• Legend has it that the effects of caffeine were first discovered in Ethiopia when some shepherds noticed their goats beginning to ‘dance’ and generally be a bit giddy after eating coffee berries.
• The coffee bean is actually found inside a brightly coloured berry.
• Instant coffee was invented by a Belgian chap by the name of George Washington (not that one!) while living in Guatemala in 1906.
• The term ‘a cup of Joe’ stems from US servicemen (GI Joes) in WWII being seen as big coffee drinkers.
• The name ‘cappuccino’ comes from the resemblance of the drink to the clothing worn by Capuchin monks.
• The word espresso in Italian literally means, ‘when something is forced out’.
• Coffee was one of the first food products to be freeze-dried.
• 40 percent of the world’s coffee is produced by Colombia and Brazil.
• Kopi Luwak, the world’s most expensive coffee, with some reports suggesting it can be sold for as much as Dhs2,202 a pound, is made from coffee beans eaten and then excreted by a Sumatran wild cat!
•Coffee can also be used as a moisturiser and fertiliser.
• In December 2001 Brazil produced a scented postage stamp to promote its coffee!
