Here’s a list of 20 coffee infographics to start your day:
Coffee is a daily habit for more than half of American adults (58%, to be precise), so it’s no wonder there are so many visualizations devoted to that wonderful-smelling, hand-picked, roasted bean!
1. Let’s jump straight to it: caffeine is the main reason people drink coffee. The Caffeine Poster shows relative amounts of caffeine in different brands and sizes of coffee, as compared to other beverages.
2. Brewed for those with similar taste, The Buzz vs The Bulge rates the efficiency of different drinks for caffeine content vs. calories.
3. But what does all that caffeine do to your body? Health Effects of Caffeine gives the rundown on some of the possible effects.
4. Caffeine is not the only part of coffee that can impact your health, though. The Health Benefits of Coffee vs. Tea covers some of the other ingredients in the beverage.
5. Coffe at Work shows how the popular beverage helps American workers make it through the work day. It also shows the coffee preference of some common professions.
6. The Multiple Personalities of Coffee continues the preference analysis, although this time the sources are “homebrewed” and just for fun.
If you’re new to coffee, the next three infographics will help you get a handle on some of your more basic options. If you’re an advanced drinker, they can still provide a good refresher or show you a new way of looking at your favorite beverage.
7. Guide to Coffee Drinks
8. An Illustrated Guide to Coffee Drinks
9. The Perfect Pour: A Citizen’s Guide
10. If you’re getting bored with the same old cuppa joe, Caffé Italiano can definitely suggest some options for you.
11. In case you doubted the experience potential of coffe, Coffee Flavour Wheel classifies all the flavors and smells that coffee can provide.
12. For your dunking dipping time, The Coffee and Biscuit Guide gives a quick overview of an informal study by some graphic designers. (But who knows their coffee snacks better than graphic designers?)
13. How about some interesting facts about coffee? 17 Things You Didn’t Know About Your Morning Coffee can give you a great conversation starter for around the office coffee maker.
14. Coffee Around the World also has some interesting facts about the beans.
15. For a history of the cultivation of coffee, The Spread of Coffee Cultivation provides a good overview of the lineage of coffee farms.
16. Not only does coffee have a history, it has also played an important role in history. How Coffee Changed America covers the impact of coffee on the history of the United States.
17. Being the second top-traded commodity, How Coffee Affects Our Global Economy is a hot topic.
18. If coffee is traded globally, who grows it? Who buys it? Coffee Travels But Where Does it Go? will answer your coffee trade questions.
It’s kind of wild to think that your morning espresso shot might have started its journey halfway across the world, passing through dozens of hands before landing in that little paper cup with your name (misspelled, of course). The layers of logistics, negotiation, and sheer luck involved are something even veteran baristas rarely consider as they steam the milk. When you see global trade flows mapped in one tidy infographic, it suddenly makes sense why your local hipster café cares so much about the farm’s name and altitude. That simple pleasure in a mug? Yeah, there’s a multi-billion dollar web holding it up.
And let’s not forget the environmental side effects that follow all this traveling and trading. Coffee’s carbon footprint isn’t exactly a secret, but most folks probably don’t look past the aroma of their favorite dark roast. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed if you try to calculate your own “coffee miles” (go ahead, Google it, but don’t say I didn’t warn you). The real question is whether the trade-offs—supporting rural economies versus contributing to shipping emissions—are just the price of admission for our collective caffeine addiction. No single infographic is going to untangle that.
19. Fair Trade Coffee is a great video covering why paying a little bit extra is worth it for everyone involved.
20. And while you’re doing good things for the world, remember to bring your reusable mug next time you fill up. There’s Savings in a Cup!
Drew Skau is not a coffee drinker, but he is a PhD Computer Science Visualization student at UNCC, with an undergraduate degree in Architecture.
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