People loved coffee for centuries making it the second most prefered beverage after water. We know that its magical bean is known for its many benefits. This makes one of its kind, the espresso, the most popular food products in line with beverages in the world by tasteatlas.com during coffee breaks.

Along with a lineup of friends who are as passionate for coffee as I am, I write this up in celebration for the International Coffee Day we celebrate this October 1st. Here are some of the things you may find interesting about your usual daily morning ritual, ready for sharing during your break time.

1. It stays as the second most traded commodity.

A traded commodity satisfies the following criteria to be considered so:

• The said commodity should be an investment so viable that it is its own vehicle ready to be traded at any time and anywhere.
• It usually is a commodity that needs to be delivered physically.
• It has an active and well-established market and such commodity’s buyers and sellers constantly and consistently trade and transact with each other.

The world consumes more than 2.25 million cups of coffee every day (2 from me daily), not just because of the energy boost it gives, but because of the culture it established amongst us. A social culture where people get to sit down, share stories, exchange opinions, disclose political views, generate ideas and just plainly, to catch up completing the whole experience of coffee making Starbucks, Pacific Coffee, Seattle’s Best, and other major coffee chains dominate.

Coming second to crude oil, a resource that sustains the world’s never-ending demand for energy for all the industries that it holds, followed by natural gas, gold, and brent oil, coffee owns a pretty sturdy position in the trading industry as a beverage, a commodity, and lifestyle.

2. The most expensive coffee comes from elephant poop.

How much are you willing to spend for coffee during your coffee break?

In the movie, The Bucket List mentions Kopi Luwak, priced at US$600 per pound. It is an Indonesian coffee that is roasted after the palm civet, commonly known as the toddy cat, eats it, digests and passes it out afterwards. If it’s actually a cat’s shit, why the hell is it that good? It’s because of the breaking down of the coffee’s proteins by the palm civet’s digestive enzymes, removing the acidity and changing its structure to create a smoother cup of coffee.

The process is basically the same as Black Ivory. With its mysterious name comes the truth behind it being elephant’s droppings. As herbivores, they digest their food slower. And with a particular digestive enzyme, that is solely the elephant’s consuming the Arabica coffee beans in Northern Thailand, it gives the finished product smoothness so unique and a mellow taste that’s so good.

What makes it expensive though is the fact that the beans are hard to extract. The elephants tend to chew most of it entirely while they deposit the ones that they don’t digest in places that are hard to find. Black Ivory, though, supports elephant rescue centres as it gets manufactured funding their extraction from abusive tourist industries. A percentage of the profit generated from the coffee sales is actually funding the healthcare for these rescued elephants.

3.  It could be a ground for divorce if not served freshly brewed.

We all know Saudi Arabia for its strict laws, particularly, in keeping the rights of the women so limited. But one of the most surprising is this. A woman gets to divorce her husband if he doesn’t give her a fresh supply. It was particularly allowed in Turkey, which is a predominant part of Saudi Arabia a hundred years ago. And it’s not the man who is to instigate it, but the woman.

4. Ever wondered whether coffee is a grain, vegetable, seed, or fruit as you drink It while on your coffee break?

The answer is, it’s a fruit. Their beans grow from a bush which is the pit of a berry, making them fruits by nature. It has a red and green variety in which the red owns a nicer smell. It is also less acidic than the green variation, capable of producing lighter coffees. Know that the longer coffee gets roasted, the more their health benefits come out. The removal of caffeine from the beans through a chemical process creates decaffeinated coffee. In which, the caffeine gets sold to Coca Cola who is a major buyer.

5. How to get the best of your most favourite beverage next to water?

You race against time and oxygen the minute your coffee got roasted and brewed to your liking.

As oxygen helps human sustain their lives each breath they take, it does the opposite to just about anything including your coffee. Why do you think your bike rust after leaving it for a long time outside? Why do you think the apple’s meat turns awfully brown once left for a while after getting cut through? It’s because of the oxidation that takes place as it is a process where oxygen pulls electrons away from another molecule leaving them with an uneven number of electrons, creating an unstable composition within.

As a result, free radicals roam around where the free molecules react to other molecules in the environment. These molecules find other free radicals creating volatile compounds. In the end, browning, rusting, ageing, and in the case of your coffee waiting to be consumed, staling happens. For some, it’s best to consume your cup of Joe within 15 minutes but your coffee starts to lose 70% of its flavour within 2 minutes. On how to get the most out of your roast, handground.com sets grinding tactics for you here.

While this could be a statement to officially remind themselves that it’s time for a coffee break, this is also every Filipino’s way of encouraging a productive day ahead of you. O, KAPE NA! 

More of the #KAPENA CHRONICLES at o.kape.na  in IG. Follow us for some Pinoy entertainment, hanashi, and international breweries featured. Not a fan of coffee, here's a recipe to a banana kiwi smoothie.