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172 free Coffee trivia questions with answers — food & drink quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
95 free coffee trivia questions with answers. Are you a true coffee enthusiast? Put your knowledge to the test with our comprehensive 172-question coffee trivia quiz. From the origins of espresso to brewing techniques and famous coffee varieties, this quiz covers everything a coffee lover should know. Challenge yourself and discover fascinating facts about the world's most beloved beverage.
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Q 01In which country, where wild arabica still grows, did the goat herder Kaldi legendarily discover coffee?
Ethiopia
Ethiopia's highlands are where the legend puts Kaldi, a 9th-century goatherd who noticed his flock grew lively after nibbling bright red berries.
Q 02Which main commercial coffee species has a delicate flavor, higher acidity and lower caffeine?
Arabica
Arabica gives a milder, more acidic cup with roughly half the caffeine of robusta; it was the first coffee species cultivated and has long supplied around 60% of the world's crop.
Q 03What is the outermost skin of a coffee cherry called?
Exocarp
The exocarp is the cherry's outer skin, ripening from green to red or yellow; beneath it sit the mesocarp pulp, the endocarp parchment and the silverskin.
Q 04Which country was the world's largest producer of coffee in 2023?
Brazil
Brazil's plantations, concentrated in its southeastern states, grew roughly a third of all the coffee on Earth in 2023.
Q 05Which processing method cures the whole cherry, fruit pulp and all, in the sun?
Natural (dry) process
The natural, or dry, process involves drying the entire coffee cherry with the fruit still intact. This method often results in coffees with a fuller body and sweeter, fruitier notes.
Q 06What is the golden-brown foam that forms on top of a freshly brewed espresso shot?
Crema
Crema is the reddish-brown foam that crowns a perfectly pulled shot of espresso. It's formed by air bubbles emulsified with coffee oils and indicates a well-made espresso.
Q 07Which brewing method steeps coarse grounds in room-temperature water for 12 to 24 hours?
Cold Brew
Cold brew coffee is made by steeping coarsely ground coffee in cold or room temperature water for 12 to 24 hours. This method results in a concentrate that is often less acidic and smoother than hot-brewed coffee.
Q 08Which Ottoman sultan banned coffee, tobacco and wine in Istanbul in 1633?
Murad IV
Murad IV banned coffee, tobacco and wine in 1633, treating coffeehouses as nests of sedition; he is said to have roamed Istanbul at night to catch offenders.
Q 09Which of these is a common method for decaffeinating coffee beans?
Swiss Water Process
The Swiss Water Process decaffeinates with water and activated-carbon filters instead of chemical solvents; the Burnaby, British Columbia company behind it launched commercially in 1988.
Q 10What nickname for coffee comes from the island where the Dutch planted it in the 17th century?
Java
Java, the Indonesian island where the Dutch East India Company planted coffee in the 1690s, shipped so much of Europe's coffee that its name became a byword for the drink.
Q 11Which Italian dessert soaks ladyfinger biscuits in espresso and layers them with mascarpone?
Tiramisu
Tiramisu layers savoiardi ladyfingers dipped in espresso with mascarpone cream and cocoa; its name is Italian for 'pick me up', a nod to the coffee inside.
Q 12What is the audible pop called when roasting beans shed moisture and start to swell?
First crack
First crack is the popcorn-like snap when steam bursts the bean at around 196°C; a quieter second crack follows in darker roasts, and most roasters stop between the two.
Q 13Which brewer steeps grounds in hot water, then traps them under a mesh plunger?
French Press
Q 21What is the small cup traditionally used to serve a shot of espresso called?
Demitasse
A demitasse, French for 'half cup', holds roughly 60 to 90 ml and is the traditional vessel for espresso and Turkish coffee.
Q 22What is the standard water pressure used to brew a shot of espresso?
About 9 bar
The Italian Espresso National Institute specifies 9 ± 1 bar at the entry point and a percolation time of about 25 seconds.
Q 23Hypothenemus hampei, the 2 mm 'coffee borer' that can destroy half a plantation's berries, is what kind of insect?
A beetle
A beetle, and the industry's most damaging pest; insect-eating birds such as the American yellow warbler have been shown to halve its numbers on Costa Rican plantations.
The French Press, also known as a cafetière, is a brewing method where ground coffee is steeped in hot water, and then a plunger with a mesh filter is pressed down to separate the grounds from the brewed coffee.
Q 14What term refers to the professional who prepares and serves espresso-based coffee drinks?
Barista
A barista is a person trained in the preparation of espresso and espresso-based coffee drinks. The term is Italian for 'bartender' and has been adopted worldwide for skilled coffee preparers.
Q 15Coffee beans are actually the seeds of what type of fruit?
Drupe
Coffee beans are the seeds found inside the coffee cherry, which is botanically classified as a drupe (a fleshy fruit with a hard pit containing a seed), similar to a cherry or peach.
Q 16Which tissue makes up most of the coffee bean itself, rather than a layer of the cherry?
Endosperm
Endosperm makes up nearly all of the coffee seed, wrapping a tiny embryo, much as coconut flesh does; the cherry's own layers are the skin, pulp, parchment and silverskin.
Q 17Which 1773 protest made coffee the patriotic drink of the American colonies?
The Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party in 1773, a protest against British tea taxes, made drinking tea unpatriotic in the American colonies, leading to a surge in coffee popularity.
Q 18What is the common name for the dried fruit of the coffee plant, often used to make a herbal tea?
Cascara
Cascara, meaning 'husk' or 'skin' in Spanish, refers to the dried skins of coffee cherries, which can be brewed to make a flavorful herbal tea.
Q 19Which European city is generally credited with opening the continent's first coffee house, in 1645?
Venice
Outside the Ottoman Empire and Malta, the first European coffee house is generally dated to Venice in 1645. Coffee houses spread to England, France and Austria in the decades that followed.
Q 20What is the handled basket that holds the coffee grounds in an espresso machine called?
Portafilter
The portafilter is the handled metal basket that locks into the machine's group head; the dose is tamped flat inside it before the shot is pulled.
Q 24What alkaloid compound, known for its stimulant effects, is naturally found in coffee?
Caffeine
Caffeine is the well-known natural stimulant found in coffee beans, responsible for the energizing effects many people seek from the beverage.
Q 25England's first coffeehouse opened in 1650 in which city?
Oxford
Oxford's first coffeehouse, The Angel, was opened in 1650 by a man known as Jacob; London's first, Pasqua Rosée's in St Michael's Alley, followed in 1652.
Q 26The majority of the world's coffee is grown in a geographical region often referred to by what name?
The Bean Belt
The Bean Belt, also called the coffee belt, is the band between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn whose climate and altitude suit coffee plants.
Q 27About how many years does a newly planted coffee tree take to produce its first flowers?
3 to 4
The small, white, highly fragrant flowers appear three to four years after planting, though the tree takes about seven years to mature fully.
Q 28Which fungal disease, caused by Hemileia vastatrix, reached Brazil in 1970 and swept Latin America?
Coffee Leaf Rust
Coffee Leaf Rust (Hemileia vastatrix) is a widespread fungal disease that causes characteristic yellow-orange powdery spots on the underside of coffee leaves, leading to defoliation and significant yield loss.
Q 29Optimal brewing of coffee is generally said to occur in which water temperature range?
91–96 °C
Brewing water of 91–96 °C (195–205 °F) is the specialty-industry standard; hotter water pulls out harsh bitter compounds, while cooler water under-extracts and tastes flat.
Q 30The 1952 'Give yourself a Coffee-Break' slogan was a campaign by a growers' bureau from which region?
Pan-American
The Pan-American Coffee Bureau, funded by Latin American growing nations, ran the 1952 'Give yourself a Coffee-Break' campaign that pushed the mid-morning ritual into American workplaces.