I love my morning coffee.
So I was thinking about coffee the other day, and got to thinking about what country or group of people in the world drinks the most coffee. Of course, I figured people in the USA drink more coffee than anyone. But I also know enough about things in the world to question my assumption.
When I think about people/societies who drink a lot of coffee, I don’t think of Canadians being such hot coffee drinkers. Since many of them come from a British background, I think of Canadians as tea drinkers, not so hot at drinking coffee. But, a recent comment made to me by a friend of mine led me to wonder, and then that led me to my computer and to the internet … and I stand corrected!
There are a number of websites that state Canadians drink MORE coffee per person than citizens of almost any other country on this planet! Wow.
I found one website (not a Canadian one, so there was surely no bragging going on) that claims there is more coffee consumed per person in Canada than anywhere else on earth. But they didn’t list any statistics so I went looking for statistics.
The websites that do list coffee consumption statistics always include Canada in the top ten countries on earth … and way ahead of the USA. Usually Canada is at or near tenth place in those top ten, and that’s really high compared to all the other countries on earth! The usual per person consumption statistic quoted for Canada is 6.5 kgs per person per year. That’s 14.3 pounds per person per year. Keep in mind that’s an average. Lots of folks don’t drink coffee at all, especially those pesky tea drinkers, and most children. The USA is ranked 25th in the world with just 3.4 kgs (7.5 pounds) per person per year. Ha! and we in the USA think we drink a lot of coffee … we do not.
What are the top ten coffee-drinking countries in the world? Here’s the list:
- Finland, 26.45 pounds of coffee per person per year … that’s about 6-7 cups a day. Again, this number is an average. If you remove the number of children from the equation, and remove the number of non-coffee drinkers, then the average in Finland becomes somewhere around 9-10 cups of coffee every day. Again, that’s an average … some people in Finland drink less than that, and some drink way more than that.
- Norway, 21.82 pounds per person.
- Iceland, 19.84 pounds per person
- Denmark, 19.18 pounds per person.
- Netherlands, 18.52 pounds per person.
- Sweden, 18 pounds per person.
- Switzerland, 17.42 pounds per person.
- Belgium, 15 pounds per person.
- Luxembourg, 14.33 pounds per person.
- Canada, 14.3 pounds per person. Canada stands out as the only non-European country to make the list of the world’s top ten coffee consumers.
The average coffee consumption by people in the USA is a mere half of the average consumption by people in Canada. We are wimps down here.
I was surprised that the top nine coffee consuming countries were in northern Europe. There are cold-climate countries and areas in southern Africa, South America, Australia, etc, but none of them made the list even though they are or they have cold climates.
And, of the countries that produce coffee, none of them made the list of coffee consumers. The top ten coffee growing/producing countries in the world are:
- Brazil
- Vietnam
- Columbia
- Indonesia
- Ethiopia
- Honduras
- India
- Uganda
- Mexico
- Guatemala
It’s interesting that the countries that produce coffee are in warm climates, whereas the countries that consume coffee are in cold climates. That’s not surprising, but it’s interesting.
But, I want to get back to Canada … and coffee … since those folks up there love coffee so much. There are dozens of Canadian coffee roasting companies. I am not going to list all of them here. But I’d like to share a few names with you, fun ones, especially ones that sound particularly Canadian in nature.
- Java Moose.
- Kicking Horse Coffee.
- Canoe Coffee.
- Outpost Coffee.
- Wapiti Bean Company. Wapiti means Elk in native languages.
- Luna Coffee. I don’t know where the name came from, but it’s great coffee and they are in Langley, British Columbia, just north of me, across the border.
- Barren Ground Coffee. It’s located in the Northwest Territories, in Yellowknife, way far away from pretty much anything. On the other hand, they are really popular across Canada.
- Midnight Sun Coffee … located way up north in the Yukon, so the name is not at all surprising.
I love my morning coffee. I have one cup a day, although once or twice a week I don’t have any coffee. I put just a few wee drops of sweet cream in my one cup of coffee. Cookies or cakes are SO delicious with a cup of coffee, but I resist unless I’m out on the town in the morning with a friend for a chat. Then that little sweet treat is special and is perfectly ok.
Author and satirist, knighted for his contributions to literature, Terry Pratchett (1948-2015) said, “With enough coffee, I could rule the world.” Terry was English, but I wonder if maybe he had a bit of Finnish ancestry in him. 🙂
Here’s to your next cup of joe, may it be a hot and tasty morning brew.
I don’t drink coffee at all, but sometimes I wish I did. There’s something about the ritual of making that first cup in the morning that I’d like. So I sort of make a ritual of making my oatmeal and that is just as satisfying. My dad, who loved his morning coffee, always told me I’d learn to drink coffee when I got to college…but I didn’t. I don’t think any of my roommates were big coffee drinkers. The roommate I lived with most of my 4 years was Chinese and drank tea….but not in the morning. I wonder if she drinks coffee in the morning now. I should ask her!
I love oatmeal! Haven’t eaten it in years, but I just went to the store today and bought some, thank you, looking forward to my bowl of oatmeal tomorrow morning. 🙂
Can’t live without my morning cup o’ joe!
Amen, David.
Me too, the morning wouldn’t be right without a cup of coffee, or two. My folks drank coffee every morning and maybe I got so used to the smell that it seemed natural for me too. Tho my sister doesn’t like coffee, so there you go. Nice info on this blog post. Thank you.
Maybe it’s a personal thing … maybe an individual body type or taste buds or blood type … who knows. Those of us who like coffee can’t seem to do without it, that’s for sure. 🙂
For me, coffee is an acquired taste that I’ve never acquired. I’ve tried! Many times I’ve made myself a cup of coffee (and used different ways of brewing and different types/brands of coffee), and tried for days or weeks or months, but it just doesn’t taste all that great. So I’ve finally given up. On the other hand, when I SMELL a cup of coffee or I smell roasted beans, the smell is absolutely scrumptuously delicious. So, is there a difference between the smell and the taste? I wonder.
Coffee is a funny thing for me, I love a certain brand or a particular roasting company for a few months and then it tastes bitter, so I switch to another roaster and the same thing happens after several months. But yes, the SMELL is wonderful, always. I don’t know … is taste different from smell?
So interesting. Wish I could drink coffee, to try all the varieties and roasters.
It is fun to try them. But I’m not sure coffee really does anything for us. So maybe it’s just a habit that costs money. Still, I love that morning cup.
While we do not drink a ‘lot’ of coffee, we drink really ‘good’ coffee! We love our local coffee from Camano Island Coffee Roasters.
Sally, which brew from Camano Island do you folks like best? I need a new brew! I agree with you … a lot of coffee isn’t needed when you have really good coffee. Yum.
Ann, it’s Peru – that’s the one we fell in love with.
Yay! Reading all the descriptions of all the varieties on their website, that’s the one I would have picked. Ok, I have now ordered some. 🙂 yum, yum. Thanks Sally.
I’ll never forget the first summer my husband and I were together.
He was a high school teacher and after many, many years of being a coffee drinker (honestly he was allowed instant Maxwell House at the age of 8!) he figured he had kicked the habit.
Perhaps the bitter, stale staff room coffee at the high school helped him kick the habit, and I was there to witness the headaches the cold turkey effort of quitting inflicted on him.
Well, we went to a friend’s cabin for a little camping trip and we slept out under the stars, only to wake up to the friend perking coffee (remember the old-fashioned way?) that permeated the very forest…. well he caved. And he has kept his coffee habit to this day, (35+ years of marriage later.)
Yes, we are Canadian, and have been to Finland, Iceland, Sweden, and they are also our tribe!
Hurray for coffee.
Hurray for Ann.
Everyone has habit about something!
That was a fun story, Robin! Guess ol’ Mark is going to be drinking coffee until he bites the dust. I hope that’s a LOT of years from now. If coffee is worth anything, then it will keep him kicking for a long, long time. But you remind us that indeed too much coffee can be addicting … and for some people that can be as little as one cup a day. And yet, as you say, we all seem to have an “attachment” to something that we really shouldn’t … coffee or sugar or something. Hurray for you and Mark! 🙂
Ah! Don’t get me started on coffee. Sitting outside drinking my Camano Island coffee, watching the hummingbird in the jasmine and the hotlips saliva. Only one cup a day, so I use an aeropress to make it. Much less bitter.
Yes, it can be a bit addictive. Steve never believed me when I said I had a caffeine headache. He would drink coffee all day at work. One day when we were on a family outing he just kept getting quieter and quieter (he would never complain) and I finally got him to admit that he had a headache. It wasn’t until after we got home that evening that I thought to ask him if he had any coffee that day. It took him three days to completely shake it off, even with more coffee. He never questioned my caffeine headache again.
Moderation in all things is still the best advice!
Another fan of Camano Island Roasters! Hmm, guess I better order some. Your morning outside with your cup of coffee sounds so relaxing, Fritzi. I sometimes sit on my back porch of an evening with a glass of wine just before dinner, but I never think of sitting outside in the morning … I think I’ll try it!
I too use an Aeropress, the portable model, since it’s so easy to toss in the trailer when I go camping.
I have a friend who drinks one cup of coffee every morning, half regular coffee and half decaf. But on any day that she doesn’t drink even that low-caffeinated brew, then she gets a headache.