golfkat Travel Blog

There are more than 37,000 coffee shops in the United States, about 40 percent of which are owned by Starbucks, according to Allegra’s World Coffee Portal. Americans spend tens of billions of dollars on coffee every year — and yet, they’re actually modest coffee drinkers in terms of per-capita consumption. In fact, they’re not even among the International Coffee Organization’s top 20 coffee-consuming countries.

No. 1 on the list? Finland, which blows away the competition by consuming 12kg of coffee per capita every year. According to the U.K.’s Independent newspaper, this is due in part to the fact that coffee breaks at work are protected by law. Coffee is also a big part of the social scene; it’s custom to offer coffee whenever you have a guest. Don’t expect to find a Starbucks on every corner, though — local or national establishments far outnumber multinational chains, per Culture Trip, possibly thanks to the Finns’ preference for very light brews. They share their love of coffee with other Nordic countries including Norway, Iceland, and Denmark, which rank second, third, and fourth on the ICO’s list of the world’s biggest coffee drinkers.

What do we really know about our favorite morning beverage?

Coffee dates back to 800AD, when sheepherders noticed the effect of caffeine on their goats, who ate the fruit of the coffea plant.  A monk made a drink with the produce, which kept him up all night!

Coffee is technically the seed of the bean, and the coffee berries can be eaten as a food.

The two main types are Arabica, and Robusta, which is slightly more bitter and higher in caffeine.

As you guessed, Brazil is the largest coffee grower in the world.  Surprisingly, Vietnam is second.

Only two U.S. states produce coffee.  Hawaii, obviously with its Kona coffee, and now California.

Expresso means “pressed out” in Italian, made by forcing boiling water through pressed coffee grounds, but it  would take three shots to equal the caffeine in one up of coffee.

The world’s most expensive coffee comes from the feces of the Asian palm civet.  This little creature eats the entire coffee cherry, and is unable to digest the bean.  The excreted seed produces a smoother, less acidic brew, called kopi luwak, at $600 a pound!

Back in 1511, leaders in Mecca believed it stimulated radical thinking and outlawed the drink. Some 16th-century Italian clergymen also tried to ban coffee because they believed it to be “satanic.” However, Pope Clement VII loved coffee so much that he lifted the ban and had coffee baptized in 1600.

Thirty cups constitutes a lethal dose of coffee.  We see this periodically in the ER when kids ingest too many “energy” drinks.

Sorry, Seattle, but Finns drink 27.5 pounds of coffee yearly.  Americans register only 11 pounds yearly.

Moderate (3 to 4 cups) coffee drinkers tend to live longer.

What is decaf coffee?  An 8 ounce of brewed decaf contains 2 to 12 mg of caffeine.  A regular up contains 95 to 200 mg.

I am sure that is more than you ever wanted to know about our favorite morning beverage.  So, if you are forced to give up your workplace coffee, or your Starbucks habit, try some of my favorite, Peet’s.