10 Genuinely Fun Coffee Facts You Probably Haven’t Heard
At Hessian Coffee, we love discovering the fascinating side of coffee, from how it grows to how it ends up in your cup. Sure, you may already know coffee fuels early mornings and late nights, but did you know it also sweats, pops like popcorn, and has been to space?
Here are 10 genuinely fun, and sometimes downright strange, facts about coffee to share with your fellow caffeine enthusiasts.
1. Coffee Beans Can “Sweat”
Freshly roasted coffee beans naturally release aromatic oils onto their surface. This is called coffee sweating, and it’s why your beans can look glossy. No need to panic—those glistening oils mean they’re fresh and brimming with flavour.
2. Caffeine Is a Plant’s Secret Weapon
Ever wondered why the coffee plant produces caffeine? It’s not just for your morning buzz. Caffeine evolved as a natural pesticide, paralyzing and poisoning insects that tried to snack on its leaves. Luckily, humans are a bit more resilient.
3. Decaf Coffee Isn’t Naturally Caffeine-Free
Decaf beans don’t grow that way. They’re processed with special methods—like soaking them in solvents or using supercritical CO2 extraction (which sounds like something out of science fiction). Fun fact: the removed caffeine often ends up in soft drinks.
4. Dark Roasts Don’t Have More Caffeine
Despite their bold taste, dark roasts actually contain slightly less caffeine by volume than lighter roasts. The longer roasting process burns off a bit of the caffeine. So if you’re chasing a bigger buzz, go for a lighter roast.
5. Coffee Cherries Are Edible—and Sweet
Coffee beans come from a bright red fruit called a coffee cherry. The pulp tastes like a mix of hibiscus and cherry. In ancient Ethiopia, people mixed the pulp with animal fat to create what might be history’s first energy bars.
6. Some Beans Are Processed by Birds
Move over civet coffee—Brazil has Jacú bird coffee, made from beans that wild Jacú birds eat and pass through their digestive system. The result? A rare, naturally processed coffee that sells for hundreds per pound. (Yes, seriously.)
7. Roasting Coffee Sounds Like Popcorn
When roasting, beans go through what’s called first crack—a loud popping that sounds just like popcorn—and sometimes a quieter second crack. If you roast past second crack, congratulations: you’ve made charcoal.
8. You Can Flash-Chill Coffee in 60 Seconds
Thanks to innovations like Snapchill, hot coffee can be chilled to icy temperatures in under a minute without dilution. Perfect for those who don’t want to wait hours for cold brew.
9. Professional Tasters Slurp—Loudly
In coffee cupping sessions, professionals use big spoons and slurp noisily to spread the coffee evenly over their palate. It may sound like bad manners, but it’s the best way to evaluate aroma and taste.
10. Astronauts Drink Coffee in Space
NASA invented a special capillary cup so astronauts could sip coffee without floating blobs. Before that, they had to drink it out of sealed bags—like sad space juice pouches. Now, they can enjoy real sips in zero gravity.
Whether you’re a casual sipper or a die-hard enthusiast, coffee is full of surprises. Next time you brew a cup, remember: you’re participating in a tradition that spans centuries, continents, and even outer space.