Since its inception, the Guinness Book of World Records has been known for recording a variety of human and natural achievements on its pages. There are also a large number of records with and around coffee. The first book was published in 1955.
The Guinness Book of World Records came about thanks to an idea by Sir Beaver. He was director of the Guinness brewery. The stumbling block was that he and his friends once did not know which was the fastest wild bird in the world.
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What are Guinness World Records?
In order to be included in the Guinness World Records book, one must submit evidence of the record. There are records like world’s longest tongue, world’s largest condom, world’s fastest land animal, etc.
Why are Guinness World Records important?
Guinness World Records are often a recognition of unusual activities, most of which require extreme effort.
This book is one of the best-selling books in the world and can catapult a person or business to fame, but the records have to follow some guidelines.
- Measurable: The record must be measurable in some way in terms of weight, length, or number of people.
- Verifiable: The record must be supported by evidence.
- Breakable: To encourage competition, records must have a chance to be broken again.
- Standardizable: The record must be unique worldwide, with globally known standards.
- Universal: Entries with activities related to a specific area are not allowed.
The Guinness Book of Records does not share records that include the following activities:
- Apt to injure or endanger participants or spectators.
- That involve some form of animal abuse.
- That encourage food waste.
- Encouraging the consumption of alcoholic beverages in short periods of time.
- The illegal activities include.
- Involvement of children under 16 in extreme activities.
Coffee World Records
There are a large number of records in the Guinness Book of Records that were achieved with coffee as the main product.
First fair-trade seal for coffee
Country: The Netherlands
Date: November 15, 1988
Winner: Max Havelaar Foundation
This award was presented to the Max Havelaar Foundation. This was the first to develop a fair-trade label for coffee farmers. This is after she imported beans from Guatemala and paid a fair price for them in relation to the farmers’ labor. The motivation was to change slavery practices towards a fairer model for coffee farmers.
Largest coffee tasting event
Country: Russia
Date: September 7, 2019
Winner: Paulig Rus LLC
In some countries with a very strong coffee culture, there are usually events that try to break many records. 2133 participants took part in this event, which was organized by the Russian company Paulig Rus during a celebration in Moscow. The current record set by Colombia was broken.
Most expensive coffee
Country: Indonesia
Date: 2001
Winner: Kopi Luwak
The award was given because of the high price of this coffee, at one point a pound of coffee was worth around $300 USD. Although there are more expensive coffee beans these days, the Kopi Luwak retains that distinction.
Largest painting made of coffee
Country: Saudi Arabia
Date: February 01, 2020
Winner: Ohud Abdullah Almalki
Did you know that nowadays it is very common to use eco-friendly paints? That is also the case with this record, as the artist received this award after painting 220.96 square meters with paint made from coffee beans.
Biggest Iced Coffee
Country: South Korea
Date: July 17, 2014
Winner: Coffee Bene
Many people strive to turn the small activities of the day into big experiences. That’s why this award went to a South Korean company that built a 3.3-meter-tall cup that held 14,000 liters of iced coffee.
Recognize most flavors in a blindfolded cup of coffee
Country: Germany
Date: April 11, 2021
Winner: Andre Ortolf
Andre Ortolf wants to be remembered as a great coffee lover. He has already broken several world records, but he had to prepare for this attempt for months. In his official attempt, he identified eight different flavors in his cup of coffee, setting the record.
Highest per capita coffee consumption
Country: Sweden
Date: 1998
Winner: Sweden
The Scandinavian country received this award because it had the highest per capita consumption in the world in 1998, at 6.3 kilograms. This is despite the fact that Finland and Norway were very close with 5.8 kilograms per inhabitant in the same year.
Largest amount of Irish coffee prepared in three minutes
Country: Ireland
Date: January 25, 2020
Winner: Rory McGee
How many cups of Irish coffee can you brew in three minutes? Not enough to break the record as the award went to Rory McGee, a barista who competed against four other baristas on International Coffee Day with the help of Irish whiskey brand Paddy.
Rory managed to brew 49 Irish coffees in three minutes.