Saturday, May 23, 2009

Let's Talk Coffee This Morning...!


As you know, I do like my coffee! I like it a lot!

After all, we share coffee each and every morning, don't we? The question I want to ask this morning, is how much do we really know about coffee?

I thought I knew a lot, but after reading some of these bits of trivia about coffee, I was surprised to find I didn't know as much as I figured. Why not take a look and see if you knew very many of them? Hey, at least it's better than having to read the newspaper on a Saturday morning, right?


"Coffee should be black as hell, strong as death, and as sweet as love" - Turkish Proverb

52% of Americans drink coffee.

A acre of coffee trees can produce up to 10,000 pounds of coffee cherries. That amounts to approximately 2000 pounds of beans after hulling or milling.

A scientific report form the University of California found that the steam rising from a cup of coffee contains the same amounts of antioxidants as three oranges. The antioxidants are hetero cyclic compounds which prevents cancer and heart disease. It's good for you!


Adding sugar to coffee is believed to have started in 1715, in the court of King Louis XIV, the French monarch.

Advertisements for coffee in London in 1657 claimed that the beverage was a cure for scurvy, gout and other ills.


After the decaffeinating process, processing companies no longer throw the caffeine away; they sell it to pharmaceutical companies.

After they are roasted, and when the coffee beans begin to cool, they release about 700 chemical substances that make up the vaporizing aromas.

An arabica coffee tree can produce up to 12 pounds of coffee a year, depending on soil and climate.


Australians consume 60% more coffee than tea, a sixfold increase since 1940.

Beethoven who was a coffee lover, was so particular about his coffee that he always counted 60 beans each cup when he prepared his brew.


Before roasting, some green coffee beans are stored for years, and experts believe that certain beans improve with age, when stored properly.

Before the first French cafe in the late 1700's, coffee was sold by street vendors in Europe, in the Arab fashion. The Arabs were the forerunners of the sidewalk espresso carts of today.

Brazil accounts for almost 1/3 of the world's coffee production, producing over 3-1/3 billion pounds of coffee each year.

By 1850, the manual coffee grinder found its way to most upper middle class kitchens of the U.S.

Caffeine is on the International Olympic Committee list of prohibited substances. Athletes who test positive for more than 12 micrograms of caffeine per milliliter of urine may be banned from the Olympic Games. This level may be reached after drinking about 5 cups of coffee.


Citrus has been added to coffee for several hundred years.

Coffee as a medicine reached its highest and lowest point in the 1600's in England. Wild medical contraptions to administer a mixture of coffee and an assortment of heated butter, honey, and oil, became treatments for the sick. Soon tea replaced coffee as the national beverage.


Coffee beans are similar to grapes that produce wine in that they are affected by the temperature, soil conditions, altitude, rainfall, drainage and degree of ripeness when picked.


Coffee is generally roasted between 400F and 425F. The longer it is roasted, the darker the roast. Roasting time is usually from ten to twenty minutes.

Coffee is graded according to 3 criteria: Bean quality (Altitude and Species) Quality of preparation Size of bean


Coffee is grown commercially in over forty-five countries throughout the world.

Coffee is the most popular beverage worldwide with over 400 billion cups consumed each year.

Coffee lends its popularity to the fact that just about all flavors mix well with it.


Coffee represents 75% of all the caffeine consumed in the United States.

Coffee sacks are usually made of hemp and weigh approximately 132 pounds when they are full of green coffee beans. It takes over 600,000 beans to fill a coffee sack.

Coffee trees are evergreen and grow to heights above 15 feet but are normally pruned to around 8 feet in order to facilitate harvesting.

Coffee trees are self-pollinating

Coffee trees produce highly aromatic, short-lived flowers producing a scent between jasmine and orange. These blossoms produce cranberry-sized coffee cherries. It takes four to five years to yield a commercial harvest.

Coffee was first known in Europe as Arabian Wine.

Coffee, along with beer and peanut butter, is on the national list of the "ten most recognizable odors."

Coffee, as a world commodity, is second only to oil.


Commercially flavored coffee beans are flavored after they are roasted and partially cooled to around 100 degrees. Then the flavors applied, when the coffee beans' pores are open and therefore more receptive to flavor absorption.

Dark roasted coffees actually have LESS caffeine than medium roasts. The longer a coffee is roasted, the more caffeine burns off during the process.

During the American Civil War the Union soldiers were issued eight pounds of ground roasted coffee as part of their personal ration of one hundred pounds of food. And they had another choice: ten pounds of green coffee beans.

During World War II the U.S. government used 260 million pounds of instant coffee.

Did you read that last one? Wonder what the PTB did with all the fresh coffee...? Another mystery, I guess!

Now at the sake of sounding redundant...let's get some fresh coffee and sit on the patio for a while, my friend! Don't worry, it's not instant! I wouldn't do that to my friends...!

29 comments:

Rae said...

Wow. Who knew there could be that much info about a cup of java. I love my early morning brew- the day just doesn't start right without a cup. think I'll go get some now. Love your blog. I just started following. You post great material.

HermitJim said...

Hey Rae...
Well, thank ya, ma'am! I certainly appreciate that!

I know what you mean about the starting the day with some fresh coffee. I wouldn't be worth shooting without it. However, there are some folks that say I'm not worth shooting anyway! Probably those tea drinkers or something like that!(just kidding all you tea drinkers!)

I'm glad to have you as a new follower and I thank you for the visit today!

Sue said...

I laughed at my doctor when she said NO MORE COFFEE.....I mean really, is she insane???? Acid reflux be damned...I won't give it up. Pour me TWO more cups!

Anonymous said...

The first one brought back memories. Turk coffee in a very SMALL cup. About the size of a shot glass, with a ton of honey in it. Drink that for two years and acid reflux would run from ya.

Anonymous said...

Morning HJ,
Good article and I picked up some things I didn't know. I'm REALLY no good without my coffee in the morning -- Bad Bear -- BAD BEAR!!!!
YeOldFurt

Gwen said...

Very interesting, Jim. And I'm saddened to learn that I will likely be banned from Olympic competition! Curious... how do you drink your coffee? I've been drinking my black since I was a kid. My parents were both big coffee drinkers so I got an early start.
P.S. I can see your blog again at home! Thanks for the firefox advice. Windows Vista update killed many of my apps, but I'm not gonna go there right now ;-(,

HermitJim said...

Hey Sue...
I could give up a LOT of things in my life, but coffee? They'll have to TAKE that away! Not going to happen without a fight!

Thanks for coming by and you have a good day!


Hey Tony...
I've heard that Turkish coffee is kinda stout...the honey part doesn't sound too bad, though.

Hey, buddy...I appreciate the visit today!


Hey YOF...
I understand and agree 100% about not being any good without that first cup. Bad bear is right!!

Thanks for coming by today, my friend. I appreciate you taking the time...

HermitJim said...

Hey Ginger...
Glad that you can read the ole blog from home again! I've heard some bad things about Vista, but I think that Google dropped the ball on this last one! Got a lot of reports from all over about having trouble yesterday!

I like my coffee with sugar or honey...gotta have my sweetner! Tha's what keeps me so sweet and smiling in the morning, ya know?

I could drink it black, but I would much prefer it sweet!

You have a good day, neighbor!

Albert A Rasch said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Albert A Rasch said...

HJ,

Thank you for the education! I am much obliged. I think I will take your advice and pour me a cup now...

Regards,
Albert
The Rasch Outdoor Chronicles.
I Review the Nikon Monarch.

HermitJim said...

Hey Albert...
Interesting stuff, huh? I thought I knew a lot about coffee, but...

Thanks for coming by today, my friend!

Frugal Canadian Hermit said...

That is pretty interesting Jim. I never knew, but it kinda adds to the flavour of my coffee this morning.

JoJo said...

Good morning Mr Hermit,
I also thought I knew a lot about coffee but as always you can always learn more. You are just the person to teach us all. And yes start a day without coffee.LOL
not a good thing. I am not a bear just lost. got to have that cup to kick start the engine. But I knew there had to be a reason for not liking dark roast just not that good kick. Lets fill these big cups, I use alittle cream no sugar for me and sit out on the patio.
JoJo

HermitJim said...

Hey Hermit...
If any body knows about coffee, I figure us hermits do...
Thanks for coming by this morning, my friend!


Hey JoJo...
My very special friend! I'm so glad to see you this morning!

That is strange about dark roast not having as much caffine as the other, huh?

You know that I appreciate you dropping in to visit...being as buy as you are at your Dad's!

Rod said...

The doc told me I had to give up coffee so I asked why well caffeine was not good for my illness so we started to mix regular and decaffeinated until I now drink nothing but unleaded!
But like you Jim it does have to have a little sweetness to it.
Great post.

Rod

HermitJim said...

Hey Rod...
Just like a doctor to want to do away with our fun! I mean, I gave up nearly everything that was bad for me, but I WON'T give up my coffee!

Thanks for coming by, my friend!

Ontological Thinker said...

Used coffee beans make good fertilizer, but unused are actually poisonous to the plants.

Cygnus MacLlyr said...

I'm all for breathing in the steam, then... oranges are too acidic!
Great List there, Uncle...

HermitJim said...

Hey OT...
See, I didn't know that! I know that used coffee grounds were put on my grandmothers worm bed, and she thought they liked them pretty well.

Did a lot of fishing from the worms out of that old tub worm bed!

Thanks for coming by today!


Hey Cygnus...
Guess the steam can't hurt ya, for sure! And it does smell good!


Thanks for the visit...

Dori said...

I can thank Ms. Meadowlark for introducing me to you!

Having spent some time in my childhood on a coffee farm I can tell you that the white coffee blossoms do indeed smell sweet like jasmine. There is also nothing as peaceful as a soft, African rain on a hillside of coffee.

Antioxidants in the steam? See, I always knew it was good to just sit and savor the aroma while the coffee cools just enough to be enjoyed.

HermitJim said...

Hey Dori...
I sure am glad that Meadowlark introduced you to me! Always nice to gain a new friend...

That must have been a wonderful experience, living on a coffee farm.

I can almost smell the rain now! What an interesting image you create!

Certainly do thank you for popping in for a bit today...

Stephanie in AR said...

Interesting. I wonder if coffee plants can be grown in the US?

Cygnus MacLlyr said...

Sweetener?!! BAH!!! SCHMEETENER!

Why don't ya just put sugar in your boots--- that a-way the ants won't have to climb all the way up to the candy arse...

Lydia said...

Great list Jim!

Don't know what I would do without coffee in the morning, afternoon...ahm and evening. Just love the stuff, grew up on it actually. Cygnus, we can always count on you to help us out. ;)

HermitJim said...

Hey Stephanie...
MMPaints grows her own coffee and tobacco! Check out http://selfsustainedliving.blogspot.com/ and you can find some hints about it.


Hey Cyg...you drink it your way, I'll drink it my way!


Hey Lydia...
Doesn't surprise me that you would like coffee...you just seem like a coffee type of gal!

Ryan said...

Don't know a ton about it but I sure like the stuff. Interesting facts.

HermitJim said...

Hey TOR...
I'm pretty fond of the stuff myself! Can't imagine a day without it...

Thanks, man, for the visit...

Noki said...

It's funny... I was just telling my friend here how much you like coffee... She didn't understand. Timing, huh?

Hugs,
Ashley

HermitJim said...

Hey Ashley...
Guess you just have to know me to understand. Everyone needs a passion, coffee is mine!