What Is Coffee and Where's It Come From?
- "Coffee" comes from the Latin form of the genus Coffea, a member of the Rubiaceae family that includes more than 500 genera and 6,000 species of tropical trees and shrubs.
- Coffee beans are not beans, but the pits of a fruit that resemble cherries.
- Approximately 2,000 berries are needed to make one pound of coffee.
- There are about 25 major species within coffee, but the typical coffee drinker is likely to be familiar with two; Arabica and Robusta. Arabica represents approximately 70 percent of the world's coffee production.
- An Arabica coffee plant takes about five years to mature and produce its first crop.
- Coffee cherries start as green in early stage of growth, turn yellow, red, then dark crimson when they are finally ripe.
- Coffee plants bloom with white blossoms, with a sweet jasmine scent.
- Species of coffee trees can grow as tall as 32 feet with leaves ranging in color from purple to yellow. The green coffee leaf is the predominant color.
- Coffee beans are roasted at 400°F.
- When roasted, a coffee bean doubles in size, and the carmelization of the sugar turns its color from green to brown.
- The longer a coffee is roasted, the more caffeine burns off during the process, therefore dark roasted coffees actually have less caffeine than medium roasts.
- Hawaii is the only state in the U.S. to produce coffee.
- Coffee is the second most valuable traded commodity, second only to oil.
There's More!
- We're not the only ones who enjoy great tasting coffee. Coffee has existed as a beverage for 11 centuries.
- Coffee is the most popular beverage worldwide with over 400 billion cups consumed each year.
- It is estimated that more than 100 million Americans drink a total of 350 million cups of coffee a day.
- 52% of the American adult population (age 18+) drink some type of coffee beverage on a daily basis, averaging about 3.2 cups per day.*
- 79% percent of American coffee drinkers consume their coffee at home. The workplace is the second most prominent location where consumers drink coffee.*
- The number of cups of gourmet coffee beverages consumed per drinker per day is 2.5 cups.*
- 91% of coffee drinkers consume their coffee at breakfast.*
- And that's just the tip of the old coffee iceberg. There are hundreds of Buzz Words that the pros use in the industry every day.
- *Information taken from The National Coffee Drinking Trends Study, 2002
