It should come as no surprise that people across the United States love coffee. Whether they enjoy it from a business coffee service while chatting with co-workers or drink specialty coffee elsewhere, Americans love it.
There are a lot of things that most of us know. There is a reason so many companies use a coffee service for their workplace, it makes people more productive. Forty-six percent of workers say that when they drink coffee, they become more productive. Here are some facts people may not know.
- Coffee is good for you. There are a number of health benefits of coffee. It reduces a person’s likelihood to suffer from depression, develop a number of illnesses and conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, and certain cancers. It can protect the liver from damage. It has a decent amount of healthy fiber.
- It can make you smarter, at least for a little while. Another good reason to have a coffee service in the office is that caffeine can make people think better. New research has shown that after consuming 200 mg of caffeine helps people identify phrases and words faster than before they consumed it.
- The United States, France, and Germany consume most of the coffee produced around the world. In fact, a full 65% of the global production of coffee is consumed in these countries. American coffee drink, on average, about 3.1 cups of the drink every day. At least 54% of American adults drink it every day.
- Coffee was not always loved. When it was introduced for the first time in Venice, Italy, priests there called it the “bitter concoction of Satan.” It took a papal decree to get people to drink it. In England, a group of London women organized under the banner “Women’s Petition Against Coffee” (WPAC). They wanted their husbands to spend more time at home and less in coffee houses. This was in 1674.
- Coffee is one of the most used commodities in the world. The only commodity that is used more is oil. When it comes to beverages, water is the top dog but that dog’s deputy is coffee.
- Coffee grounds are great for your garden. If you like to garden or just want your flowers to look great, take the coffee grounds from your coffee machine or get them from your coffee service and spread them on the soil around your plants. Most will love it. If you have a problem with snails, this will also keep them away from your plants.
- Coffee used to play a large role in courtship and weddings in Turkey. During the courtship phase of any relationship. When a man would ask a woman to marry him, the tradition was for him to go to her home to ask. She would have to serve coffee to her family and the would-be groom. If the coffee was salty, she was saying, “no.” Sweet coffee meant “yes.” At the wedding, one vow the groom was required to include was the promise to provide coffee. If he failed in this area, she could file for divorce.
- There was a time when German soldiers were not allowed to drink coffee. King Frederic thought that it made his soldiers less reliable. He created a task force, called the Kaffee Schnuffler, that sought to prevent it from being smuggled into and out of the country.
- Ludwig van Beethoven loved his coffee. He was also very particular about how it was made. He made it a requirement that each cup of coffee he drank was made with exactly 60 coffee beans. Yes, he counted them.
- Civil War soldiers had creative coffee alternatives. They were not always able to get coffee so they made substitutes. One was a mix of sweet potatoes and corn that was roasted. This was the closest thing they could get to coffee. As soon as they could get the real thing, the practice of making the substitute went away.
Coffee is a fantastic beverage. Before it came around, people in Europe would start their days with wine and beer. Productivity went way up when they made the switch from those beverages to coffee. It helps people get that “get up and go” they need to get through their day.
