Trivia
101
(1-25)
1. Coffee was first known in Europe as Arabian Wine.
2. The Arabs are generally believed to be the first to brew coffee.
3. Milk as an additive to coffee became popular in the 1680's, when a French physician
recommended that cafe au lait be used for medicinal purposes.
4. The first Parisian cafe opened in 1689 to serve coffee.
5. Bach wrote a coffee cantata in 1732
6. In the year 1763, there were over 200 coffee shops in Venice.
7. The heavy tea tax imposed on the colonies in 1773, which caused the "Boston Tea
Party," resulted in America switching from tea to coffee. Drinking coffee was an
expression of freedom.
8. The founding fathers of the U.S., during the revolution, formed their national
strategies in coffeehouses.
9. In early America, coffee was usually taken between meals and after dinner.
10. In the year 1790, there were two firsts in the United States; the first wholesale
coffee roasting company, and the first newspaper advertisement featuring coffee.
11. The prototype of the first espresso machine was created in France in 1822.
12. By 1850, the manual coffee grinder found its way to most upper middle class kitchens
of the U.S..
13. The Civil War in the United States elevated the popularity of coffee to new heights.
Soldiers went to war with coffee beans as a primary ration.
14. In 1900, coffee was often delivered door-to-door in the United States, by horse-pulled
wagons.
15. The first commercial espresso machine was manufactured in Italy in 1906.
16. In Italy, coffee and espresso are synonymous.
17. The average age of an Italian barista is 48 years old. A barista is a respected job
title in Italy.
18. Italians do not drink espresso during meals. It is considered to be a separate event
and is given its own time.
19. In Italy, espresso is considered so essential to daily life that the price is
regulated by the government.
20. Italy now has over 200,000 coffee bars, and still growing.
21. In Greece and Turkey, the oldest person is most always served their coffee first.
22. In the ancient Arab world, coffee became such a staple in family life that one of the
causes allowed by law for marital separation was a husband's refusal to produce coffee for
his wife.
23. Raw coffee beans, soaked in water and spices, are chewed like candy in many parts of
Africa.
24. In the last three centuries, 90% of all people living in the Western world have
switched from tea to coffee.
25. Coffee represents 75% of all the caffeine consumed in the United States.
