Coffee Time
As some of you know, I roast my own coffee and am a renowned coffee snob. I've decided to share my hobby. What follows are a few interesting facts about coffee and a little history.
Some Coffee Facts:
- Coffee is the second most traded commodity in the world. Oil is first.
- Coffee is the world's most popular fruit. Yes, that's right. Coffee is a fruit. However, you throw away the cherry, and cook the pit. Grind it up and run water through it.
- Coffee (caffeine) is a powerful antioxidant. It's good for you! Protect yourself from cancer. Drink coffee.
And some History:
- 1600: Coffee, was encountered by the West from contact between Italian traders and Arabs. Pope Clement VIII was urged by his advisers to consider coffee to be part of the infidel threat. However, he decided to "baptize" it instead, making it an acceptable Christian beverage.
- 1607: Captain John Smith helps to found the colony of Virginia at Jamestown. It's believed that he introduced coffee to North America at that time.
- 1645: First coffeehouse opens in Italy.
- 1652: First coffeehouse opens in England. Coffee houses multiply and become such popular forums for learning, that they are dubbed "penny universities" (a penny being the price of a cup of coffee). The word “TIPS” is coined in an English coffee house: A sign reading “To Insure Prompt Service” (TIPS) was placed by a cup. Those desiring prompt service and better seating threw a coin into the cup.
- 1668: Coffee replaces beer as New York's City's favorite breakfast drink.
- 1668: Edward Lloyd's coffeehouse opens in England and is frequented by merchants and maritime insurance agents. Eventually it becomes Lloyd's of London, the best-known insurance company in the world.