9 Things You Didn't Know About Coffee
Coffee Facts
Coffee is one of the most popular beverages on the planet (sorry, Brawndo: The Thirst Mutilator) -- but despite its popularity, most people don't know very much about what they're drinking every morning.
To help remedy that, we've compiled 19 sugary lumps of coffee knowledge with which to sweeten your morning cup. Read on to learn where coffee originated, how much water it takes to grow a pound of it, and what the hell is going on with that cat poop coffee.
1. The two coffee species are arabica and canephora (aka robusta)
Canephora (aka robusta) is more productive, disease resistant, and high in caffeine content. Arabica has 50% more lipids and nearly twice the sugars, which lead to higher acidity and more complex flavor aromatics.
Cheaper coffees tend to be canephora, whereas most specialty coffee is arabica. Each of these species is also further categorised into varietals, with bourbon and typica being the two most common of the arabica strain. The robusta varietal of canephora is so ubiquitous that most roasters will simply label their products as robusta and you'll rarely see the term canephora used outside of more scientific contexts.
2. Legend has it that coffee was discovered by a goat herder
The most widely accepted myth is of an Ethiopian goat herder named Kaldi who noticed his animals acting jittery after eating ripe coffee beans.
3. Coffee beans can vary in color
They start green, and as they ripen, turn either yellow, orange, or red depending on the varietal.
4. A coffee plant can live up to 200 years
When they're sprouting, the top of the plant looks like an adorable little seed, which eventually grows into a bushy plant that can live for two centuries.
5. When judges taste coffee, they slurp it violently
In order to get an accurate impression of all the aspects of a coffee's flavor, judges loudly slurp it across the entirety of their mouth because each part of your mouth is best in tune with different flavors (tongue for sweetness, back of throat for bitterness).
6. Coffee actually has more flavors than wine
Some sources put the number of coffee aromatic characteristics as high as 1,500, compared to the 200 found in wine.
7. Espresso has less caffeine than brewed coffee
The fine folks at Coffee Chemistry break down the numbers: an 8oz cup of coffee has approximately 2.3x as much caffeine as a 1oz shot of espresso. Espresso does have higher caffeine by volume, but the smaller serving size means you're getting much less of a buzz.
8. Coffee grinding is an essential part of the coffee-making process
Coffee stales much quicker once it's been ground, so if you're looking to make the best cup of coffee possible, buy whole beans and grind them at home. It's so important that coffee shops often spend thousands of dollars on a grinder in order to ensure an even, accurate, and highly adjustable grind size.
9. Coffee loses 70% of its flavor within two minutes
According to official coffee snob standards, it's stale after 15 minutes.
Source: https://www.thrillist.com