October 01, 2021

But first, Coffee

National Coffee Day was on 29 Sep 2021 and International Coffee Day is on 1 Oct 2021.

Many people start their day with a cup of coffee. A beloved drink around the world so much so that coffee has its own day to be celebrated!

Coffee is a brewed beverage from coffee beans, the seeds of the cherries from the coffee tree, predominantly of the C. arabica variety. Coffee beans are ready to be harvested once the cherries ripen or turn red. Coffee trees were first known to be cultivated in the Middle East, sometime around the 15th Century. Today, they are grown all around the world, mostly near the Equator where the climate is tropical, in the region known as the Coffee Belt that includes over 70 countries. Coffee trees grow best at a temperature range of 15 to 30 °C with plenty of rain and shade.

Coffee bean imprints on a cement floor I walked on at a coffee plantation in Costa Rica.

Chemistry in Your Cup of Coffee

There are many compounds in a cup of coffee. You can see some of them on the Cup of Coffee Tea Towel... doesn't that sound a little ironic? I'm so very excited for this new tea towel I designed this year and I hope you like it too.

The most famous chemical from coffee is caffeine, the stimulant that keeps us alert and awake. Earlier this year I wrote about the Similarities and Differences between Coffee, Chocolate, and a Respiratory Medicine, if you want to read more about caffeine chemistry.

Do you drink coffee? Do you prefer it hot or cold? Let me know in the comments below.