10 startling things You Did Not Know About Coffee Yet
10 startling Things You Did Not Know About Coffee Yet
In our Coffee Whisper, we will present you with interesting, bizarre and amazing coffee facts.
- Fruity Surprise
Who does not like the aroma of freshly ground coffee beans in the morning? The coffee beans originate from the tropical coffee plant, which is cultivated in about 70 countries, mainly in Africa, Asia and Central America. The coffee bean itself is actually the core of the coffee berry, a bright red or intensely yellow fruit, which reaches the size of a cherry.
- Coffee – Back To the Roots
The word “coffee” can be traced back to the Arabic word qahwa, which means “force”, and has long since established itself in our everyday vocabulary. But where are the origins of coffee making? Today several legends around the origin of the coffee as a drink. Probably the most famous legend is the roots of the drinking culture in the Ethiopian region of Kaffa. There, a cattle-shepherd long ago noticed untypical behavior of his goats. Some of the goats were astonishingly deep in the night even more fresh and awake. The shepherd found out that the goats were eating from the berries of a plant. These berries were nothing but the fruits of the coffee plant.
- Robusta & Arabica
Of the roughly 50 coffees in the world, Robusta and Arabica are known to every coffee lover. The beans of the two varieties are the most used in the coffee production. They differ in two respects – on the one hand in the caffeine content and on the other in the taste. Arabica beans contain only about half of caffeine compared to Robusta beans with 1.2% – 1.7%. Accordingly, the coffee from Arabica beans is mild in taste. In addition, the variety smells sweet and is considered higher quality and is thus also more expensive. Coffee from Robusta beans, on the other hand, is more bitter and full-bodied in taste. No matter what type of beans you prefer – the quality of the coffee also depends on the size, processing and roasting of the beans.
- Luxury coffee
The most expensive coffee in the world is called Kopi Luwak and is produced in Indonesia. A wild creeping cat living there, the civet cat, eats the coffee beans. However, for the consumption of food only the fruit pulp of the coffee berries can be used by the cuddling cat. The coffee bean is fermented in the stomach of the cat, i.e. enzymatically converted. This process ensures that the bitterness of the coffee is split and finally gives the Kopi Luwak coffee its spicy-sweet flavor. After the first production process, the coffee beans are further processed and roasted according to conventional methods. One pound is paid for luxury coffee up to $ 600.
- Coffee for all!
The annual coffee consumption is 500 trillion cups of coffee. This means that coffee after petroleum is the most widely traded raw material in the world. Coffee does not only compete with oil in international consumption. British journalists have succeeded in driving the route from London to Manchester in a coffee-driven car. The lovingly baptized Car-Pacino consumed about 35 Espresso per kilometer and is in the Guinness book of the records.
- Coffee Mixed with Milk
A normal cup of pure coffee seems almost boring with the huge selection of coffee specialties. From cappuccino to café au lait to latte macchiato – coffee in combination with milk is the hit. However, coffee is no longer drunk exclusively with normal cow’s milk, but also increasingly with herbal alternatives. In particular, people who suffer from lactose intolerance and therefore cannot consume normal milk are relying on the repertoire of milk alternatives. Vegans, too, who completely ignore animal products, are delighted by the selection of herbal drinks. Depending on the taste, for example, drinks from soy, rice, oats, almonds, spelled or else coconut milk can be used alternatively in the preparation of coffee-milk foam variations.
- From The Healing Potion To The Cult Drink
Originally, the coffee was used for a long time as a medicinal plant and mainly for its invigorating and stimulating effect. Long before this time the coffee was even prepared as a food. For this purpose, crushed coffee berries were mixed with fat and shaped as a cake. In some African tribes are still coffee berries in this form eaten. Today, coffee is mainly consumed as an everyday treat. The original brown broth with a healing effect has established itself as a cult drink. Coffee is accordingly drunk according to taste or refined with milk, sugar or aromas such as caramel. Sophisticated milk froth variations and aesthetically beautiful coffee specialties are now the expression of the modern coffee cult.
- Caffeine Content – It Depends On The Bean!
Did you know that darker roasted coffee beans contain less caffeine than lighter, short roasted coffee beans? During roasting, the beans are heated at a temperature of 200 ° C and lose weight and up to 60% of their volume during this process. At the same time, the beans become more brittle during this process and are thus easier to grind. During the roasting process, the coffee beans are able to produce up to 1500 different flavors. Light beans with a higher caffeine content result in a rather sour coffee and longer roasted dark beans a rather bitter coffee. Therefore, if you need a real watchmaker in the morning, you should use bright, more caffeinated beans.
- Powerless Coffee
For those who cannot drink coffee at certain hours, because otherwise they do not rest at night, there is decaffeinated coffee. The decaffeinated coffee goes back to an idea Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, who advised a friend, the chemist Friedlieb Ferdinand Runge, to distill coffee beans. The chemist discovered the caffeine. Nowadays, Germany is the world champion in decaffeinating the coffee.
- The Coffee World of Celebrities
Already centuries ago coffee was a hit. For example, the German composer Ludwig van Beethoven had become accustomed to counting exactly 60 coffee beans for the preparation of his coffee. The French writer, Honoré de Balzac, also devoted a great deal of time to his coffee, for he said that he should have consumed 50 cups of coffee a day. In Prussia, the coffee consumption by Emperor Frederick the Great was even confined by his popularity. In 1781 he introduced a state coffee monopoly, the “Brennzwang”. Henceforth only royal roasters were allowed to roast coffee, and the consumption of coffee was forbidden to a large extent. In order to protect the royal privilege of the coffee consumption even special “coffee snoopers” were used, who were searching for illegally from lower national backgrounds.
As you can see, the coffee was a coveted delight long before our time. Even then, in high circles, they were happy to have a cup of coffee to exchange. In 1789, the French Revolution, when the French revolutionary, lawyer and journalist Camilles Desmoulins jumped onto the coffee table and called the crowd to insurrection against the French aristocracy.
Whether it be music, poetry or politics coffee was and remains a link in many areas of life.