Did you know that your beloved coffee beans are actually seeds? And if you are thinking, "aren't beans and seeds the same?" not all beans are seeds. A bean is a kind of seed, but the bean has to be in the family of Fabaceae, also known as Leguminosae, and the coffee plant is not a member of this family. Therefore, coffee "beans," as people commonly refer to, are not beans but seeds.

Here are some other exciting coffee related facts:

• The coffee "bean" is the seed of the coffee plant, the pit inside of the coffee fruit.
• The majority of the world's coffee is grown between twenty-five degrees north and twenty-five degrees south of the equator. The appropriate temperature for coffee to grow is between 60 degrees Fahrenheit and 70 degrees Fahrenheit.
• For high-quality "beans," coffee should be grown at high elevations. The less oxygen in the air allows the tree to mature for longer.
• Once you plant a coffee tree, it takes about five years to mature and produce seeds.
• A coffee tree has a lifespan between 50 to 70 years.
• Coffee trees that are well shaded or grown indoors with little sunlight produce higher quality coffee because it takes longer for the fruit to ripen.
• Coffee is the world's second-largest commodity after oil.
• Some of the world's most influential businesses, including Lloyds of London and the New York Stock Exchange, started as coffee houses.
• On average, 1.4 billion cups of coffee are drunk a day.
• An American adult's average annual coffee consumption is 26.7 gallons or about 400 cups.
• The term "cup of Joe" stems from American soldiers in World War II, "G.I. Joes" were known to consume a large amount of coffee. Maxwell Instant Coffee was included in their rations.
• The most expensive coffee is "civet coffee," where the berries go through the digestive tract of the Kopi Luwak (a small, cat-sized Indonesian animal). The "beans" are then harvested from the animal's waste, cleaned, roasted, and sold. This coffee costs $100 to $600 per pound.
• The only American regions to produce coffee are Hawaii and Puerto Rico.
• One acre of coffee trees typically yields about 10,000 pounds of coffee fruits, about 2,000 pounds of coffee "beans."