Just a few fun facts about coffee that many people may not know!
My favorite is "people who buy coffee primarily at drive through windows on their way to work will spend as much as 45 hours a year waiting line." I'm going to need to learn how to use my coffee maker!

A Few Facts about Coffee
from Brian Martell
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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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).

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.

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.

Coffee Talk.

I recently just started working at a Wholefoods Market and have totally fell in love with about it...especially the coffee! I was browsing the store website and came across this really cute list of popular "coffee talk" and thought I should share...

Coffee Talk: How to Sound Like a Pro
Just like wine, coffee has its own distinct lingo. The next time you’re sipping the java, keep these gems in mind:

•Acidity: Also called “brightness”, this is actually a positive term that refers to the lively, sparkling, palate-cleansing quality in coffees grown at high altitudes.
•Body: This term is used to describe the weight of coffee on your tongue. For the record, Latin American coffees are generally light-to-medium bodied, while Indonesians are typically fullest in body.
•Flavor: Use this to describe the total impression of aroma, acidity and body in coffee. Just like wine, flavors can be everything from spice and fruit to nut and chocolate.
•Aroma: This is the easy one; it’s the fragrance of brewed coffee. Often distinctive and complex, you might hear coffee pros use terms like caramel, carbon (for dark roasts), floral, malt (like cereal), rich or round to describe aromas.

http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/products/guide-coffee.php

Meant for Sharing

I believe drinking coffee is an experience that is meant to be shared. I have been a coffee drinker for as long as I can remember and have come to appreciate almost everything about it: the aroma, the taste, the texture and even the color. But one of the greatest things about coffee is it's knack for bringing people together. Some of the most profound conversations are said over a cup of coffee. Well at least some of MY most profound conversations have been said over coffee. In high school, my friends and I would always meet at the neighborhood Starbucks to hang out and gossip. The atmosphere was always relaxing and we could literally stay there for hours chatting and people watching. There is just something about coffee and conversation that works well together, but it is an experience that you can only appreciate first-hand (me telling you about my high school trips to Starbucks probably doesn't mean much to you at all). So, if you are someone that grabs their joe to go, I would definitely recommend taking the time to sit and enjoy a cup with someone special; it makes a world of a difference!