Eleven things you didn't know about coffee for 2011!

1. The darker the roast the more dehydrating it can be, also the less caffeine it has. This is mostly because roasting coffee beans causes them to increase in volume, but decrease in mass. Most of us use a volume measure to gauge our coffee (Tablespoon for example). If we were to use a scale to weigh the coffee, dark roast would actually result in a higher concentration of caffeine.
2. It seems like a lot, but coffee should be brewed with a ratio of 2 Tablespoons of ground coffee used for every 6 oz of water.
3. Coffee is best brewed in 4 ½ - 5 minutes, using water that is between 195 and 205 degrees Fahrenheit.
4. Coffee is the second most used product in the world, following only oil.
5. A mixture of coffee and sugar water will revive yellowing house plants during the winter months.
6. Both Lloyd's of London and the New York Stock Exchange started their lives as coffee houses.
7. In Ireland, coffee has it’s own celebration day on September 19th.
8. The term “cup of joe” came from WWII when American soldiers were issued Maxwell Instant Coffee in their daily rations. Soldiers were referred to as “G.I. Joes,” so it followed that their daily cup of coffee would be a cup of joe.
9. There is no calories in straight or black, coffee.
10. Coffee beans are really berries. In Arabic, it is called a “bunnu.”
11. Although opinions differ greatly, the best way to brew coffee is arguably in a French press. Many options exist including vacuum brewing, cold press, drip brewing, espresso, Italian press, percolator and Norwegian egg coffee. The later involves boiling 10 cups of water, adding a well stirred mixture of ¼ cup of water - 1 egg - and ½ cup of coffee grounds, simmering for 2 - 3 minutes, removing from heat and adding 1 cup of cold water. The egg coagulates, collecting with it the coffee grounds. The additional cold cup of water causes the grounds to fall to the bottom of the pot, leaving a rich, very clean coffee that can be decanted into a thermos.