Noun

Singular coffee

Plural countable and uncountable; plural coffees

coffee (countable and uncountable; plural coffees)

1. A beverage made by infusing the beans of the coffee plant in hot water.
2. A serving of the beverage coffee

   We’d like three coffees on this table please

3. The seeds of the plant used to make coffee, misnamed ‘beans’ due to their shape.
4. A tropical plant of the genus Coffea.
5. A pale brown colour, like that of milk coffee.

   coffee colour:

Synonyms

• Wikisaurus:coffee
• Wikisaurus:color

Adjective

coffee (not comparable)

Positive coffee

Comparative not comparable

Superlative none (absolute)

1. Of a pale brown colour, like that of milk coffee.

Coffee is a brewed drink prepared from roasted seeds, commonly called coffee beans, of the coffee plant. They are seeds of coffee cherries that grow on trees in over 70 countries. Green unroasted coffee is one of the most traded agricultural commodities in the world. Due to its caffeine content, coffee can have a stimulating effect in humans. Today, coffee is one of the most popular beverages worldwide.

The energizing effect of the coffee bean plant is thought to have been discovered in Yemen in Arabia and in the northeast region of Ethiopia, and the cultivation of coffee first expanded in the Arab world. The earliest credible evidence of coffee drinking appears in the middle of the fifteenth century, in the Sufi monasteries of Yemen in southern Arabia. From the Muslim world, coffee spread to Italy, then to the rest of Europe, to Indonesia, and to the Americas. Coffee has played a crucial role in many societies throughout history. In Africa and Yemen, it was used in religious ceremonies. As a result, the Ethiopian Church banned its secular consumption, a ban in effect until the reign of Emperor Menelik II of Ethiopia. It was banned in Ottoman Turkey during the 17th century for political reasons, and was associated with rebellious political activities in Europe.

Coffee berries, which contain the coffee seed, or "bean", are produced by several species of small evergreen bush of the genus Coffea. The two most commonly grown are the highly regarded Coffea arabica, and the 'robusta' form of the hardier Coffea canephora. The latter is resistant to the devastating coffee leaf rust (Hemileia vastatrix). Both are cultivated primarily in Latin America, Southeast Asia, and Africa. Once ripe, coffee berries are picked, processed, and dried. The seeds are then roasted to varying degrees, depending on the desired flavor. They are then ground and brewed to create coffee. Coffee can be prepared and presented in a variety of ways.

An important export commodity, coffee was the top agricultural export for twelve countries in 2004, and it was the world's seventh-largest legal agricultural export by value in 2005. Some controversy is associated with coffee cultivation and its impact on the environment. Many studies have examined the relationship between coffee consumption and certain medical conditions; whether the overall effects of coffee are ultimately positive or negative has been widely disputed. The method of brewing coffee has been found to be important to its health effects.

Coffee

Sourced

• Coffee comes in five descending stages: Coffee, Java, Jamoke, Joe, and Carbon Remover.
  • Robert A. Heinlein, Glory Road

• The voodoo priest and all his powers were as nothing compared to espresso, cappuccino, and mocha, which are stronger than all the religions of the world combined, and perhaps stronger than the human soul itself.
  • Mark Helprin, Memoir from Antproof Case, 1995

• The influence of coffee in stimulating the genital organs is notorious.
  • John Harvey Kellogg (1877) Plain facts for old and young : embracing the natural history and hygiene of organic life.

• Coffee, which makes the politician wise/And see through all things with his half-shut eyes...
  • Alexander Pope, The Rape of the Lock

• Coffee was only a way of stealing time that should by rights belong to your slightly older self.
  • Terry Pratchett, Thud!

• A mathematician is a device for turning coffee into theorems.
  • Alfréd Rényi. Popularly attributed to Paul Erdős, who quoted him. (Bruce Schechter, My Brain Is Open: The Mathematical Journeys of Paul Erdős, 1998, New York: Simon & Schuster, ISBN 0684846357)

From Wikiquote under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Thu Jun 24 14:14:15 2010