Coffee is one of the world’s favorite beverages and one of its oldest warm beverages of choice. The oldest legend about coffee is that it was discovered in the 9th century by an Ethiopian goat herder. He allegedly watched his goats eating coffee “berries” and noted how it made them act. With that little piece of trivia, you’ll now have 11 interesting facts about coffee. Here are the other 10:
- All the coffee in the world is grown in what is known as the “bean belt,” which is the area between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn.
- Coffee beans are actually seeds grown inside of red berries.
- The lethal dose of caffeine is about 100 cups of coffee (now you know your limit).
- The King of England banned coffee houses in 1675 because he said they were places where people gathered to conspire against him.
- The most popular coffee in the world is Arabica, which is consumed by 70% of the world’s population.
- The expression “cup of joe” was initiated by American servicemen during World War II. It was a reference to GI Joes who were extraordinarily heavy coffee drinkers.
- Hawaii is the only U.S. state that grows coffee commercially.
- Coffee is derived from an Arabic word that translates into “wine of the bean.” The phrase “qahwat al-bun” was shortened to “qahwa.” Then the Turks turned it into “kahve,” which became “koffie” in Dutch,” which translated into English as “coffee.”
- Teddy Roosevelt is said to have consumed a gallon of coffee per day.
- In ancient Arab culture, a woman could legally divorce her husband only if he didn’t provide enough coffee (don’t get any ideas, ladies).
Now that you have a richer understanding of the world’s favorite drink, try not to go overboard, but have fun drinking your coffee.
