According to the National Coffee Association’s 2017 National Coffee Drinking Trends report, coffee still dominates tea here in America, despite tea’s higher overall consumption and popularity worldwide.
The stats are interesting, considering coffee is the second most-valuable, legally traded commodity in the world, right behind oil. Although more green coffee is produced than tea, and it only takes about two grams of tea to make a cup, compared to 10 grams of coffee. This could very well be one of the main reasons that, worldwide, three cups of tea are drunk for every one cup of coffee.
Coffee’s popularity in the states can be traced back to the Revolutionary War, where a bunch of angry colonists threw boxes of tea overboard to protest British taxes. John Adams, our second president, even went as far as to declare tea a “traitor’s drink,” and Americans everywhere united and vowed to only serve coffee in their homes. In their minds, tea = British, and drinking it was seen as a betrayal to the colonies!
Obviously, we love, love, love tea here at Royal Cup (check out our delicious lines of hot, iced and loose leaf), but we find it fascinating how events that occurred over 200 years ago still influence and shape our country’s consumption habits today. In all likelihood, we’d be a tea-drinking nation had John Adams not started a movement to ban the beverage. Heck, we might even be called Royal Cup Tea and Coffee!
Now that history class is over, fun-fact class is about to begin:
U.S. vs The World
In 2016, more than 50 percent of Americans 18+ drank coffee every single day, translating to roughly 150 million people. That’s a lot of java, yes, but Americans don’t even come close to topping the consumption charts, considering more than 2.25 billion cups are enjoyed daily around the world! The thirsty country of Finland takes home the gold medal, followed by Sweden, Switzerland, Germany, France, Italy, Brazil and finally the United States.
Women vs. Men
In a battle of the sexes, who drinks the most coffee? No one likes a draw, but men and women actually drink the same amount of coffee – 1.6 cups to be exact – on average per day. However, women drink coffee for totally different reasons than men! Most women say that drinking coffee relaxes them, and is a good way to relieve stress. Men, on the other hand, claim the brew helps them focus and gives them that extra push needed to get the job done.
Black vs. Cream & Sugar
Did you know that a whopping 65 percent of people prefer to add sugar and/or cream to their coffee?
***Sets down coffee cup, climbs up on very tall pedestal***
As much as we understand the desire to “sweeten the deal,” drinking black coffee has been linked to numerous health benefits, and added milk/cream/sugar/soy can slow down its absorption rate and ultimately lessen coffee’s desirable effects, such as increased concentration and overall energy. Plus, by drinking it black, you’ll learn to love the real taste of coffee, and appreciate and recognize the unique flavor notes and subtle undertones that make it such a special beverage!
***Slowly steps down from pedestal, resumes sipping black coffee***
Regardless of how you choose to enjoy your coffee or tea, we’ll accept it. And we’ll accept you. One love. Tea + Coffee = BFF 4 Eva.
Class dismissed.
