Best Coffee Information for the Curious Connoisseur

Coffee Facts to Enhance Your Knowledge of the Bean

The early London coffeehouses had a brass box on the table, and on the box was etched an inscription that said “To Insure Promptness” which was meant to encourage customers to pay some money for the efficient service. This led to the word tip becoming the common term for a gratuity.

Scottish engineer Robert Napier invented the vacuum pot brewer around 1840 using two globes fit together with a seal, and a plug attached to a spring in the upper globe.

Most coffee sold is a blend of beans from many farms.

What is coffee's Rule of Five? It states that, on average, a coffee plant takes about five years to reach maturity and begin producing a full crop of coffee cherry for harvesting. The coffee may produce about five pounds of green (processed but unroasted) coffee beans per year, and about one fifth of these beans will be considered of premium quality.

Italians often put sugar in their espresso.

About half of all United States adults start the day with coffee.

Also see:

The Top Ten Coffees in the World

World's Best Coffee Quotes

Best Coffee Information continued:

By volume, Starbucks sells more milk than coffee.

There were hundreds of coffee houses in Istanbul at the end of the 1500s.

However much caffeine you have in your system, your body will dissipate about twenty percent of it each  hour.

In 1885 natural gas was first used to heat up a roasting chamber with hot air to roast the coffee beans.

Specialty Coffee and Espresso Brewing Tips

For information on brewing the perfect cup of gourmet coffee see the Espresso Coffee Guides section on coffee brewing.

For tips on how to make fantastic espresso drinks see our Espresso Drink Recipes and also the How to make Lattes and Cappuccinos. Also make sure you know how to Pull A Perfect Espresso Shot.

For an extensive history of espresso and coffee see World's Best History of Coffee. A complete list of coffee terminology along with detailed definitions can be found in the Espresso Coffee Guides Coffee and Espresso Glossary.