words, over 400 cups.
  • In 1908, the coffee filter was invented by a German housewife named Melitta Benz who used a can covered with blotting paper to filter the ground coffee.
  • One coffee bean will bear its first harvest in about 5 years. After that it will produce continuously for the next 15-20 years.
  • Europeans first put chocolate in their coffee during the 1600s.
  • The Arabs, who are the first coffee drinkers, flavor their coffee with spices added while the coffee is on the fire.
  • The first commercial espresso machine was manufactured in Italy in 1906.
  • The first café in Paris to serve coffee opened in 1689.
  • It is said that French philosopher Voltaire drank 50 cups of coffee per day.
  • Most of the coffees prepared for consumers are from mixtures of many different coffee varieties.
  • The word 'Capuccino' stems from several versions of it that originated in the 16th Century. The Capuchin monastic order that emerged after 1525 played an important role in steering Reformist Europe back to Catholicism. The Italian name is derived from the long three-pointed hoods, or “capuccino”, of the traditional robes of the order. The French word “capuccin” comes from the English word “capuchin”. In Italian, capuccino means an espresso made with milk and cream or with milk or cream added to it; this is because the color resembles that of the Capuchins’ traditional dress. The first use of “capuccino” in English was recorded in a document about San Francisco. It is also said that the points on the mound of thick foam on top of the coffee recalls the monks’ traditional hoods.
  • The English are sophisticated people in most ways – except for their preferences in coffee. They still pour boiling water onto the instant coffee and drink it.