When we are asked what the celebrations are in October, many will probably say Halloween. But in this case, we are showing some love about a lesser-known occasion for one of the most popular beverages in the world. It’s delicious, enhances any dessert you could think of, it gives us the energy to get things done, and most importantly -- it gives us joy. International Coffee Day is a fairly new occasion, but many countries around the world are starting to show some recognition for our all-time favorite drink.
International Coffee Day was first celebrated on October 1, 2015, as agreed by you guessed it, the International Coffee Commission, and was first launched in Milan, Italy. The day is also used to promote small businesses related to coffee, fair-trade coffee, and raise much-needed awareness around the plight of the coffee growers. The exact origin is unknown, but sources pointed out that it was first launched in Japan way back in 1983 by the All-Japan Coffee Association, and was mentioned publicly in 2005. Many countries celebrated their own coffee-themed occasion and were celebrated on various dates. Some are closer to October 1, others are really early in the year.
The History of Coffee
According to legends, the Oromo people of the Kaffa region in Ethiopia were the first to discover and recognize the energizing effects of the plant. There is no written evidence pointing out the Oromos, until the 15th century where it was described that people in the area used coffee as a stimulant. The story of Kaldi, the 9th-century Ethiopian goatherd who discovered coffee when he noticed how excited his goats became after eating the beans from a coffee plant, did not appear in writing until 1671 and is probably apocryphal.
Another legend links the discovery of coffee to Sheikh Omar of Yemen. According to an old legend (preserved in the Abd-Al-Kadir manuscript), Omar was known for his ability to cure the sick through prayer, was once exiled from Mocha in Yemen to a desert cave near Ousab (modern-day Wusab, about 90 kilometers (56 mi) east of Zabid). Starving, Omar chewed berries from nearby shrubbery but found them to be too bitter. He tried roasting the seeds to improve the flavor, but they became hard. He then tried boiling them to soften the seed, which resulted in a fragrant brown liquid. Upon drinking the liquid, Omar was revitalized and sustained for days. As stories of this "miracle drug" reached Mocha, Omar was asked to return and was made a saint. The earliest factual evidence of coffee drinking or knowledge of the coffee tree appears in the middle of the 15th century in the accounts of Ahmed al-Ghaffar in Yemen. It was here in Arabia that coffee seeds were first roasted and brewed, in a similar way to how it is prepared now. Coffee was used by Sufi circles to stay awake for their religious rituals.
The Benefits of Coffee
Coffee contains caffeine that improves your energy for a while and can make you smarter. How? Caffeine blocks the inhibitory neurotransmitter adenosine. After this happens, there will be an increase in other neurotransmitters such as norepinephrine and dopamine. It also improves one’s function, mood, general reaction time, and other mental benefits. Caffeine can also help you burn some fat, but it is possible that this effect will no longer affect long-time coffee drinkers. Other research states that people who drink coffee a cup a day have a significantly lower chance of getting Type 2 Diabetes. It can also help you lose the risk of getting Parkinson’s disease, dementia, and even cancer. On the downside, It can also increase anxiety, due to high alertness after drinking a cup of it.
How to Celebrate International Coffee Day?
Order takeout from your favorite cafe, or brew a nice cup at home
For starters, simply buying your favorite coffee concoctions is enough, but for some, making your cup of coffee is much more rewarding. There are numerous online coffee subscriptions right now that come with a short test to determine which coffee type, brewing method, and volume are right for your tastes. You can also visit your favorite artisanal coffee dealer to purchase them yourself.
Learn more about the beverage itself
You can also buy books about all things coffee such as “Where The Wild Coffee Grows” by Jeff Koehler, “Coffee for One” by KJ Fallon, and “Coffeeland” by Augustine Sedgewick. You can also visit The Coffee Wiki site, to which you can learn tons of information about the iconic beverage itself.
Write about coffee
Proclaim your love of coffee by writing one-shots, poems, essays, or whatever you want about coffee. It can be serious, funny, dramatic, light-hearted, or epic as you can be. Coffee is essential to our society, and paying a tribute to your favorite drink is always a great choice to have.
Join a coffee club
Join clubs centering on like-minded individuals, or if you can’t find one, start your coffee club, you might be surprised at how many people will join your club. You can also invite people in your condo, design it to match a coffee-centric aesthetic, and there you go, you have your coffee club. If you’re too busy to do that, you can also join online groups on Facebook, or in Reddit, specifically r/coffee.
Attend a coffee cupping session
Cupping is the method that coffee professionals use to rate coffees, but nowadays, many cafes and roasters offer cuppings for the common public. It’s an enriching way to get to know more about coffee, and you’ll finally understand what people mean when they say there are notes of blueberry and orange.
Visit an actual farm
What’s better than visiting an actual coffee farm and learning from the farmer him or herself? Learn about how to plant a coffee seed, how to process coffee beans, how beans are rated depending on shape, taste, and aroma -- and lastly, you can hear their stories about how they got into the business.
So now that you know to celebrate International Coffee Day, why not invite your friends to your condo and start immersing yourself in all things coffee on October 1? And what better way to celebrate the occasion than in a well-placed condo filled with perks and places of interest that will get you there in a short time. Talk about efficiency!
Celebrate this event with a brand new condo unit in Vista Residences, the top condominium property developer in the country.
Vista Residences is the condominium arm of the country’s largest homebuilder, Vista Land & Lifescapes, Inc. that offers ready for occupancy and pre-selling condominium projects in Manila, Makati, Mandaluyong, Quezon City, Ortigas, Baguio, Cebu, and CDO that are strategically located within major cities, in close proximity to premium universities, transit oriented locations and developed business districts.
At Vista Residences, unit owners can take advantage of the property’s centrality. The properties of Vista Residences are strategically located near the country’s premium universities and CBDs, making them an attractive investment for both local and foreign investors.
Living in Vista Residences enables you to enjoy convenience, where everything is pretty much within walking distance or a few minutes away from the property; comfort because the project features and amenities are designed to deliver comfort at all times, which makes condo living a worthy investment; security that is 24/7 and CCTV monitoring, which makes the residents safe and secure within the property.
In line with Vista Residences’ thrust to offer convenience among its residents, it also features an AllDay Convenience Store and Coffee Project in all its projects.
For more information on Vista Residences, email [email protected], follow @VistaResidencesOfficial on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube, or call the Marketing Office at 0999 886 4262 / 0917 582 5167.
