Coffee is my favorite beverage and I am sure many of you would like to say the same. There are various interesting facts about this wonderful drink which I have come to know recently. I want to share these facts with my readers, as I find them really exciting and these must be known by a true coffee enthusiast.

There are more or less 65 nations across the globe which are involved in cultivating coffee plants. The amazing thing is, most of these nations are located in the equatorial regions, a few bordering the tropics. Te United States of America, the largest consumer of coffee, has no cultivation plots for this beverage, except a few tracts in the islands of Hawaii and Puerto Rico. Another fact can be logically deduced from this fact – the US is the largest importer of coffee. At this context, there is information that is roughly 30% American coffee drinkers prefer to have some sort of sweetener with their coffee.

The first day in the month of October is celebrated as the ‘coffee day’ by the Japanese people. Till date, the scientists and the researchers have found out a whopping 800 various types of aromatic coffee compounds. Among all types of commodities that are traded in between different nations, coffee ranks second in terms of essential products after oil. The country of Brazil is the largest producer of coffee in the world. The usage of coffee as a beverage dates back to more than 700 years. A Belgian citizen, by the name George Washington, is credited to be the inventor of the immensely popular instant coffee. The invention was made in the year 1906.

There are no calories in sugarless black coffee, and it is highly recommended by dieticians. The coffee industry is massive and in the world there are well over 20 millions labor forces who are involved in this industry. Having coffee with a 20 minute brewing time gives the body about 300 phytochemicals that are excellent anti-oxidants and can stay in a human body for well over a month.

A standard cup of coffee has a caffeine content that is almost double the amount that is contained in a cup of black tea and four times the caffeine quantity in one cup of green tea. In this regard, another fact is a cup of ordinary coffee has three times more caffeine content than a cup of espresso coffee.

There are other facts too, the most common being those related to the flavors of Arabica coffee and Robusta coffee. It is indeed true that Arabica is a much better coffee, but Robusta too has an identity of its own and the most important ingredient in the preparation of different coffee blends.

One single cup of the most expensive coffee can make you spend about 50 dollars in a decent restaurant! This coffee is said to be prepared by processing the excreta of the civets! So, for time being, happy coffee drinking!

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Lots of things are written and discussed about tea. Some talk about the aroma and flavor of different types of tea leaves. Many folks discuss about the health benefits of tea. Some of us also talk regarding the ill effects of consuming too much tea on a regular basis. A lot is said about the various ways of preparing tea too. In this article, I personally aim to mention some of the essential and interesting points about this wonderful beverage that I hope will be a treat to read. Having tea and going through these points can be a nice experience!

The popularity of tea has got no match. Of all the liquid intakes in the world, it is the most commonly consumed after water. Without a single speck of doubt, tea is the most popular beverage in the world, as revealed by statistical figures and relevant data. If water is life, tea can be said to be just a little less than life! There are aerated drinks and coffee under the list of beverages, but tea comfortably beats them all.

I just came across a very interesting fact about tea is that any form of tea, whether black or green, has a singular plant origin. This is indeed a strikingly refreshing fact, at least according to me, since the different forms of tea leaves don’t quite support this fact, but this is the truth.

The three countries that have the top three positions as the most amount of tea produced are India, China and Japan – all are Asian countries. India is the largest exporter of tea in the world.

The grading of tea is a complex matter and is performed by experts and researchers in the field. A common notion is that the grading of tea is done on the basis of its flavor and the color of its leaves. But this is a misconception. It is done on the basis of the tea leaf size. Moreover, the texture of the tea leaves also plays a role in grading procedures.

A startling fact is over 90% Americans have their teas by using tea bags. The trend of having tea by other procedures is fast becoming popular though. The relevance of black tea is increasing among the common mass in USA.

As a matter of fact, the good old black tea is the most preferred form of tea that is being consumed across all nations in the world. Japan is the largest consumer of green tea. But still, on an overall basis, black tea wins the race on a broader macro-economic perspective.

The amount of caffeine in one standard cup of black tea is approximately half the amount in a coffee cup. The caffeine content further decreases if a person consumes green tea.

There are various brewing methods but brewing the tea leaves with the plain hot water technique seems to work best for extracting the optimum flavor from this wonderful beverage. I hope all these facts have been captivating enough to make you glued to this write-up.

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How many of you are ardent fans of pure green tea? I am certainly one, and I really love to spend my weekend evenings sipping through nice liquors of quality green tea. I often like to experiment with different sorts of green tea leaves. For example, I really love the Genmaicha green tea the most which has got a Japanese origin. It is actually a mixture of the green tea leaves with specific amounts of brown rice in roasted form. Many folks love to term it colloquially as the ‘popcorn tea. Such a name can be attributed to the fact that the tea constitutes an amount of ‘popped’ rice.

The bancha tea leaves are processed to make this Genmaicha tea. I was not aware of this fact but came to know about this after doing a bit of research on the internet. The rice grains that have been roasted are known as Genmai in Japanese language, hence the name Genmaicha tea. The proportion of mixing the tea leaves with the rice grains is very important as that determines its aroma. The more the amount of popped rice grains, the more the aroma is. But excess roasted brown rice can damage the taste of the tea. The roasted rice gives a peculiar flavor to the tea, like that of nuts. The method of preparation is the conventional one that I always prefer. I use hot water to make the tea, not the boiling water as it damages the flavor. It also goes well in reviving the digestive processes. It contains less amount of caffeine when compared to the other varieties.

The Genmaicha is the main variety of green tea that I frequently consume. But I also adore the other types, and do occasionally have them. The sencha tea is one of my personal favorites due to the smoothness it offers in its taste. There is a certain degree of sharpness in its flavor that is admirable indeed, and makes it a really fascinating beverage. It has an aristocratic feeling to it that really enthralls me.

The Chinese variety of green tea, most commonly called the gunpowder tea is also quite refreshing in its taste and aroma. I don’t have too much opportunity in consuming it at my home, but never fail to avail it in a cozy tea shop.

My likings also include the jasmine green tea that has, as the name suggests, the principal aroma of the jasmine flowers. The flavor has a smoothness that is unique and tastes wonderful in a cold winter evening. It not very common, still one of my favorites.

The tea by the name Kukicha is yet another interesting variety of green tea that I enjoy. It is processed by various sorts of stems and twigs and the blend is made carefully by accounting for the right kind of proportions. It has perhaps the lowest caffeine content and also effective anti-oxidant properties. It has got an impressive flavor and a captivating taste.

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The first method is the drip filtration. It can be said the most practiced method, arguably. A stream of hot water is sprayed on the coffee that is being held in a conically shaped filter. The water gradually, after moving through the coffee grains, percolates in the container that is kept under the filter. I have personally tried it few times with the help of a conical filter that is made of paper. But there are costly filters used in this process that are made of stainless steel. In this process, the fineness of the coffee grains also does matter and you need to account for it.

One of the simpler methods of brewing coffee is the method of French press. I have used it several times at my home. The coffee grind is mixed in the boiling water, and few moments after that the plunger is pressed that sift the coffee grind particles form the solution of the brew. The coffee has an excellent flavor. You must be careful in this process as if you press too soon you can end up tasting a light coffee, and if you are late in pressing then the flavor can get bitter.

Using espresso machine is yet another method of brewing coffee. Hot water is passed trough fresh coffee beans. The water is in pressurized form and the coffee beans are made to soak in hot water for a longer than usual time as in other cases. The water travels through the grains and collects. The coffee brew has a smooth taste. The crema’s richness determines the quality of the coffee obtained by this method. The crema is a term given to the froth of the hazelnut created from the water and the oil of the coffee beans. This is a nice method I am yet to try this. But I plan to use this method to brew coffee at home in the near future.

The method of using moka pot is an interesting one. It is available in different capacities – 2, 4 or 6 cups according to specific requirements. There are 3 compartments or pots in the set up. At the base we have the water reservoir that is used to brew the coffee. Above it, we have a pot in the middle position that has freshly ground coffee beans. And at the topmost position there is a compartment that is used to collect the brewed coffee. The boiling at the bottom of the set up lets coffee beans to be processed by the steam and brew to be stored at the topmost compartment.

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I never deny the fact that I do feel refreshed whenever I have tea. It has got beautiful stimulating effect that energizes my body and helps me to gather concentration for my work. However, I limit myself by not taking more than two cups of tea per day – one at breakfast, and the other at evening. Tea has caffeine, which most of you must be aware of. A little amount of caffeine is not harmful for the body, but if it mixes with the bloodstream in considerable quantities, as it happens in the case of regular over-consumption of tea, can prove to be detrimental for the nervous system of the body.

The effects can be observed gradually. The foremost is insomnia that is loss of sleep. This deteriorates the normal health and further aggravates digestive disorders in the body. The body becomes weak and you become a victim of lethargy. The reflexes get less responsive and anxiety increases in addition to irritating headaches. Over-consumption of tea, as I have found out after a bit of self-study, instead of doing well, does just the opposite to your body.

The sensation of irritability inside the body increases that does not keep you in peace. I was lucky to know about all these from one of my relatives who is in medical profession. It is no doubt the having tea is a refreshing proposal and helps almost every time when one needs to get going by breaking the shackles of monotony at the workplace. But having too much of it, as said before, is strictly no-no.

The point is, you need to be judicious about drinking tea, as I have controlled my tea drinking habit, and you can be sure of not facing any health ailment. There are complex compound in tea leaves that are known as alkaloids. If these go to your body in good amounts, then the fluid balance inside your systems get disturbed, causing irregularities in the day to day body functions.

Also make sure that the cup you use is only medium–sized! Jokes apart, if you are too much addicted to drinking tea, it’s time to put a tab and limit yourself to a maximum of three cups per day. If you regard my word, I can assure you that your doctor’s bills will get lowered.

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