So who doesn’t love coffee? The smell alone would make you crave for one. How I wish I have my own jura capresso machine at home so I can have freshly brewed coffee anytime I want. Enough wishful thinking… here are 13 (the first 11 are from Brian Martell’s list) interesting facts about coffee. Enjoy reading an hopefully you’ll learn something new today.

1. Coffee is the second most traded product in the world after petroleum. World wide coffee production tips the scales at about 6 million metric tonnes.

2. 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.

3. People who buy coffee primarily at drive through windows on their way to work will spend as much as 45 hours a year waiting in line.

4. Of the various botanical species of coffee trees in the world, only two are extensively cultivated commercially; Arabica and Robusta.

5. The average person who buys coffee outside the office to consume at work will spend the equivalent value of a round trip plane ticket to Florida every year.

6. The first coffee house in Europe opened in Venice in 1683, while coffee was available in Europe as early as 1608, mostly for the rich.

7. The expression “a cup of Joe” to denote coffee, was first coined during WWII, when American servicemen (G.I. Joe) were identified as big coffee drinkers.

8. The largest coffee-producing nation, Brazil, is responsible for 30 to 40 % of total world output.

9. In the late 1800’s, Chase and Sanborn put out a flier on how to read the coffee grounds at the bottom of the cup (like a fortune teller).

10. Coffee cherries usually contain two “beans”, except for the single bean peaberry anomaly. Cherries with three beans are deemed to be a sign of good luck.

11. A Belgian living in Guatemala invented the first instant coffee in 1906 and later immigrated to the United States. His name, ironically enough, was George Washington.

12. Hard bean means the coffee was grown at an altitude above 5000 feet.

13. October 1st is the official Coffee Day in Japan.

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