Coffee Fun Facts

· The popular phrase "cup of Joe," referring to a cup of coffee, was made popular during WWII. Enlisted men (General Infantry) in the U.S Army were fondly referred to by the slang phrase “G.I. Joe”, made popular by a comic strip distributed by King Features Syndicate, which first appeared in newspapers in 1942. Coffee was an immensely popular beverage consumed by enlisted men during WWII. Hence the establishment of the popular phrase "cup of Joe" from the description of the US infantry, “GI Joe.”

· The popular Cappuccino coffee drink is named after the Capuchin monks due to the similarity in color of the coffee drink to monk's robes.

· Coffee is the second most traded product in the world after petroleum. World wide coffee production tips the scales at about 6 million metric tons.

· It takes five years for a coffee tree to reach maturity. The average yield from one tree is the equivalent of one roasted pound of coffee.

· The first coffee house in Europe opened in Venice in 1683, while coffee was available in Europe as early as 1608, mostly for the rich.

· A Belgian living in Guatemala invented the first instant coffee in 1906 and later immigrated to the United States. His name, ironically enough, was George Washington.