Interesting Coffee Facts

This section features interesting coffee facts; it is divided in 3 parts to help you chew the information well:

Of Coffee and People

1. The word "coffee" was at one time a term for wine, but was later used to describe a black drink made from berries of the coffee tree. This black drink replaced wine in many religious ceremonies because it kept the Mohameddans awake and alert during their nightly prayers, so they honoured it with the name they had originally given to wine.

2. Until the tenth century, coffee was considered a FOOD? Ethiopian tribesmen would mix the coffee berries with animal fat, roll them into balls, and eat them on their nomadic journeys!

3. In the ancient Arab world, coffee became such a staple in family life that one of the causes allowed by law for marital separation was a husband's refusal to produce coffee for his wife. Raw coffee beans, soaked in water and spices, are chewed like candy in many parts of Africa.

4. Turkish bridegrooms were once required to make a promise during their wedding ceremonies to always provide their new wives with coffee. If they failed to do so, it was grounds for divorce. (Ouch!)

5. The Egyptians are extremely fond of pure and strong coffee. They seldom add sugar to it, nor milk nor cream. They serve unsweeteened coffee to mourners and sweeteened coffee at weddings.

6. The Arabs are generally believed to be the first to brew coffee.

7. Before the first French cafe in the late 1700's, coffee was sold by street vendors in Europe, in the Arab fashion. The Arabs were the forerunners of the sidewalk espresso carts of today. 

8. The word 'cappuccino' is the result of several derivations, the original of which began in 16th century. The Capuchin order of friars, established after 1525, played an important role in bringing Catholicism back to Reformation Europe. Its Italian name came from the long, pointed cowl, or cappuccino, derived from cappuccio, "hood," that was worn as part of the order's habit. The French version of cappuccino was capuchin, from which came English Capuchin. In Italian cappuccino went on to describe espresso coffee mixed or topped with steamed milk or cream, so called because the color of the coffee resembled the color of the habit of a Capuchin friar. The first use of cappuccino in English is recorded in 1948 in a work about San Francisco.

9. Beethoven who was a coffee lover, was so particular about his coffee that he always counted 60 beans each cup when he prepared his brew

10. Italians do not drink espresso during meals. It is considered to be a separate event and is given its own time.

11. The Italians drink their espresso with sugar, the Germans and Swiss - with equal parts of hot chocolate, the Mexicans - with cinnamon, the Belgians - with chocolate. Moroccans drink their coffee with peppercorns, the Ethiopians - with a pinch of salt. Coffee drinkers in the Middle East usually add cardamom and spices. Whipped cream is the favourite amongst Austrians.

12. In Greece and Turkey, the oldest person is most always served their coffee first.

Coffee and Events

1. In 1785, the coffee revolt broke out in Prussia because coffee consumption was restricted to the nobility, the clergy and high officials was the Dutch who literally brought the coffee plant to the rest of the world. They brought the first coffee plant from Mocha in Yemen to Holland in 1616. Their first cultivation was in Ceylon (now Sri lanka) in 1658.

2. The heavy tea tax imposed on the colonies in 1773, which caused the "Boston Tea Party," resulted in America switching from tea to coffee. Drinking coffee was an expression of freedom.

3. The founding fathers of the U.S., during the revolution, formed their national strategies in coffeehouses.

4. When coffee supplies became scarce during the American Civil War, soldiers desperate for a cup of coffee used roasted sweet potato and Indian corn as a substitute!

5. The Civil War in the United States elevated the popularity of coffee to new heights. Soldiers went to war with coffee beans as a primary ration.

6. In the year 1790, there were two firsts in the United States; the first wholesale coffee roasting company, and the first newspaper advertisement featuring coffee.

7. When one concave bean develops inside the cherry it is called a pea berry.

8. One serving espresso shot contains 60 beans. Each time you serve an espresso you are enjoying the essense of 60 beans. So think about this, a weeks's worth of espresso is equals to a season's worth of beans.

9. While coffee purists will claim that such concoctions are not real coffee, it is the lattes, macchiatos, cappuccinos, mochas, and americanos that have helped make drinking coffee a daily habit in most countries.

Coffee Revolution