We wanted to call attention to a splendid bit of graphic art published in Lapham's Quarterly.

Artist Haisem Hussein did a full-color global map showing the historical connections for black pepper, tomatoes and coffee. The work, worth a nice wall poster, has lots of interesting tidbits, as well as historical connections. We suggest clicking on the link above to enjoy the details of the map in larger display.

One cool bit, regarding coffee. The Scandinavians have the highest per-capita coffee consumption on the planet. But notably,  one Scandinavian country -- Sweden -- somehow is not listed in the chart of per-capita consumption (in the lower right bar chart).

Anyone who's read the Stieg Larsson trilogy of "Dragon Tattoo" novels -- set in Sweden -- can attest that coffee drinking seems a constant activity. Yet the chart on this map shows Finland, Denmark, Norway among the top 10 consuming countries.

What's happening in Sweden?

The U.S., by the way, ranked 11th in this survey, measuring consumption of 12-oz. cups of joe per day.

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