5 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Coffee
Any world is a world unto itself, and the world of coffee is no exception. Here are five facts and little trivia tidbits to contemplate as you brew your next cup. And who knows… it might come up at trivia night!
1. Light roast coffee has more caffeine than dark
This one may be common knowledge, but just to cover our bases we thought we outta get this one on the record since it’s still a prevailing misconception! All that extra roasting burns off more and more caffeine, which is why breakfast blends are typically light or extra light roasts. So funnily enough, espresso roasts (typically the darkest) actually have the least caffeine.
2. The caffeine extracted from coffee is sold to soft drink manufacturers
That’s right, instead of throwing away that oh-so-precious caffeine, it is sold to soda companies to be further processed and injected into energy drinks, gum, and other shelved commodities. We’ll stick to the naturally grown stuff, thank you very much.
3. Coffee invented the webcam
As the saying goes, necessity is the mother of invention. In 1993, a group of Cambridge University researchers hacked together the world’s very first webcam. The purpose? To live stream a pot of coffee in the break room and thus avoid the emotional trauma of walking all the way there just to find it empty.
4. Coffee literally brought Brazil to the Olympics
The 1932 Los Angeles Summer Olympics were held smack dab in the middle of a global economic depression. And it wasn’t cheap to travel to exotic, far-away California in a pre-airline society! Brazil’s solution? They put their athletes aboard a coffee freighter and sent them West Coast bound.
5. The “Joe” in Cup of Joe
There are several theories as to where the phrase “Cup of Joe” came from. Many do believe Joe was actually a real guy, Josephus Daniels to be precise, the Secretary of the Navy under Woodrow Wilson. In 1913, he prohibited alcohol aboard all naval vessels. So the strongest drink available was a good ol’ Cup of Joe… and the name stuck. Maybe it’s true, maybe it’s not. But who doesn’t love a good coffee fan theory?