How often do you take coffee?
Coffee before you start your day? Coffee date? Coffee while taking a stroll or catching up with friends? Drinking coffee remains a loved, nay treasured, activity with friends, workmates, family, and even lovers.
In the US, with an average population of 329 million people, more than 400 million cups of coffee are consumed daily. Perhaps, try popping into the nearby coffee shops and see sipping at different coffee flavors. Global coffee shop chains such as Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts among others all trace their history to the magical coffee beans. What a phenomenon!
Coffee elicits mixed feelings but there is a consensus across different global populations on its fantastic taste. For some, drinking coffee acts as a much-needed energy boost while others indulge as a recreational activity. Whichever benefits caffeine bestows, coffee remains one of the most popular beverages in the world. Only water outranks the popularity of coffee. Under the same breath, would it be plausible, to some degree, coffee is life?
Of course, not like in the water sense, but rather in the coffee sense.
What are the Health Benefits of Coffee?
According to research, coffee can make a person live longer. Technically, this validates the idea of coffee being a lifesaver. Additionally, taking the right amount of coffee further reduces the chances of heart failure and the occurrence of Parkinson’s Disease. Dark roast coffee decreases the breakage of DNA strands which can potentially lead to the development of tumors and cancerous cells.
Researchers found regular coffee drinkers reduced the likelihood of colorectal cancer by 26%. Perhaps, the good news is that it doesn’t matter whether it’s a decaf of regular coffee. Other benefits include improved metabolism rates. Coffee remains one of the best antioxidants known to mankind.
Nutrition experts from John Hopkins School of Medicine mention in their research that coffee is a key ingredient in having a healthy liver. For conditions known to particularly affect women such as Alzheimer’s disease, taking a cup of coffee can help fight them.
Plus, coffee makes people cheer up as a social enabler. It’s common to see people talking away the time while sipping coffee.
It’s not surprising the world celebrates International Coffee Day.
History of International Coffee Day
On 1st October, the world marks International Coffee Day. Java, Cuppa, Brew, or any other brand exists from the sheer heritage of coffee. The ability of coffee to interweave among different cultures and civilizations speaks of its durability as a true hallmark of global history.
Coffee remains a myth. A good myth.
However, historians hold a monk tending his sheep in the wilderness of Ethiopia noticed how his flock glopped upon consuming some berries. Intrigued, the monk tried the beans and the exhilarating feeling proved irresistible. Upon taking the magical coffee beans to the abbot, the popularity of the berries spread like the notorious Australian wildfires.
The coffee empire snakes its way into the Arabian world in the early 16th century and later reached the shores of Venice, Italy, and the wider Europe, Asia, and then North America. From the vast lands of Ethiopia, the coffee cup you’re sipping now has traveled far and wide.
Over the last five decades, coffee shops started sprouting with an emphasis on both the quality and quantity of coffee consumed. Coffee moved from a daily dinner drink to an exquisite, carefully brewed, and roasted drink for an appeasing final taste.
Interesting Facts of the International Coffee Day
It’s unclear when the world decided to start celebrating this day. However, the roots of this historic day go back to Coffee Day celebrated in 1983 by the All Japan Coffee Association in Japan. China followed suit with its own version of coffee day in 1997, and this morphed into an annual celebration in 2001.
Surprisingly, it wasn’t until 2009 that the New Orleans Coffee Festival used the term ‘International Coffee Day’ to cement the name of the day. Since 2005, the US remained unsure on whether to go ahead and embrace Coffee Day but this cleared out after 2009. Taiwan is another country believed to have marked the day around the same time.
Significance of the International Coffee Day
In 2015, the International Coffee Organization officially recognized 1st October as International Coffee Day. To symbolize its solemnity, the day was launched in Milan, Italy to call for better wages for coffee farmers. Well, these are the people who tediously hold the torch ensuring the coffee flame never goes dark.
The fight is far from won. With most farmers earning less than a dollar a pound for their coffee beans, it highlights the aspirations of the day remain unmet. While coffee days are celebrated multiple times across the world on diverse dates, let’s remember the farmers who continue to quench our insatiable thirst for a latte, espresso, or whichever coffee brew you enjoy most.
Happy International Coffee Day
Enjoy each cup of coffee like it’s the last. Smell the aroma and savor the full-bodied flavor. Coffee transcended seas, wildfires, and all forms of barriers to rise atop the most popular non-water beverages. Share in this story of triumph. Enjoy!