Coffee Facts and Stories - Curious Information About the Revered Coffee Beverage

Fascinating Coffee Stories and Exhilarating Coffee Knowledge

Since coconut milk is so plentiful in the Caribbean it is often used in coffee rather than cow's milk.

A comprehensive book on coffee was written in 1928 by William Ukers and titled All About Coffee. Many still consider it to be one of the finest books written on coffee.

Belgians often add chocolate to their coffee.

Coffees aromas and flavors derive from the coffee oil, or caffeol, which dissolves in water and thus is not a true oil.

How are flavored coffees such as Irish Cream and Hazelnut coffee made? Well first the beans are roasted and then when they cool down to about one hundred degrees Fahrenheit the flavors are added, absorbing into the open pores of the porous coffee beans.

The French made the first espresso machine prototype in 1822 but it wasn't until 1901 that that Luigi Bezzera got a patent for his steam-driven espresso machine. Desiderio Pavoni bought the patent in 1905 and improved the design so the machine provided from eight to nine BAR of pressure and heated the water to 195 degrees Fahrenheit. La Pavoni manufactured the first machines to be used in coffee shops. The next big leap in espresso machines was the Gaggia piston lever Crema Caffe espresso machine developed in 1947.

Coffee trees are typically pruned to manageable heights of about eight to ten feet, but if left to grow their height might exceed twenty feet.

American adults consume, on average, about 400 cups of coffee per year. That is almost 27 gallons in case you were wondering.

Also see:

The Top Ten Coffees in the World

A Latte Macchiato is steamed milk macchiato or “marked” with espresso, while an Espresso Macchiato is an espresso macchiato or “marked” with a dollop of foam.

Coffee Facts continued:

Mark your calendar! Coffee Day in Japan is October 1st. Ireland celebrates it on September 19 and Costa Rica celebrates it on September 12.

It is said that espresso is to Italy as champagne is to France.

Most upper middle class United States homes had a manual coffee grinder by the year 1850.

When is Kona coffee harvested? From about November to April with as many as eight to ten pickings depending upon the season. All of the coffee is picked by hand. Every November is the ten-day Kona Coffee Festival including many different events such as a Kona coffee picking contest. To read about Kona Coffee Farms see Kona Coffee Farms, Tours, and Coffeehouses.

Making good espresso is said to follow the rule of four Ms including proper grinding (Macinazione), proper blending (Miscela), the espresso machine (Macchina), and the barista (Mano).

In Yugoslavia you can visit a kafano, or small coffee shop, which will serve you coffee in a devza, which is a long-handled open pot. In Turkey the pot is called an Ibrik. A very small cup somewhat like a demitasse is then used to pour the coffee into from the pot.

It takes about 2,000 coffee fruits, or coffee cherry, to make one pound of roasted Arabica coffee. Each cherry, unless it is a peaberry, includes two coffee beans, often referred to as half-beans.

In the old days the makers of decaffeinated coffee discarded the caffeine they removed. Today it is sold to pharmaceutical companies.

Italy has more than two hundred thousand espresso bars.

Lighter roasted coffees are preferred by those on the eastern coast of the United States more than on the western coast where darker roasts are the preferred choice.

Specialty Coffee and Espresso Brewing Tips

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

For easy to follow instructions on how to make tasty espresso drinks see Espresso Drink Recipes and the How to make a Latte. Also see our tips on Pulling A Perfect Espresso Shot.

For the history of coffee and espresso see World's Best History of Coffee, and for a complete list of coffee terminology with detailed definitions see the Espresso Coffee Guides Coffee Terms.