Fast Facts: Some Things You Might Not Know About Coffee

• Coffee was first known in Europe as Arabian Wine.
• The most widely accepted legend associated to the discovery of coffee is of the goatherder named Kaldi of Ethiopia. Around the year 800-850 A.D., Kaldi was amazed as he noticed his goats behaving in a frisky manner after eating the leaves and berries of a coffee shrub. And, of course, he had to try them!
• Roasted coffee beans start to lose small amounts of flavor within two weeks. Ground coffee begins to lose its flavor in one hour. Brewed coffee and espresso begins to lose flavor within minutes.
  

• After the decaffeinating process, processing companies no longer throw the caffeine away; they sell it to pharmaceutical companies.
• Coffee beans are similar to grapes that produce wine in that they are affected by the temperature, soil conditions, altitude, rainfall, drainage and degree of ripeness when picked.
• Finely grinding coffee beans and boiling them in water is still known as "Turkish Coffee." It is still made this way today in Turkey and Greece or anywhere else Turkish Coffee is served.
• Frederick the great had his coffee made with champagne and a bit of mustard. (EDITORIAL NOTE: Yuck!)
• Coffee sacks are usually made of hemp and weigh approximately 132 pounds when they are full of green coffee beans. It takes over 600,000 beans to fill a coffee sack.
  

Check out more great coffee trivia. Click here...