International Coffee Day: Fast Facts
Today is International Coffee Day!
So whether you’re a lover of latte or a fan of flat white, get the kettle on and put your feet up as we tell you all about your favourite beverage.
In the beginning
To begin with, did you know the popular breakfast cuppa (well, OK, any time of the day suits us just fine) is hundreds of years old?
A goatherd reportedly discovered it after his goats became very energetic when eating what looked like red cherries.
After his flock refused to sleep at night, the goatherd mentioned the phenomenon to the abbot of the local monastery.
That industrious abbot then made a drink with the berries to keep him alert through the long hours of evening prayer.
Fast facts
- Worldwide, we drink a lot of coffee every day — around 2.25 billion cups, in fact.
- There are various health benefits linked with drinking coffee, including reduced risk of illnesses such as cancer, heart disease and Alzheimer’s.
- Did you know our favourite breakfast drink has previously been banned? In 1511, it was outlawed by leaders in Mecca, who believed it stimulated radical thinking. Sixteenth-century clergymen believed it was “satanic” and disallowed it. Pope Clement VII, on the other hand, loved coffee. He lifted the ban and had the drink baptised in 1600.
- The largest cup of coffee contained 22,739.14 litres, and was created in Colombia on June 15, 2019. Fifty people worked for more than a month on the project to make it!
- According to financesonline.com, the most expensive coffee in the world is made with the help of elephants. The Black Ivory Coffee Company in Thailand feeds Arabica beans to the pachyderms, and after the beans have been excreted, they are roasted and processed into coffee. Chances are elephant dung is not going to be the first choice of coffee for many of us . . .
- Scientists have successfully turned coffee into biodiesel. In fact, in March 2010, a coffee-powered Volkswagen Scircocco successfully made the trip from London to Manchester (337 kilometres).
How are you going to mark International Coffee Day?
How about with a nice cuppa and one of Cookery Ed Marion’s favourite scones!
For more from the team, read our blog here.
