Some facts that you may not know about coffee.
Coffee is one of the most popular drinks (after water): almost 1.6 bln cups of coffee are consumed in the world every day. Impressive numbers, aren’t they? Coffee is popular in every part of the planet, but there are at least a few interesting facts that you may not be aware of.
Who drinks coffee the most?
Finland drinks coffee the most: this country accounts for as much as 12 kg per capita annually. At the same time, Puerto Rico ranks last with 0.4 kg of coffee per capita.
Italy ranks only 12th with 5.9 kg of coffee per capita after Switzerland, Canada, Denmark, Austria, and others. The average world consumption is 1.3 kg per capita annually.
The drink contains not just caffeine.
Coffee contains at least 1,000 chemical compounds. Some of them are a constant source of scientific discoveries and can be used for the treatment of heart diseases, insomnia, etc. in the future. In addition, the WHO recently removed all suspicions of past decades from coffee, because it was previously believed that the drink contains carcinogenic compounds. The caffeine crystals under a microscope are shown in the picture.
What time is best for coffee?
Science will tell you everything. Can you drink coffee anytime? Not really. Almost everyone knows they won’t be able to sleep after drinking coffee at the end of the day. Well, what about the rest of the time? What time is better for caffeine?
According to neurobiology and chronopharmacology, the branches of medicine that study the consumption of drugs or psychoactive substances with the functioning of biological clock of a human, the best time is from 9:30am to 11:30am.
It is a medicine.
A 2008 study by Lund University of Sweden found that drinking coffee reduced the risk of breast cancer – at least for women with a common version of the CYP1A2 gene helping metabolize estrogen and coffee.
The Harvard School of Public Health announced a study of 48,000 men who reduced their risk of prostate cancer by 60% by drinking six or more cups of coffee a day in 2011.
The recent news also emphasizes the effect of coffee as an "antidepressant." According to the Harvard School of Public Health, people consuming 2 to 4 cups of coffee a day have a 50% lower chance of suicide than others.
Origin of its name.
Some Arab merchants brought coffee beans, from which they received an invigorating hot drink called qahwa (“invigorating, uplifting”), from their travels across Africa back in 1,000. Subsequently, the name migrated to the Turkish word kahve and Italian coffee. However, there are allegations that the name actually originates from Kaffa, the Ethiopian region where coffee trees grow in the wild.
Creative people like coffee.
The great composer Johann Sebastian Bach liked coffee so much that he devoted a whole cantata to the drink: Kaffeekantate, performed in Leipzig, Germany, between 1732 and 1735.
Athletes also love coffee.
Researchers at the University of Queensland, who published their results in the journal Science and Medicine in Sports, claimed that their 14 cyclists who drank coffee an hour before the race increased their athletic performance by 2%.
Why is coffee you drink in some places (like Naples) stronger?
It depends on the mixture in part. The two main types of coffee, Robusta and Arabica, do not have the same organoleptic characteristics. Robusta can have twice as much caffeine as Arabica (which is more valuable but less "strong"). In addition, the strength depends on the process of roasting coffee.
Decaffeinated?
Not actually. Natural decaffeinated coffee is Coffea charrieriana, grown in Cameroon. The rest of the proposed coffee is decaffeinated artificially. But it’s actually impossible to completely eliminate caffeine. According to a study by the University of Florida, a fifth or tenth of a cup of normal espresso on average will be equivalent to a decaffeinated cup.
What is the best way to brew coffee?
Before the invention of the Moka pot in Italy, coffee was usually made using Neapolitan-type coffee makers. These devices, which are still widespread in some areas of southern Italy, consist of two containers located one above the other and separated by a filter filled with coffee. When the water in the lower cylinder begins to boil, the coffee maker is removed from the heat and turned over. Thus, water drips through ground coffee due to gravity and extracts aromas and essences. The extraction process is similar but faster in the Moka pot. In fact, superheated steam quickly pushes boiling water through the filter. Thus, the coffee is extracted and poured to the top in less than a minute.
Which system is better? The Neapolitan one, because filtering is slower, and the aroma of coffee changes less when it comes in contact with superheated water.