Everyone has heard of coffee since they were little kids. We all know it is a black liquid, and the liquid comes from black powder or beans. Most of us know how it tastes, love it or don’t care for it, and we might know a few favorite coffee shops and brands, but what else do we know about coffee?
Take these coffee trivia questions and answers and see for yourself. Each question comes with a short answer, followed by a more detailed explanation.
Coffee Trivia Questions and Answers: Origin and Processing
What is the relationship between coffee and Coffea?
Coffea is a genus of plants from which coffee beans originate. These plants produce green or yellow fruits that are called cherries. They ripen to red or purple cherries. Most of these cherries contain two seeds (some contain one) and these are the coffee beans, but not as we know them – they still have to be roasted.
Is coffee really a bean?
This is a trick question. If you had read the above quick explanation, you’d know the answer.
What is Arabica? Is it the best coffee?
Arabica is a species of Coffea. Arabica is the most cultivated plant for coffee beans. It accounts for about 75% of the world’s production, so just because a bag of coffee says “Arabica” doesn’t mean it is the best. However, these coffee trivia questions and answers recognize that Arabica is often considered the finest source of coffee beans. The deciding factor should be the grades assigned to these beans. For example, Colombia grades its coffee Supremo, Excelso, Extra, and Pasilla, in descending order of quality.
Why is coffee roasted?
Raw coffee beans are tasteless. Roasting turns the carbs and fats in the beans into oils that smell like the coffee we know and love.
Coffee Trivia Questions and Answers: Trade
Is coffee a major commodity?
Coffee is the second most traded commodity in the world. It ranks behind oil and above natural gas. One could say that we need coffee as much as power and energy, which makes sense since coffee is known to give us a lift.
What is the largest coffee producing country?
Brazil is the top exporter of coffee. This is followed by Vietnam, Columbia, Indonesia, Ethiopia, India, Honduras, Uganda, Mexico, and Guatemala – all of which are located in the tropics.
What is the top coffee consuming country?
The USA and Brazil are neck and neck at the top in terms of total tons of coffee beans consumed. However, a more insightful statistics is perhaps a per capita basis. Finland is the top coffee consuming country per capita, followed by Norway, Netherlands, Slovenia, Austria, Serbia, Denmark, Germany, and Belgium – all European countries.
Coffee Trivia Questions and Answers: Health
How much caffeine is in coffee?
According to the USDA, 40g of coffee beans contains 336mg of caffeine. No coffee trivia questions and answers are complete without talking about caffeine, but this is just a representative number. The actual amount of caffeine contained in coffee beans differ according to the type of beans and the roasting process.
Is it true that light roast has more caffeine?
Yes, light roast tends to contain more caffeine than dark roast. This is because roasting breaks down and burns off caffeine. A darker roast is the result of roasting for a longer period of time, during which more caffeine is broken down.
Is caffeine healthy?
Consuming moderate amount of caffeine does no harm. According to the Mayo Clinic, most healthy adults can safely consume 400mg of caffeine a day. Consuming too much caffeine can cause increased heart rate, restlessness, irritability, nervousness, and sleeplessness. No surprise at the mention of sleeplessness, as staying awake is the reason many people drink coffee in the first place.
Is drinking coffee healthy?
The answer tends to change over time, but the current wisdom is that drinking coffee can be healthy. There are studies that found potentially correlated health benefits such as protection against liver disease, diabetes (type 2) and Parkinson’s, in addition to improving cognitive function and preventing the onset of depression. On the flip side, drinking unfiltered coffee has been shown to result in higher cholesterol levels.
Why does drinking coffee increase cholesterol?
To be precise, only drinking unfiltered coffee (such as French press and boiled coffee) increases cholesterol. This is because coffee contains a natural oil called cafestol. After roasting, cafestol remains in the beans together with the aromatic oils. Cafestol is known to activate the bile acid receptors in the intestine to release more cholesterol, and most of this cholesterol is LDL, also known as bad cholesterol. When brewing with a coffee filter, most cafestol oil gets trapped in the filter and this is why only drinking unfiltered coffee can expose one to this risk.
Coffee Trivia Questions and Answers: History
Who invented instant coffee?
Satori Kato, a Japanese scientist, introduced instant coffee at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo in 1901 when he was working in the US. This is the most popular answer. However, it has now been traced back further to Alphonse Allais of France, who patented instant coffee in 1881 under patent number 141520.
When was coffee discovered?
Back in the 9th century, an Ethiopian shepherd discovered coffee when he noticed that his goats went nuts after eating the cherries that contain coffee beans. In the spirit of full disclosure for these coffee trivia questions and answers, we’d like to add that this is a legend that has not been verified, though it sure sounds interesting.
Who invented the first espresso machine?
Angelo Moriondo of Torino, Italy, received a patent in 1884 for a contraption that can be better described as an espresso machine. On the other hand, Saeco, the famous espresso machine manufacturer, is the inventor of fully automated espresso machines.
Who is the most famous coffee-loving musician/songwriter/composer?
While it’s hard to define most famous, we decided to go with Ludwig van Beethoven. For many of his compositions including the immortal symphonies, Beethoven specified 60 coffee beans for each brew.
What is the story with Irish coffee?
Whiskey and cream were added to coffee to keep passengers warm on transatlantic flights from Europe to America. It soon became a popular beverage for the stopover in Shannon Airport, Ireland.
Thank you for reading Coffee Trivia Questions and Answers. We could go on forever but decided to keep it short and sweet.
