Coffee has become so important in our lives that some of us can’t even imagine a day without it. It’s part of our routine, it’s what makes waking up early in the morning more pleasant, or breaks more meaningful. It’s something about the smell, the taste, the hot cup in our hands, the way it makes us feel. Yes, the coffee spell has been cast on us for centuries, and there’s no chance in breaking it any time soon.
International Coffee Day is coming soon (October 1st, to be more precise), and we just realised there is so much we don’t know about it. Here are some interesting facts about coffee that may surprise you.
1.Legend has it a 9th-century Ethiopian goat herder discovered coffee by accident, when he noticed how crazy the beans were making his goats.
2. The word Cappuccino comes from the resemblance of the drink to the clothing of the Capuchin monks.
3. The French philosopher Voltaire is said to have drank 50 cups of coffee a day.
4. Coffee is the second most traded commodity in the world. The most-traded commodity is oil.
5. Espresso is regulated by the Italian government because it is considered an essential part of their daily life.
6. Finland is the country with the biggest coffee consumption (12 Kg per Person Per Year). Norway and Iceland are coming up next. What can we say, Nordic people have to stay up somehow.
7. Irish coffee was actually invented to warm up cold American plane passengers leaving from Ireland.
8. The Americano comes from American World War II soldiers who drank an espresso with water because of the strong aroma.
9. It was originally chewed. According to a number of historians, the first African tribes to consume coffee did so by grinding the berries together, adding in some animal fat, and rolling these caffeinated treats into tiny edible energy balls.
10. Beethoven’s breakfast was coffee, which he made himself with great care—he determined that there should be 60 beans per cup, and he often counted them out one by one for a precise dose.
11. The record holder for the title “oldest cat ever”—a cat named Crème Puff—lived to be 38 years and three days old. She drank coffee every morning of her life, plus bacon, eggs, and broccoli, too. Before you dismiss that as just an unrelated coincidence, consider this: the cat that Creme Puff beat out for the record—34-year-old Grandpa Rex Allen—had the same owner, and was fed the exact same diet.
