As many regions of Africa face continued political and economic instability, as they have for centuries, the Eastern African Fine Coffees Association hopes it has found a solution to some of the unrest.

Increased coffee production, says the Association, are the key to boosting the economy and stabilizing some of the social unrest seen in Eastern nation. Currently, Africa only produces about 12% of the world’s coffee, but the Association hopes to increase that percentage 15-20% by 2020.

Coffee brings people together—whether it’s being drank, processed or produced, coffee is a force for peace in the world. Next time you drink coffee, you can feel good knowing that you’re supporting a beverage that supports solutions to social crisis.

In her new book, Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin writes that if she and current Secretary of state Hillary Rodham Clinton were to talk over coffee, “I know that we would fundamentally disagree on many issues,” but that she Respects Clinton because of, “her hard work on the 2008 campaign trail.”

When asked about this portion of Palin’s new book, Clinton responded that she would be happy to meet the former Republican candidate and talk over some of those points of disagreement.

Coffee is the world’s most popular beverage. With consumption at 400 billion cups every year, it’s the world’s second most popular commodity after oil. With its universal appeal, coffee has become not only a delicious drink, but also a social experience and even a diplomatic one.

What could bring two political adversaries together for a friendly chat? Only a steaming cup of coffee.

Need a little pick me up? Grab a cup of coffee and muse over these interesting bits of trivia about the drink that the world consumes 400 billion cups of every year.

• Coffee is the second most traded commodity in the world, second only to oil in trade volume.
• On average, humans only absorb 300 mg of caffeine at a given time, no matter how much caffeine they take in.
• At Egyptian funerals, coffee is served strong and black, and at weddings, it is served sweetened and less strong.
• German King Frederick hired dogs to sniff out coffee amongst the troops, who he believed were not dependable under the influence of coffee. The coffee-finding unit was called the Kaffee Schnufflers and ultimately failed when King Frederick’s own affinity for coffee won out.
• Coffee beans are actually grown in berries. Each berry contains two beans.
• Voltaire, the French writer and philosopher is rumored to have consumed 50 cups of coffee a day.

Perfect Coffee Cup

Physicists in Germany have invented what they say is the “perfect coffee cup.” What does this mean for your daily cup of coffee? Your favorite drink can now stay the perfect temperature longer, thanks to some crafty thermodynamics.

Many factors influence the taste and quality of a cup of coffee, including the grind, blend, roast and drip. But one of the most crucial elements of coffee is its temperature. Coffee is best served at approximately 58 degrees Celsius. Even when coffee is served at this temperature initially, it quickly cools when exposed to the air at the mouth of the coffee cup.

The “perfect coffee cup” works by absorbing some of the coffee’s initial heat into the swirls of aluminum inside the ceramic of the mug. As coffee cools, the mug releases some of the heat back into the contents of the mug. Not only does your coffee stay close to 58 degrees Celsius longer, but the design of the mug also ensures that it starts that way, too.

Peet’s Coffee & Tea announced late Monday that it would acquire Deidrich in a deal valued at about $213 million in cash and stock, marking the company’s foray into the single serve coffee market.

“The Diedrich acquisition represents another major strategic growth initiative for our consumer packaged coffee business,” Patrick O’Dea, Peet’s chief executive, said in a statement.

Investors were happy…Diedrich shares rose to more than $25 a share in after-hours trading.

Diedrich Coffee has been a roaster of high quality Arabica coffees from around the world since 1912, and offers several Keurig K-Cup blends. In fact, this year Diedrich decided to focus on its coffee wholesale business and on its role as a producer of K-Cups for Green Mountain Coffee Roasters and its Keurig single-cup coffee maker.

That decision has been good for the company’s stock as well, which is trading at 10,000% higher than it’s low in early 2009.

Peet’s has been facing pressure from investors for quite some time on its plans to enter the single serve market, accoriding to Oppenheimer analyst Matthew DiFrisco.