National Coffee Day!!

So in honor of National Coffee Day, we here at 13th Street have decided to put together a list of LITTLE KNOWN COFFEE FACTS! Useful, no?? Now, before sating your daily fix, you can defend your addiction with fun trivia and lore rather than instinctively reaching out and smacking the nearest naysayer. Enjoy! (P.S., have I mentioned how amazing our cappuccinos are? They're sexaccinos...)

1. The first recorded mention of coffee dates back to the ninth century! No wonder we can't get by without it!

2. The word "coffee" was once used in reference to wine, and occasionally replaced it during religious ceremonies because it kept those involved awake during night-long vigils.

3. The discovery of the beverage is unclear, though there are several legends, one of which is the "Legend of the Dancing Goats"

4. The first European coffee house opened in Venice in 1645, often banning women from visiting.

5. Caffeine is a prohibited substance for the International Olympics Committee! An athlete is liable to be banned from competition if they are found to have consumed more than five cups of coffee prior to a drug screening.

6. Luigi Bezzera created the espresso machine in Italy in 1904. Espresso, incidentally, contains less caffeine than a cup of coffee by about half.

7. Coffee beans are not beans at all! They're actually pits found in the coffee berry.

8. Voltaire is rumored to have consumed over FORTY cups of coffee a day!! I know, right?? No wonder Candide's such a whirlwind.

9. Coffee shops have been named a critical factor in the conceptual stages and eventual publication of Newton's Theory of Gravity, as Newton and a group of his cohorts gathered in a shop called Tillyard's to plot and discuss.

10. Coffee is the second most traded item in the world, outranked only by petroleum. I would start a war for my morning espresso, no?

So, just some of the reasons why coffee and coffee culture have become near and dear to so many of us, especially our baristi here at Capogiro. I swear, try one of our sexaccinos....you'll be better off for it. Happy Coffee Day!!!