How much do you know about coffee?

Part of the job of any traveler is to be an ambassador for his/her home nation, so part of my job here is to represent the United States to Costa Ricans. I’ve given myself the more specific task of representing the coffee drinkers of the United States, specifically New York.

Costa Rican coffee growers know that the United States consumes much of the coffee they export, but, just like you’ve probably don’t really spend much time thinking about where that bag of beans you grind at 6am comes from, they don’t spend much time thinking about what that means. They are shocked to hear that North Americans don’t have coffee growing alongside their highways and up their mountainsides, and they don’t believe me when I say that most people in the United States have never seen a coffee plant. They’re eager to know what North Americans think about Costa Rican coffee. I’m happy to report it has a pretty solid reputation for being quality stuff.

From various conversations I had in New York before I left, I found that most people really didn’t have much information about the coffee they consume. 8 months ago, the most I knew about the genesis of coffee was that it came in bean form before it was ground to be brewed.

In order to better represent the coffee drinkers of the United States, I decided it was probably a good idea to compile some actual data. Even though I’m personally of the persuasion that qualitative conversational anecdotes are the best kind of data, it’s time to poll the masses.

Coffee Survey.  As quick as a shot of espresso.

For answers, click here.