Why do people drink coffee?

Let me be honest with you here, I do not drink coffee. Or cups of java, mocha, joe, a forty weight or a demitasse. I’ve never liked it. I probably never will. Do people really drink it because they think it tastes good or is it just for the caffeine hit? You tell me. When I say, “Hey, let’s go for coffee,” what I really mean is, “Let’s go grab something to drink, like tea.”

  1. Americans drink 400 million cups of coffee each day, 146 billions cups each year.
  2. 13 % of all coffee drank globally was instant coffee.
  3. Millennials go to coffee shops for their coffee more than any other generation.
  4. Black coffee has only one calorie.
  5. Coffee grinds, like sugar, can be part of your skin beauty routine, as an exfoliator.
  6. According to the American College of Physicians, coffee may help you to live longer.
  7. 72 % of Americans over the age of 60 drink at least one coffee per day.
  8. Coffee pods are banned from German Government buildings.
  9. Coffee dates back to approximately 800 A.D.
  10. Brazil is the top coffee producer worldwide.

Being of Italian descent, people are sometimes surprised that I don’t drink coffee, especially espresso.

a moka espresso coffee maker with coffee beans set beside it.

But, no, I do not. ( I have a moka espresso maker in the bottom cupboard but I only use it maybe once or twice a year and only if people are clamouring for it). Now I know there are a lot of coffee drinkers out there who cannot go a day without a cup or five cups, some even who measure their coffee intake, not by the cups, but by the pot-fulls. But I cannot write about coffee without mentioning Gilmore Girls, which was, essentially, a seven year-long commercial for coffee. According to hellogiggles.com there were 503 cups of coffee, drank, poured or held by characters in the show and let’s be honest, that’s just the times we saw them drinking on screen. Coffee was a main topic of conversation on the show. Lorelai, in a fit of coffee desperation, started filling up her cup with coffee left behind by diners, just to get her fix of caffeine.

“I can’t stop drinking the coffee. I stop drinking the coffee, I stop doing the standing and the walking and the words-putting-into-sentences doing.” Lorelai Gilmore, in a 5am coffee frenzy, begging diner-owner Luke for a caffeine hit.

  1. Bill Nye, the science guy breaks down Lorelie and Rory’s coffee habit
  2. National Coffee Day in the United States and Canada is September 29.
  3. Quickest drunk cup of coffee – Felix von Meibom drank a full cup of coffee in 3.12 seconds.
  4. Positive Space 566 in the Republic of Korea is the largest coffee shop with 2190 seats.
  5. The largest cup of coffee, at 22,739.14 litres, and was made Colombia in 2019. It took a team of 50 people over a month to make enough coffee to fill this giant cup.
  6. Naoki Misuno of Japan is in the Guinness Book of Records for the most coffee beans moved with chopsticks in 30 seconds – 30.
  7. 3-5 cups of coffee holds approximately 400 mg of caffeine.
  8. Honore de Balzac drank 50 cups of coffee per day. This might help to explain the 50 plus novels written in 20 years.
  9. Adults in Finland drink an average of 27.5 pounds of coffee per year. They like their coffee beans lightly roasted.
  10. In Canada, Tim Hortons is the leading brand of coffee for home brewers.

Spoiler: Rumour has it that Alexis Bledel’s coffee cup was, in fact, filled with apple juice or pop, not coffee. Obviously a kindred spirit.

  1. Turkish coffee (Turk Khavesi) is made with very fine medium ground coffee. It’s very strong but has less caffeine than usual.
  2. There are two types of coffee beans – Arabica and Robusta. Robusta is more bitter and has a higher caffeine level.
  3. 8 of the top 10 coffee consuming countries are in northern Europe. Perhaps the cold winter season makes coffee a welcome drink.
  4. People from New York City drink 7X more coffee than people from other United States cities.
  5. In Italy, coffee drinks with milk – cappuccino, caffe latte, latte macchiato – are considered breakfast coffees.
  6. Kopi Lowak is the most expensive coffee bean at $600 per pound.
  7. The coffee bean is a fruit.
  8. Coffee is grown in 2 states in America: Hawaii and California.
  9. 90% of Italian households own a Moka pot. In Italy, if you order “un caffe” – a coffee – it is by default, an espresso.
  10. Only 13% of Americans make their espresso at home.

So why do people drink coffee? The reason I don’t drink coffee is because it tastes so bitter. My Zia used to say, “Life is already bitter. Add sugar to your coffee.” I say, “Life is bitter. Why drink coffee!”

Why do you drink coffee? Tell me what you love about coffee. And if you’re a kindred spirit, tell me what your drink of choice is at your favourite cafe.

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