Celebrate International Coffee Day

September 29 is National Coffee Day! A yearly event to celebrate our love of all things coffee, promote fair trade coffee and help raise awareness about the treatment of coffee growers. The U.S. isn't the only country who celebrates International Coffee Day. Japan, China, Taiwan, Nepal, and Indonesia also celebrate. In fact, Japan first celebrated Coffee Day in 1983 while in the U.S. "National Coffee Day" was first mentioned in 2005. In 2009, the Southern Food and Beverage Museum held the first New Orleans Coffee Festival. Even though celebrating coffee is a worldwide occurrence, not every country celebrates on the same day. For example, Indonesia celebrates it on August 17, the same day as Indonesia Independence Day.

According to StatisticBrain.com, 100 million people in the U.S. drink coffee each day, that's 54% of Americans over age 18. With those numbers, it should be no surprise that coffee is a $30 billion-a-year industry. Obviously that makes people in the coffee industry happy but it's also making the rest of us happy. Coffee works as a natural anti-depressant while giving us antioxidants, in fact, many people get more antioxidants from coffee than from their daily intake of fruits and vegetables. It gives us energy, improves brain function, helps us burn fat by boosting metabolic rates, and improve physical performance. Coffee contains Vitamin B2, Vitamin B5, Manganese, Potassium, Magnesium and Niacin. Coffee seems to help guard against alcohol-induced cirrhosis. In short, coffee is much healthier than you might have previously believed.

Items to help you celebrate:

CLIF SHOT Energy Gel is available in both Mocha and Double Espresso flavors (both with caffeine). These gels are fast-acting, easy-to-digest and taste great. They provide a great source of carbohydrates (70% complex and 30% simple) which your body turns into fuel. The Double Espresso flavor has 100 mg of caffeine and the Mocha has 50 mg of caffeine to give you more energy and greater mental focus.

PocketFuel Cold Brew Coffee Energy Shots are 100% natural energy. They are a blend of cold brewed organic fair trade coffee, organic coconut milk and either chocolate or vanilla. Each pouch has 70 mg of caffeine. The coffee is cold brewed, which results in a sweeter coffee with less acidity yet retains all the antioxidants. Yummy!

PocketFuel Nut Butters are chock full of dietary fiber, vitamins, minerals and many phyto-chemicals. They are very tasty, especially the chocolate espresso flavor!

GU Energy Gels offer a super efficient, high-quality, easily-digestible carbohydrate blend. They are available in two coffee flavors: caramel macchiato and espresso love. Energize, sustain and recover with GU.

If you're a coffee purist and only want your coffee in liquid form then check out the Hydro Flask. It keeps your hot coffee hot for up to 12 hours and your iced coffee cold for up to 24 hours. The wide mouth makes drinking on the go easy. The Hydro Flask Hydro Flip Cap has a convenient rubber stopper to prevent spills when you aren't using it.