INTERNATIONAL COFFEE DAY 2022 | CAFE-QUIZ!

October 01 is International Coffee Day. Celebrate with the 77 Member States of the ICO and dozens of coffee associations from around the world. Visit International Coffee Day website

International Coffee Day is a celebration of the coffee sector’s diversity, quality and passion. It is an opportunity for coffee lovers to share their love of the beverage and support the millions of farmers whose livelihoods depend on the aromatic crop.

International Coffee Day is making the daily journey from tropical Africa to the breakfast mugs of households all over the world. coffee beans have been scattered all over the world for more than 600 years, and their preparation for consuming is a great example of metamorphosis. Humanity has been preparing coffee for many presentations: drinks, candies, medicine, and some ancient civilizations even used it as currency! No matter how it is taken, coffee can energize, warm up, refresh, keep awake, and even help catching up with the loved ones.

According to historical records, Coffee is originally from Ethiopia, and its discovery in Africa comes with an interesting story. Around the 700s AD, a herd of goats started acting strangely, almost as if they were dancing. Their owner, Kaldi, discovered that they were eating a sort of red bean and concluded that was the cause of their behaviour. Kaldi decided to share his findings with a monk who required something that could help him to stay awake all night as he prayed; but another story claims that the monk refused and threw the beans into the fire and the pleasing aroma that came from it was just wonderful. 

Suddenly, coffee made its way through the north into Yemen in the 15 Century where the beans arrived by the name “Mocha”. Shortly after, they became well known in Egypt, Persia, and Turkey as “wine of Araby” and coffee houses started to open by the name of “Schools of the Wise”.

Next, Arabia became the gatekeeper for coffee, and these beans began a large-scale coffee farming in Southern India. In 1560 coffee made its way through Europe and quickly became popular, until Pope Clement VIII decided that the drink must be satanic. Under inspection, he gave into the glory of the beverage by baptism and declared it a Christian drink. As the 1600s rolled on and coffee houses sprung up all over Europe, the beans followed the wave of colonization and found themselves in America.

Finally, after a long time among humanity in 2014, The “International Coffee Organization” declared October 1, as International Coffee Day, an occasion to celebrate coffee as a beverage and raise awareness for the plight of the coffee growers.

Some interesting facts about COFFEE

When coffee was first discovered, it wasn’t called coffee but ‘Qahhwat al-bun,’ which, when translated from Arabic, means ‘the wine of the bean.’ Over time, it was shortened to ‘Qhawa,’ and then the Turks later changed to ‘Kahve.’ It didn’t stop there as it became popular in the Dutch language as “koffie,” which is where its English equivalent was borrowed. Coffee found its way into the English dictionary sometime in the 16^th century.

Coffee beans are called “beans” just because of the resemblance, but they’re actually berries. They are seeds that come from a cherry-like berry that grows on a bush. At the centre of the fruit is the pit, which is what is roasted to make coffee.

There are two main types of coffee grown in the commercial market: Arabica and Robusta. Most growers plant Arabica, which varies in taste characteristics and yields more nuanced flavours. In contrast, Robusta is less popular due to its acidic taste and high levels of caffeine. Most coffee lovers have brands and tastes they prefer, but many don’t realize there are differences in coffee beans. Arabica is the most grown coffee bean out there and is referred to as shade coffee. Robusta, while slightly more bitter, is considered sun-grown coffee.

Coffee is the second largest traded commodity right after crude oil, and the most consumed beverage, after water. According to statistics, people consume roughly at least 400 billion cups of coffee annually, making it the world’s favourite beverage. It is valued at over $100 billion worldwide.

In Italian, the word espresso means pressed out. This name was given due to the process of forcing water that is boiling very hot water under high pressure through finely ground, compacted coffee. Contrary to popular belief, espresso has one-third the caffeine of a cup of coffee, simply due to serving size differences.

For those watching calories, black coffee may be the way to go. When enjoying a cup of black coffee without any additional creamers or sweeteners, only 1 calorie per cup is consumed.

Excelso or Supremo do not mean a better quality of coffee when used to describe coffee beans, it refers to the size of the coffee bean.

Coffee grounds sprinkled on the ground around plants and the garden will stop snails and slugs from eating the plants.

Coffee contains over 1200 chemicals and over half of those are responsible for creating its flavour.

Contrary to widespread notions, the decaffeination process doesn’t remove all the caffeine from the drink, just around 94-98 percent. So, if a regular cup of coffee contains 95 milligrams of coffee, a decaf cup of coffee will likely contain about 3 milligrams of coffee. While the amount of caffeine is very low, it is nonetheless present.

Brazil produces the most coffee in the world, and they’ve held this title for more than 150 years. Data shows that around 40 percent of the coffee consumed worldwide comes from Brazil, which is twice as much as the second-place holder, Vietnam. Arabica is the majority of the coffee exported from Brazil.

Brazil produced a postal stamp that smelled like coffee in December 2001. It was designed to promote their coffee and the smell is supposed to last for up to 5 years.

Just three countries consume 65% of the world’s coffee: USA, France, Germany.

Although Finland isn’t a coffee-producing nation, it is the home to the world’s largest coffee lovers. According to the International Coffee Organization, the average Finnish adult consumes about 27.5 pounds of coffee annually. It comes as no surprise since it is pretty cold over there, and they need to stay warm. Norway and Iceland are ranked second and third on the list, with the U.S. occupying a distant 26^th spot.

For medicine and psychology, caffeine is a central-nervous-system stimulant, and that is because it has a similar molecular structure to the “adenosine”, which allows it to bind to “adenosine receptors” on the brain.

Research has shown that coffee lovers are less likely to develop a wide range of diseases, including diabetes, cancer, gout, kidney stones, cardiovascular disease, Parkinson’s, and more. It has also proven to help combat depression, which translates to a lower risk of suicide. By decreasing the risk of contracting deadly diseases, coffee can significantly increase life expectancy.

It may sound strange, but adding a bit of cream to the coffee is a great way to keep it warmer. On average, the cup of joe will stay toasty 20% longer afterward.

Coffee has always been said to cause dehydration because it is a diuretic, but that’s not the case. Various studies have shown that there is no significant change in urine output when they consume 500 to 600 mg a day. Dehydration occurs only when too much caffeine is consumed, so there’s no reason to worry if coffee is consumed in moderation.

Many high-profile people are ardent coffee lovers, and history is filled with many of them. One of them was Beethoven, who made sure that each cup was made exactly with 60 beans, although there is no clue about the number of cups he drank per day. However, what is known is that former U.S. president Theodore Roosevelt drank a gallon of coffee each day.

Ever wondered what led to the development of the first webcam? The story dates back to 1991 when researchers at Cambridge University got sick of having to leave their desks to get a cup of coffee. They knew the feeling of finding an empty coffee pot and so invented the webcam, so they could see the status of the pot without walking to the kitchen. Necessity is truly the mother of invention!