Interesting Facts About Coffee

When Marilyn Monroe married Joe DiMaggio, she wore a champagne colored dress. The only veil she had was white so the day before the wedding she dyed it to an off white by soaking it in double strong coffee.

Over 53 countries grow coffee worldwide, but all of them lie along the equator between the tropic of Cancer and Capricorn.

In the 17th Century, the first coffee house opened in London . These coffeehouses became known as "penny universities" because a person could buy a cup of coffee for 1 cent and learn more at the coffee house than in class! The London Stock Exchange grew from one of these coffee houses.

In 1686 the first cafe serving coffee is opened in Paris - Le Procope...it is still in business today!

In 1909, the first instant coffee was produced by Nestle and is known as Nescafe.

Navy Secretary Josephus Daniels outlawed alcohol on board ships. He ordered coffee become the beverage of service on the ships, hence the term "Cup of Joe ."

Because sailors are generally cold, they wanted their coffee hot. The term hot cup of joe was used, and then it was shortened to hot joe, then hojo.

Europe was cut off during wartime and Napoleon's countrymen had to drink chicory instead of coffee. Chicory does not have caffeine - probably why he lost at Waterloo because his soldiers were not wide awake enough to win.

In 1475, a Turkish law was enacted that made it legal for a woman to divorce her husband if he failed to provide her with her daily quota of coffee.

In 1732, Johann Sebastian Bach composed his Kaffee-Kantate. Partly an ode to coffee and partly a stab at the movement in Germany to prevent women from drinking coffee as it was thought to make them sterile. "Ah! How sweet coffee taste! Lovelier than a thousand kisses, sweeter far than muscatel wine! I must have my coffee."

During World War II, American soldiers were issued instant Maxwell House coffee in their ration kits. Widespread hoarding led to coffee rationing.

In December 2001, Brazil produced a scented postage stamp to promote its coffee - the smell should last between 3 and 5 years.

It takes five years for a coffee tree to reach maturity. The average yield from one tree is the equivalent of one roasted pound of coffee.

Central and South America produce approximately 2/3 of the world's coffee supply. The main suppliers of coffee in the world are Brazil, Colombia and Vietnam, with Brazil contributing around 30% of the total.

Coffee trees are indigenous to Ethiopia and the Arabian Peninsula. They were transplanted to other parts of the world by Dutch merchants and other explorers.

Some coffee trees have the potential to grow to a height of 30 to 40 feet. However, most are kept much shorter for ease of harvest. Coffee Beans are actually the seeds from the fruit of Coffee Trees.

The soil, climate, altitude, and surrounding plants that a coffee tree is exposed to during growth affect the flavor of the beans it produces.

Over five million people are employed in Brazil by the coffee trade. Most of these people are involved with the cultivation and harvesting of over 3 million coffee plants.

At the end of the 16th century records show there were at least 500 cafes in Istanbul alone. The first European cafes were opened by immigrants from Asia around 1650.

The best soil for growing coffee consists of leaf mould, other organic matter and disintegrated volcanic rock!

The coffee tree produces its first full crop when it is about five years old. Thereafter it produces consistently for 15 to 20 years.

From the mid 1800s up until the 1970s over 50% of Brazil's foreign trade income came from growing coffee beans.

There are two main commercial types of coffee bean - these are Arabica and Robusta. Robusta coffee grows best a lower altitudes whereas Arabica is better suited to higher altitudes.

A mature coffee tree will produce one to two pounds of coffee per growing season.

German immigrants in Guatemala developed a cultivation process to use in extreme weather conditions. They burn rubbish near the plantations in severe weather and the dense smoke protects the trees from frost and produces a smoky flavour in the beans.

Hawaii is the only state of the United States in which coffee is commercially grown.

Sprinkle spent coffee grounds around the base of your garden plants and it will stop snails and slugs from munching them!

A mixture of coffee grounds and sugar, fed to a pot plant and watered regularly, will revive houseplants that have turned yellow in winter.

Some of the worlds most powerful business, including Lloyds of London and the New York Stock Exchange, started life as a coffee houses.

An SCAA 1999 Market Report indicated that there were approximately 108,000,000 coffee consumers in the United States of America, spending 9.2 billion dollars in the retail industry every year and 8.7 billion dollars in the food service industry every year. Based on those statistics, it can be hypothesized that coffee drinkers spend approximately $164.71 every year.

In 2000, the National Coffee Association found that 54% of the adult population of the United States of America drinks coffee daily (National Coffee Association Coffee Drinking Trends Survey, 2000). They also found that 18.12% of coffee drinkers in the United States drink gourmet coffee daily. Along with the 54% of Americans who drink coffee daily, 25% of Americans drink coffee occasionally.

The average consumption per capita in the US is around 4.4 Kg. Among coffee drinkers (i.e. not per capita) the average consumption by Americans in the United States is 3.1 cups of coffee per day. Men, per capita, drink 1.9 cups per day whereas women drink 1.4 cups of coffee a day, approximately.

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