Drinks, Coffee, Tea & Infusions

Daily habit worldwide: It’s estimated that people drink ≈ 2.3 billion cups of coffee every day globally — reinforcing coffee as one of the world’s most widely consumed beverages.

•Luxembourg – ~12.5 kg per person •Finland – ~9.6 kg per person •Norway – ~9.4 kg per person •Iceland – ~9.0 kg per person •Denmark – ~8.7 kg per person •Netherlands – ~8.4 kg per person •Sweden – ~8.2 kg per person •Switzerland – ~7.9 kg per person •Belgium – ~6.8 kg per person •Canada – ~6.5 kg per person In Northern European countries, coffee culture is deeply embedded — for example, Finns can drink 4+ cups a day, and coffee breaks are part of daily routines. The United Kingdom ranks much lower on the list of coffee-drinking countries when measured by per-capita coffee consumption. In several published rankings, the UK’s average annual coffee intake is around 2.8 kg per person, which places it roughly around 40th–46th in the world.

Legend says coffee was discovered by a goatherd named Kaldi in Ethiopia. He reportedly noticed his goats became unusually energetic after eating red berries from a wild coffee tree — the first spark in coffee’s long journey into global culture.

Tea’s origins trace back to ancient China — according to tradition, the emperor Shennong discovered tea around 2737 BC when leaves drifted into his boiling water, creating the first infusion. Over millennia, that chance moment grew into a global ritual.

The lineage of the coffee plant is surprisingly diverse — there are over 130 species in the genus Coffea, though just two dominate today’s global trade: Coffea arabica (60–80 % of production) and Coffea canephora (Robusta).