Author’s Note: Research is credited to National Day Calendar, Nescafe Global and Batch Coffee Club

Coffee, especially recently, has boomed in popularity. The rise of coffee shops, artisan coffee, brewing your own beans and Starbucks and Caribou in general, all have become staples of American society today.

The history of the beverage can be traced back several centuries, and seeing that people have taken the coffee plant and its effects and successfully ran with it, it’s fitting that Sept. 29 is National Coffee Day.

For all the coffee drinkers in the world, there are plenty of facts and stats that may surprise you about your favorite beverage, and National Coffee Day is the best opportunity to brush up on what’s in the cup.

Coffee can be traced back to the year 800. A goat herder in Ethiopia noticed that when the goats would eat the plant, they would start “dancing.” When the goat herder tried it for himself, he found the plant made him “excitable” as well.

It’s not hard to see that coffee had a lasting effect. Today, it is one of the most popular beverages in the world with over 2.25 billion cups being consumed daily.

While the United States drinks the most coffee as a whole, it’s actually the Netherlands that wins the most coffee consumed per capita. 

For all the coffee drinkers in the world, there are plenty of facts and stats that may surprise you about your favorite beverage, and National Coffee Day is the best opportunity to brush up on what’s in the cup.

However, coffee wasn’t put into a beverage at first. Like the goat herder in Ethiopia, people first ground the coffee berries to mix with animal fat to eat.

Yes, coffee is actually a fruit, despite most people knowing it best by its bean form. The beans grow on bushes and are found at the heart of a coffee cherry.

Over 70 countries now produce coffee, but the leader in coffee production is Brazil. This one country alone produces over 40% of the world’s coffee!

We do know coffee, or types of coffee, to be extremely popular with younger people today, mostly because of the caffeine. Even so, Baby Boomers (those in their late fifties to mid-seventies) and the generation older than them still drink more coffee than any other age group.

Even if you’re not a coffee drinker yourself, we all know a person (or several persons) who love their warm cup of caffeine. Coffee has become extremely versatile and almost a necessity for many people. It’s impact on the world has a long history, with no signs of slowing down anytime soon.