Coffee Trivia Quiz - with 30 fun facts

Britain drinks around 98 million cups of coffee a day, yet most of us know very little about what is in the cup. As a UK coffee wholesaler, we spend our days with the stuff, and we still find new things to surprise us.

Here are 30 of our favourite pieces of coffee trivia, from goat herders and penny universities to the coffee house that became Lloyd's of London. At the end you will find a ready-made ten-question quiz for your next office social.

Coffee trivia quiz

(Answers are below.)

Round 1 – Coffee Basics

Difficulty: Easy

1. Which two types of coffee bean account for the vast majority of coffee consumed worldwide?

2. Which country produces the most coffee in the world?

3. What is the name of the concentrated coffee made by forcing hot water through finely ground coffee under pressure?

4. What does the word decaffeinated mean?

5. What is the name of the tool used to compress ground coffee into the basket of an espresso machine?

6. Which has more caffeine: a typical single espresso or a typical mug of filter coffee?

Round 2 – Tea Time

Difficulty: Easy to Medium

7. Which country is most famously associated with the invention and early consumption of tea?

8. What is the name of the plant from which traditional black, green and white teas are produced?

9. What type of tea is traditionally used to make Earl Grey?

10. What is the name of the Japanese powdered green tea used in traditional tea ceremonies?

11. Which country is home to the famous tea-growing region of Darjeeling?

12. Which British monarch is associated with popularising tea drinking in England during the 17th century?

Round 3 – Around the Coffee World

Difficulty: Medium

13. In which country is coffee believed to have originated?

14. What is the name of the traditional Italian coffee dessert made with espresso, mascarpone and sponge fingers?

15. Which American city was the location of the very first Starbucks shop in 1971?

16. What is the name of the coffee drink made with espresso, steamed milk and a small amount of milk foam, whose Italian name means 'stained' or 'marked'?

17. What alcoholic spirit is traditionally added to an Irish coffee?

18. In which European country did the flat white become popular before spreading internationally? Trick question: its origin is disputed between two countries outside Europe. Name either one.

Round 4 – Hot Chocolate & Café Culture

Difficulty: Medium

19. Which ancient Mesoamerican civilisation is especially famous for consuming cacao drinks and using cacao beans as currency?

20. What is the main ingredient in white chocolate that comes from the cacao bean?

21. Which country is associated with the coffee drink known as a café au lait?

22. What does the Italian word barista broadly translate to in English?

23. Which nut-flavoured syrup, named after a traditional Italian biscuit, is commonly added to coffee drinks?

24. What is the name of the traditional Moroccan green tea flavoured with fresh mint and often served very sweet?

Round 5 – The Coffee Connoisseur Challenge

Difficulty: Medium to Hard

25. What is the ideal approximate brewing temperature range for most speciality coffee, in degrees Celsius?

26. In coffee terminology, what is crema?

27. Which coffee-growing country is famous for the Yirgacheffe coffee region?

28. What does the abbreviation SCA stand for in the coffee industry?

29. What is the name of the process in which green coffee beans are heated, causing them to turn brown and develop their characteristic flavours and aromas?

30. Approximately how many coffee beans are needed to make a typical double espresso using an 18g dose: 50, 100, 150 or 250?

     

     

     

    ANSWERS

    
    Round 1 – Coffee Basics

    1. Arabica and Robusta

    The two main commercially produced coffee species.

    2. Brazil

    The world's largest coffee-producing country.

    3. Espresso

    A concentrated coffee brewed under pressure.

    4. Caffeine has been removed

    Decaf is not necessarily completely caffeine-free.

    5. Tamper

    Used to compress coffee grounds in a portafilter.

    6. A typical mug of filter coffee

    Usually contains more total caffeine than one espresso.

    
    

    Round 2 – Tea Time

    7. China

    Tea drinking has a history stretching back thousands of years.

    8. Camellia sinensis

    The plant used to produce traditional teas.

    9. Black tea

    Traditionally flavoured with bergamot.

    10. Matcha

    Finely powdered Japanese green tea.

    11. India

    Darjeeling is in West Bengal, India.

    12.Catherine of Braganza

    Queen consort of Charles II, known for helping popularise tea at court.

    
    

    Round 3 – Around the Coffee World

    13. Ethiopia

    Widely regarded as coffee's birthplace.

    14. Tiramisu

    The well-known Italian coffee dessert.

    15. Seattle

    The original Starbucks opened at Pike Place Market in 1971.

    16. Latte macchiato

    Literally 'stained milk'; accept 'macchiato' if the contestant specifies the milk-based version.

    17. Irish whiskey

    The traditional spirit in Irish coffee.

    18. Australia or New Zealand

    Both countries claim the invention of the flat white.

    
    Round 4 – Hot Chocolate & Café Culture

    19. The Aztecs

    The Maya also consumed cacao; accept Maya for the drinking tradition, but Aztecs for the currency clue.

    20. Cocoa butter

    White chocolate is made with cocoa butter, but no cocoa solids.

    21. France

    Café au lait means 'coffee with milk'.

    22. Bartender

    The Italian word originally refers to someone serving drinks at a bar.

    23. Amaretto

    An almond-like flavour named after the Italian liqueur, rather than strictly a biscuit; award a point for amaretto.

    24. Moroccan mint tea

    Often called atay; traditionally made with green tea and mint.

    
    

    Round 5 – The Coffee Connoisseur Challenge

    25. 90–96°C

    A commonly recommended brewing temperature range.

    26. Golden-brown foam on espresso

    Formed from gases, emulsified oils and other coffee compounds.

    27. Ethiopia

    Yirgacheffe is renowned for floral and fruity coffee.

    28. Specialty Coffee Association

    An international organisation serving the speciality coffee industry.

    29. Coffee roasting

    Heat transforms green coffee into aromatic, roasted coffee.

    30. Approximately 150 beans

    A rough estimate; actual count varies considerably with bean size and dose.

    
    
    Bonus Round

    1. In which city did England's first coffee house open?
    2. What is the name for a coffee cherry containing a single round bean?
    3. Which famous insurance market started in a coffee house?
    4. Which king tried to ban coffee houses in 1675?
    5. Which coffee species has roughly twice the caffeine of Arabica?
    6. Which religious order gave its name to the cappuccino?
    7. Roughly how many cups of coffee does the UK drink each day?
    8. Which country drinks the most coffee per person?

Answers: 1. Oxford · 2. Peaberry ·  3. Lloyd's of London · 4. Charles II · 5. Pressed out · 6. Capuchin friars · 7. Around 98 million · 8. Finland

Where coffee began

1. Goats may have found it first. Legend says an Ethiopian goat herder called Kaldi noticed his goats dancing after eating red berries from a shrub. It is almost certainly a myth, but Ethiopia is where wild coffee comes from.

2. A coffee bean is a seed. It grows inside a small red fruit called a coffee cherry, usually as a pair of seeds facing each other.

3. Some cherries hold a single bean. These small, round "peaberries" make up a small share of the harvest and are often sorted and sold separately.

4. Mocha is a place. The name comes from the port of Mokha in Yemen, once the centre of the world coffee trade.

5. Coffee grows in a belt. Almost all coffee is grown in the "Bean Belt", the tropical band between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn.

Beans, plants and growing

6. There are two main species. Arabica makes up roughly 60% of the world's coffee; Robusta makes up most of the rest.

7. Robusta packs more punch. It contains roughly twice the caffeine of Arabica, which is one reason it is popular in espresso blends and instant coffee.

8. Brazil is the giant. It grows around a third of all the world's coffee.

9. Vietnam is number two. Most of what it grows is Robusta.

10. Patience is required. A newly planted coffee tree takes three to four years to produce its first crop.

11. Coffee travels in hessian. Green coffee is shipped around the world in jute (hessian) sacks, most of them holding 60kg. [Optional: a line on how Hessian Coffee got its name.]

Britain's coffee history

12. England's first coffee house was in Oxford. It opened in 1650 at the Angel, run by a man named Jacob (Walks of London).

13. London followed in 1652. Pasqua Rosée, a Greek servant of a Levant Company merchant, opened a coffee stall in St Michael's Alley, Cornhill. A blue plaque marks the spot (Londonist).

14. One is still going. Oxford's Queen's Lane Coffee House has served coffee since 1654.

15. They were called "penny universities". A penny bought entry and a cup, plus access to the conversation of writers, scientists and merchants.

16. The boom was enormous. By 1675 England had more than 3,000 coffee houses (Brewminate).

17. Charles II tried to ban them. His 1675 proclamation to suppress coffee houses, seen as hotbeds of political gossip, caused such an outcry it was withdrawn within days.

18. The City was built on coffee. Lloyd's of London began in Edward Lloyd's coffee house, and stock prices listed at Jonathan's Coffee House from 1698 grew into the London Stock Exchange.

Brewing and the drinks we order

19. Espresso means "pressed out". The Italian name describes hot water forced through finely ground coffee under pressure.

20. Cappuccino is named after monks. Its colour was compared to the brown habits of Capuchin friars.

21. Decaf is not caffeine-free. Most of the caffeine is removed, but a small amount remains in every cup.

22. The freshness clock starts when you open the bag. Good beans are packed in bags with a one-way valve that lets gas out but keeps air out. Once opened, use them within a few weeks.

23. Boiling water is too hot. Coffee brews best just off the boil, at around 90–96°C.

24. A kilo goes a long way. A single espresso uses about 7g of beans, so 1kg makes around 140 shots.

Coffee in Britain today

25. 98 million cups a day. That is the British Coffee Association's estimate of daily UK consumption (BCA).

26. Most of it is drunk at home. About 65% of UK coffee is drunk at home and 25% at work or while studying (CEBR).

27. Instant still rules the cupboard. 80% of UK households buy instant coffee to drink at home.

28. Age matters. The BCA's research found Baby Boomers average 2.2 cups a day, against 0.5 for Generation Z (New Food).

29. The Finns drink the most. Finland has the highest coffee consumption per person in the world.

30. A popular myth. You will often read that coffee is the world's second most traded commodity after oil. It is not even close; oil, metals and many other goods trade far more by value.

Make your office coffee worth talking about

Trivia is more fun with a good cup in hand. We roast our beans in Hertfordshire and supply bean-to-cup machines, coffee and servicing across the UK.

www.hessianvending.com