More often than not, my breakfast consists of a cup or two or three of coffee. I enjoy it at home, I enjoy it when I’m out. Coffee, now that I’ve officially kicked sugar water to the curb, is my favorite beverage.
As I’ve written plenty about it in the past, could there possibly be any more facts out there I haven’t uncovered yet? Yes, there is so much more to it than you could imagine, and I’m sure there are blogs devoted just to it. For me, I just want to share a few more facts that I’ve discovered about my favorite beverage.
1. OMG, Java, It’s So Popular!
More than 500 billion cups of coffee are consumed each year, making coffee the world’s most popular beverage.
2. A Hot Commodity
After crude oil, coffee is the world’s most traded commodity. Oil is the most widely used commodity in the world; coffee is next in line.
3. Cup of Joe
During WWII, American soldiers were known as G.I. Joes. Since they drank large amounts of coffee, the drink soon found itself a popular nickname, “a cup of Joe.” But perhaps not? There is a second theory that it was named for the then US Secretary of the Navy, Josephus Daniels, who outlawed alcohol on ships, and yet a third that, because coffee is universal, it is consumed by the average joe. Take your pick, each one fits. Regardless of origin, it has obviously stuck around.
4. A lethal dose
I don’t know who’s studying this, but there is a study that says you would need to consume over 70 cups of coffee to kill a 70 kg person. This is basically like drinking 3 cups of coffee every hour for 24 hours, in which case coffee becomes lethal.
5. Drink to life
For some balance, studies have shown that coffee can prolong one’s life, because coffee brewed with ground beans can lower the risk of death by up to 27%, followed by 14% for decaf, and 11% for instant coffee. This may be because it can prevent and reduce the risk of heart disease, depression, diabetes, and certain cancers. Though it does depend on how much you consume and what you put in your coffee.
6. Coffee is thirsty
More than 1,300 gallons of water are needed to produce one 12 oz. cup of coffee. Fortunately, Mother Nature provides most of that in the form of rain.
7. Ahead by a Century
Coffee trees can live for up to a century, which means there is a good chance the tree from which your coffee was grown has seen more than its fair share of history. Remember to respect your elders.
8. “With the bees, probably.”
In the 1983 classic, WarGames, Dr. Stephen Falken says “And when we go, nature will start again. With the bees, probably.” Now, he’s a fictional character staring down a potential global thermonuclear war when he said that. However, as the main pollinators of coffee plants, bees are exposed to caffeine, and studies have shown that this exposure can enhance their memory and make them more efficient.
So if nature starts again with the bees, as long as coffee plants survive our end, the bees will continue to enjoy coffee.