Coffee is one of the most consumed beverages in the world, however, much of it still remains a history to much of the world. Where did it come from? Is it healthy? Who discovered it? Etc.It started with some goats? Word has it that some shepherds in Ethiopia first saw something interesting with the behavior of their goats after eating some berries. Their goats became frisky and were even "dancing" and hopping around.
It was eaten in the beginning. When coffee beans were still relatively new to people, they were originally eaten, not consumed as a beverage. African tribes would mix the coffee berries with some fat to create some energy balls. The caffeine in the berries mixed with the fat would be a sustaining energy source.
Islam was a big part of the rise of coffee. The surge in popularity of Islam was a big contributor to the rise in popularity of coffee. The large reason is because of one big rule within Islam and the time in history. While water is safe to drink in many countries now, in the past, it was not safe to drink for just about anyone (no purification systems). Due to this, alcohol was the preferred beverage of choice (beer, whiskeys, vodkas, etc) because the process to create the alcohol would eliminate contaminants in the water. However, since Islam forbid the consumption of alcohol, Muslims turned to coffee as their beverage of choice.
There's always money in the bean belt. The Bean Belt, the nice name for the section of earth between the Tropics of Cancer & Capricorn, is where all the coffee of the earth is grown. Almost all of the coffee grown in the world is from outside the US, except for Hawaii, the only US soil to produce coffee beans.
Coffee shops, or houses, were once illegal. In the grand year of 1675, the King of England forbid coffee houses from the country. He believed that they were places where people would meet up to plan against him. Of course, this still allowed taverns to be a place to meet, so who knows his logic.
It's quite popular, you know! 70 percent of the world consumes coffee brewed from Arabica beans, which of the two are more aromatic and mild. The remaining 30 percent of the world prefers to drink coffee brewed from Robusta beans. Robusta beans are much more bitter-tasting yet have 50 percent more caffeine than Arabica.
It's not like it grows on trees. No, wait, it does. Coffee berries are from trees, these trees can grow up to 30 feet tall. However, for easier picking, the trees are cultivated around 10 feet tall.
It's from a berry. You may have noticed us saying "coffee berries", why? Well, the coffee bean is actually grown inside of a berry. These berries are bright red and sort of look like cherries. The berries are picked, dried, stripped down to the bean, and then the beans are roasted. The berry bit is used for other things.
It's a big trade item. Coffee beans are the 2nd most traded commodity on the planet. The first is oil. People appear to love dark liquids.
George Washington created instant coffee. No, not the first president of the US. This George Washington was a Begian man living in Guatemala; in 1906, he created the lovable instant coffee, which led the way to K-Cup coffee.
Espresso is a way coffee is prepared. Espresso coffee is the name for a certain way the drink is prepared, not the name of a bean or roast.
American GIs in WWII had a big effect on coffee. When American soldiers were in Italy, they found that the espresso was too strong, so they'd order their espressos with water to dilute it a bit, which created the Americano. In addition to that, the term, "Cup of Joe" was created when people realized that American GIs, or GI Joes, loved coffee.
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