Our first International guest comes from Canada! Specifically the city of Red Deer, North of Calgary in the Province of Alberta. He is furthering his education at a local hospital and we are enjoying his company. He is part of a medical team that makes yearly trips to Guatemala and Mongolia helping with some of the medical problems there. While in Guatemala, he learned about a local coffee grower on a plantation- and he shared a few facts with us... Did you know that Coffee bushes produce a cherry that encases one or two beans and a liquid called Kahlua? Or that the light roast of coffee beans contain the most caffeine? Here are a few more fun facts!
#1 Coffee Is Actually A Fruit!
That's right, coffee beans are actually the pits of berries. The coffee berries, sometimes called coffee cherries, are an edible fruit that have coffee beans inside. They are only called 'beans' because of their resemblance to beans.
Did you know you were actually drinking fruit when you were throwing back those lattes? It explains why the Brazilian acai berry shares so many properties with the coffee 'bean'.
#2 Hawaii is the Only U.S. State That Commercially Grows Coffee
Coffee tends to grow better at equatorial climates, so you can't really grow coffee in the contiguous United States. Hawaii, however, has an optimal climate for harvesting java beans.
Hawaii is known for their Kona coffee which is widely exported and popular around the world. As if people in Hawaii didn't have it good enough, they have some of the world's most beautiful beaches and some of the world's best coffee!
#3 It used to be custom in Turkey that if a husband did not provide his wife with coffee, it was grounds for divorce
"Until death or lack of quality coffee beans do you part?" This is an odd requirement, no doubt, but it sort of makes sense, and we bet the required coffee drinking makes for a much happier marriage, anyway!
Thankfully this custom isn't practiced anymore today. Now we live in a world of equality where husbands and wives alike should do the right thing and make coffee for their spouse. Ever made a single cup of coffee for yourself while your significant other was home? Then you've probably also suffered the consequences . . .
#4 Despite what most people think, an espresso has 1/3 the caffeine of a cup of coffee due to serving sizes
Consider throwing a double- or triple-shot into your favorite beverage, because just one might not cut it for the more hardcore caffeine addicts. Or you could make a Red Eye- a shot of espresso inside a cup of coffee, or as we like to call it, beanception.
Some people actually prefer drinking espresso to drip-coffee or French press for that very reason: you can actually control your own caffeine consumption. So if you're reaching for that late night cup of coffee, try an Americana with 1 shot instead of a whole cup of coffee, you'll sleep much sounder.
#5 Brazil is the world's biggest producer of coffee by a wide margin, followed by Vietnam and Colombia
In fact, in 2011 Brazil produced nearly twice as much as Vietnam and Colombia combined and a third of all of the coffee produced in the entire world. This statistic has remained fairly constant for the last 150 years!
Brazil is also one of the only countries on earth that grows both Arabica and Robusta beans. It should come as no surprise that Brazil is the number one exporter of coffee in the world, and coffee makes up a decent chunk of Brazil's whole economy.
#6 Coffee is a Major Commodity
In fact, coffee is the #2 most traded commodity on earth, coming only second to oil! On the NYBOT stock exchange coffee futures are one of the most popular commodities.
Coffee consumption is actually great for the developing world, because 90% of coffee farming happens in developing countries, while most coffee is consumed in the developed world. The coffee trade funnels money from richer countries to poor countries.
#7 There Are Two Kinds of Beans
The two kinds of beans are Arabica and Robusta. The have different tastes and different caffeine content; Arabica beans are more popular around the world. In fact, 70% of coffee drank on earth is Arabica.
Robusta beans grow in different climates and are found largely in Africa and Indonesia. Although most people prefer the taste of Arabica, Robusta has it's fans, and Robusta beans have twice as much caffeine as Arabica!
#8 The two most popular beverages on Earth, in order, are water and coffee.
Really not that surprising when you think about it. After all, it's hard for everyone to wake up all across the world, isn't it? Coffee has become, in the modern day, a staple of countless cultures worldwide for a variety of reasons.
Coffee is also a large part of the world's economy for this reason. This would be alarming if coffee was as bad for you as we used to think, but research now shows that coffee is a healthy habit that people around the world should happily indulge in on a daily basis.
#9 New York drinks about 7 times as much coffee as the rest of the world
Well, they DO call it the city that never sleeps....maybe this is why? You know, New Yorkers, we've heard it helps if you don't drink any coffee after sunset. Just a tip.
There's some speculation as to why the Big Apple drinks so much coffee; a lot of it might have to do with population density. Since it is such a packed city, there are literally coffee shops everywhere. It also doesn't hurt that coffee is such a large part of the American culture.
#10 U.S. Prez Theodore Roosevelt Drank A TON of Coffee
Seriously, this is not an exaggeration: Teddy was known to drink a gallon of coffee a day. No wonder he was able to get so much done in the wake of the American Civil War!
Good old Teddy also helped Maxwell House come up with their famous slogan, 'Good Till The Last Drop'. He actually came up with that slogan while drinking coffee in Andrew Jackson's living room!
