Facts About Coffee

After the picking of the coffee beans, the first step is to roast the beans. While the beans are being roasted, the chemicals that store the coffee aromas are separated from the beans and are collected. These aromas will be used to make coffee oil at a later time. Once all the beans have been roasted, they are ground to a powder and mixed with raising agents and sucrose. The powder mix is then fermented for 4 hours at temperatures of 22 Celsius.

Depending on where the coffee beans are grown and under what kind of conditions, determines the taste, amount of caffeine, smell. There are two types of coffee beans that are most commonly used: Arabica and Robusta.

Research and studies into the health benefits of coffee, have been around for many years and they claim that there are some major benefits of drinking coffee on a regular basis. The beans are very high in chlorogenic acid (a type of antioxidant). Between 70 and 200mg can be found in a cup of Arabica whereas a cup of Robusta can have as much as 350mg.

The average coffee consumer will take-in almost a 1g worth of cinnamate esters, mainly in the form of chlorogenic acid and somewhere in the region of 500mg of cinnamates, this will come from caffeic acid each day. That means you could get nearly 70% of your daily allowance for this group of antioxidants.

Coffee beans are the most exported product, after petroleum. In the East African country of Ethiopia - where coffee has its origins, around 60% of export is coffee.

Here's a few facts for you to ponder over while the kettle boils and you pour yourself a coffee:

*It takes five years for a coffee tree to reach maturity.

*On average, around one pound in weight of coffee is produced by any one tree

*Europe opened its first coffee house in 1683 in Venice.

*It was in 1608, coffee came to Europe. At first, only the rich were able to afford coffee.

*It is believed that any coffee berry that has 3 beans in it is good luck. Normally the berries only have 2 beans.

*The first instant coffee was invented in 1906 by a Belgian who lived in Guatemala he then immigrated to the United States. Ironically his name was George Washington.

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