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22 Facts About Coffee: The World's Most Important Beverage

The entire world would shut down without it.

1. Legend has it a 9th-century Ethiopian goat herder discovered coffee by accident when he noticed how crazy the beans were making his goats.

2. New Yorkers drink almost 7 times more coffee than other cities in the US.

3. Coffee is a psychoactive. And at high doses it can make you see things... It can also kill you...

4. The lethal dose of caffeine is roughly 100 cups of coffee.

5. A French doctor in the 1600s suggested Cafe Au Laits for patients, inspiring people to begin adding milk to coffee.

6. The French philosopher Voltaire is said to have drank 50 cups of coffee a day. Because he ruled.

7. Espresso is regulated by the Italian government because it is considered an essential part of their daily life

8. Hawaii is the only state that commercially grows coffee. And this is what it looks like:

9. In the ancient Arab culture there was only one way a woman could legally divorce: If her husband didn't provide enough coffee.

10. Coffee beans are actually the pit of a berry, which makes them a fruit. The best fruit.

11. IMPORTANT TO KNOW: Brewed espresso has 2.5% fat, while filtered coffee contains 0.6% fat.

12. Johan Sebastian Bach wrote an opera about a woman who was addicted to coffee.

View this video on YouTube

13. We're not going to tell you how, but there is a way to brew coffee with marijuana in it and it is described as producing a "dreamy" kind of coffee buzz.

14. Unlike the hip 20-something Baristas in the US, in Italy the average Barista age is 48, and it is a very respected profession.

15. Want to know the history of the word "coffee"? Well here it is:

16. In the 1600s there was a controversy over whether or not Catholics could drink coffee, luckily Pope Clement VIII said it was okay.

17. No matter what people tell you, caffeine cannot help you sober up.

18. The first webcam was invented at The University of Cambridge to let people know if the coffee pot was full or not.

19. There is a spa in Japan that lets you bathe in coffee, tea, or wine. I wouldn't drink it though...

20. This is the most expensive drink at Starbucks: $23.50, with 16 shots of espresso or 1400mg of caffeine.

21. Before coffee caught on in the US in the 1700s, beer was breakfast drink of choice. Which is only slightly less awesome.

22. Irish coffee was actually invented to warm up cold American plane passengers leaving from Ireland.

Here's the recipe!

23. And lastly, Teddy Roosevelt is and was the greatest American coffee drinker, consuming a gallon a day. But you probably shouldn't attempt to do that.