Factoids
- Coffee is the second most-traded product in the world after petroleum. Worldwide coffee production tips the scales at approximately 6 million metric tons.
- All coffee is grown within 1,000 miles of the equator, from the Tropic of Cancer in the north, to the Tropic of Capricorn in the south.
It takes 42 coffee beans to make an espresso, - Goats actually discovered the coffee plant. Kaldi, their shepherd, noticed one day that the goats were suddenly very animated; he decided to follow their every move and found that they were eating strange berries that seemed to keep them awake day and night.
- With the exception of Hawaii and Puerto Rico, no coffee is grown in the United States or its territories.
- Americans consume more than 300 million cups of coffee every day, according to the Specialty Coffee Association of America.
- It takes five years for a coffee tree to reach maturity. The average annual yield from one tree is the equivalent of one roasted pound of coffee.
- Each year, approximately 7 million tons of green coffee beans are produced worldwide, most of which are hand-picked.
- The expression, “cup of Joe,” was first coined during WWII when American servicemen (G.I. Joe) were identified as big coffee drinkers.
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A single espresso has half to two-thirds as much caffeine as a cup of regular coffee.
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Raw coffee beans, soaked in water and spices, are chewed like candy in many parts of Africa.
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In the last three centuries, 90% of all people living in the Western world have switched from tea to coffee.
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In Italy, espresso is considered so essential to daily life that the price is regulated by the government.
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The founding fathers of the U.S., during the revolution, formed their national strategies in coffeehouses.
