12/08/2021
Fun Facts about Coffee
One of the world’s most popular drinks, coffee has come a long way since its ancient discovery. Discover these interesting facts about the beverage
Take a look at some of our favourite facts about coffee!
1. Coffee dates back to the 9th century
There are many different stories relating to the origin of coffee. One of the most popular stories is that of Kaldi, a young goatherder from Ethiopia. When he noticed how energetic his flock would get when chewing on the local berries, he tried them himself and brought them home.
2. Coffee beans are actually seeds.
The ‘coffee bean’ as we know it is the pit of a coffee cherry, the berries from which the process of delivering great coffee begins. They are called beans due to their shape and are technically seeds that will grow if planted in the right conditions.
A branch of a coffee plant with cherries on it
3. The word ‘coffee’ originated from ‘wine’.
The earliest word for the drink was the Arabic “qahwah”, which referred to a type of wine. Later on, the Ottoman Turks used the term “kahve”, which was followed by the Dutch word “koffie”, from which the English name was derived in 1582.
4. Around 10 million tonnes of coffee are produced every year.
Many people claim that coffee is the second most traded commodity in the world. This is an exaggeration, but there is still a tremendous amount of it created every day.
Roasted coffee beans on top of a woven bag
5. Espresso comes from the Italian word for “pressed out”.
Espresso machines date back to the late 1880s, but it didn’t become popular in the UK until the 1950s. The term refers to the method of production
