# Coffee is literally Magic! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** coffee\ **Created:** [February 11, 2025, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-is-literally-magic/1014166 "2025-02-11T12:38:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2025, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-is-literally-magic/1014166/1 "2025-02-11T12:38:22Z")
You take a bean and heat it. Then you crush it into powder. You then filter hot water through the powder until there is a fluid unfused with the powder. You then extract out the used up powder. You drink the resulting liquid to trigger (usually) positive changes in your brain chemistry. You have literally brewed a potion like a wizard. Coffee is literally a potion. Thus, Coffee is Magic! I can’t take credit for this observation. It’s based on something I saw online but I think it’s funny and true. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2025, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-is-literally-magic/1014166/2 "2025-02-11T12:54:40Z")
Sounds more like Alchemy, but point taken. ---
**Author:** ![yendis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ed8c4c/32.png) [@yendis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yendis)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2025, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-is-literally-magic/1014166/3 "2025-02-11T12:55:41Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > You take a bean and heat it. There are more complicated steps before this, since the ‘bean’ is in fact the stone inside a berry. Coffee is even more magical than initially supposed. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2025, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-is-literally-magic/1014166/4 "2025-02-11T12:58:25Z")
Like all magic potions, it’s even better with eye of newt and wing of bat. Sadly, Starbucks refuses to carry those add-ons. [aside] What is the right term for cream, sugar, cinnamon, etc., that someone might put into their coffee? Are those properly called add-ons? Mix-ins? Condiments? Adulterants, adjuvants, ingredients, accessories? Something else? ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2025, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-is-literally-magic/1014166/5 "2025-02-11T12:59:42Z")
I’ve read a articles (sorry no cites) that said that black coffee was actually healthy for you. It’s all the stuff we add to it, such as sugar and milk, that make it unhealthy, at least for some people. However, coffee isn’t as good for you as green tea, so I drink green tea in the morning, water throughout the day, and coffee in the evening, to get the best of all worlds health-wise. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2025, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-is-literally-magic/1014166/6 "2025-02-11T13:02:19Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Sounds more like Alchemy, but point taken. I can almost see people 500 years ago thinking it is alchemy, if they experienced what we experience today with it. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2025, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-is-literally-magic/1014166/7 "2025-02-11T13:05:41Z")
Yes. Long ago, I participated in a Buddhist “retreat” with my mother, at the Omega Institute in New York State, with the late, great [Thích Nhất Hạnh](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Th%C3%ADch_Nh%E1%BA%A5t_H%E1%BA%A1nh). He taught us walking meditation and such. We appreciated all his advice and aspired to follow most of it in our lives, but when he suggested we abstain from caffeine, I whispered to my mom, “He can take my coffee out of my cold, dead hands,” and she smiled in agreement. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![dirtball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dirtball/32/18772_2.png) [@dirtball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dirtball)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2025, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-is-literally-magic/1014166/8 "2025-02-11T13:07:02Z")
I’ll agree that it’s “magic-ish” when you think about it like that. What’s also amazing, to my way of thinking, is the idea that someone, somewhere, at some point in time, was the first person to make coffee. Now, this comes from a guy who hasn’t researched the history of coffee, but I doubt very much that this person just happened to look at a bowl of coffee beans and thought, “I wanna make a beverage out of that.” You just can’t get there from here, as far as I can tell. I’d suppose there were some intermediate steps along the way that gradually developed into the discovery that you could grind these things up and filter hot water through them and end up with something you’d want to drink. But still. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2025, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-is-literally-magic/1014166/9 "2025-02-11T13:12:13Z")
The excellent animated show _The Dragon Prince_ has a character reference drinking her “hot brown morning potion,” and we regularly refer to coffee (or sometimes tea) by this name. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2025, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-is-literally-magic/1014166/10 "2025-02-11T13:16:48Z")
And then we have Civet Coffee, the kind that is processed in a cats ass. If that aint magical I don’t know what is. > **[What is civet coffee? Discover the drink that passes through the gut of a...](https://www.discoverwildlife.com/animal-facts/mammals/civet-coffee-kopi-luwak-facts)** > > Est. reading time: 3 minutes ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2025, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-is-literally-magic/1014166/11 "2025-02-11T13:21:00Z")
Don’t you mean “taint magical”? I’ll show myself out. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2025, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-is-literally-magic/1014166/12 "2025-02-11T13:22:49Z")
**Civets aren’t cats**. They are **Viverridae** which are [Feliformia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feliformia). So closer to mongooses. They’re even closer to Hyenas than cats. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2025, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-is-literally-magic/1014166/13 "2025-02-11T13:30:30Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > And then we have Civet Coffee, the kind that is processed in a cats ass. If that aint magical I don’t know what is. Little known fact, this is the etymology of the word ‘catastrophe.’ The first guy to discover this was distraught when he realized the civets had gotten into his stash of beans. He tracked them down, but they’d already pooped out the coffee. In desperation, he brewed them anyways, and then exclaimed 'What a cat ass trophy!" ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2025, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-is-literally-magic/1014166/14 "2025-02-11T13:37:39Z")
Coffee is technically the pit or seed of a fruit and not a bean. Finland has the highest consumption rate of coffee per capita. Before being roasted and brewed, coffee “beans” were mixed with other fruits or meat and eaten by the East Africans who discovered this wonderful plant. This was around 800AD. BTW: Goats were responsible for showing that the coffee fruit was both edible and had the effect of making the goats energetic. ---
**Author:** ![We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/We_re_wolves_not_werewolves)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2025, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-is-literally-magic/1014166/15 "2025-02-11T13:41:40Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > What is the right term for cream, sugar, cinnamon, etc., that someone might put into their coffee? Are those properly called add-ons? Mix-ins? Condiments? Adulterants, adjuvants, ingredients, accessories? Something else? for me, they are diluents, for others potentiators ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2025, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-is-literally-magic/1014166/16 "2025-02-11T13:52:26Z")
The Magic of Natural Selection Caffeine has evolved independently in several groups of plants - coffee, cacao (chocolate), and tea. It serves as an insecticide deterring bugs from eating the plants, and the odor seems to attract pollinators. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2025, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-is-literally-magic/1014166/17 "2025-02-11T14:08:46Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Coffee is technically the pit or seed of a fruit and not a bean. > > Finland has the highest consumption rate of coffee per capita. > > Before being roasted and brewed, coffee “beans” were mixed with other fruits or meat and eaten by the East Africans who discovered this wonderful plant. This was around 800AD. BTW: Goats were responsible for showing that the coffee fruit was both edible and had the effect of making the goats energetic. Tea-like potions can be, and are, made from the sticky pithy part of the overall coffee berry. Termed a “coffee cherry” in the biz. That stuff tastes very little like ordinary coffee. But might well have been a gateway discovery on the way to roasting, grinding, and steeping the pits. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2025, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-is-literally-magic/1014166/18 "2025-02-11T14:43:02Z")
I’ve embraced the cold brew method of coffee alchemy. Every 3 or so days I brew up about a gallon of the stuff, which the Mrs. and I consume avidly each morning. The resultant product is much less bitter than that made by standard hot brewing. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2025, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-is-literally-magic/1014166/19 "2025-02-11T14:44:08Z")
Do you then heat it in a microwave or in a pot? Or do you drink it cold, even in the winter? ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2025, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-is-literally-magic/1014166/20 "2025-02-11T14:46:14Z")
The Mrs. and I do prefer it cold, over ice, even in cold weather most of the time. But we on occasion do warm it up for guests who prefer it that way. A brief period in the microwave suffices. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-is-literally-magic/1014166.md?page=2)