Coffee is what wakes us up in the morning and what keeps us going through the day, thanks to the magic of caffeine. But did you know that coffee was banned in the 16th century or that it most probably was discovered by mistake? Below you can find 5 things you probably didn’t know about you favorite morning drink.

1. There are two main species of the coffee plant: coffee arabica and coffea robusta. Arabica trees, which were discovered in the Middle East, produce the best coffee in terms of quality and are the most widely cultivated (3/4 of the entire world’s coffee). Robusta, which was discovered in Congo, produces hardier beans which contain 40-50% more caffeine and is mainly used for instant coffee.
2. In America, for many years, tea was a lot more popular than coffee, until King George the III’s increased the taxes on tea imports for Americans.This resulted in the famous historical event known as the Boston Tea Party, a rebellion during which the rebels dumped the British tea cargs into the Boston harbor. After this event, coffee became the most important drink in America, being also emotionally linked with the revolution.
3. During WWII, American soldiers also known as the G.I. Joes were used to drink high amounts of coffee. As a result, coffee soon earned the nickname of “a cup of Joe”.
4. Coffee wasn’t always popular, and it even got banned in more than one place around the world. Frederick the Great banned coffee in Germany in the year of 1677 because he thought that people were spending too much money on this drink.Coffee was almost banned in Italy as well, when the catholic clergymen labeled it as Satanic and pressed Pope Clement VIII to ban the drink.After he tasted this new and controversial drink, the Pope declared it delicious and quipped that it should be baptized. As a result of this papal blessing, coffeehouses began to spread across Europe.
5. If you think your local coffee shop charges you too much for a cup of espresso, then you should consider the fact that the most expensive coffee in the world costs $50 a cup, or $600 a pound of beans.

This coffee is called Kopi Luwak (or civet coffee) and it can be found in Indonesia. What makes this coffee so special?

Well, it’s special because it’s made from coffee beans that have been eaten, digested and then excreted by a local animal called the Asian pal civet.