Coffee

Have you ever wondered, as you’re sitting in your favorite coffee shop or perhaps at your own kitchen table, sipping your morning cup of gourmet coffee, where that wonderful drink originated at? If you live in the United States, you can thank a man by the name of Alfred Peet. In 1955, Alfred Peet moved to California from Amsterdam, Holland. To his despair, he couldn’t find a decent cup of coffee anywhere. As the son of an Amsterdam coffee trader, he knew good coffee when he drank it.

In 1966, Peet opened a small coffee store in Berkley, California, and began to sell his dark roasted beans. At the time there was one other North American store selling quality coffee, but they were in Vancouver, Canada. From that time until now, Peet’s has served the gourmet coffee needs in Southern California.

While gourmet coffee didn’t come to the States until 1966, coffee has been around since the 9th century, when Ethiopian shepherds notice that their goats would “dance” and had more energy after eating wild coffee beans. Since Islam prohibits the use of alcohol, coffee provided an alternative to wine. From there it spread to Egypt and Yemen. It wasn’t until it reached Arabia that coffee beans were roasted and brewed to make a drink.

At first, this drink was not well received by the Islamic people. In 1511, it was forbidden by the court at Mecca. The drink was so popular, though, that this was overturned in 1524 by the Ottoman Turkish Sultan Selim. It was also banned for a time in Egypt and Ethiopia, before being accepted as an acceptable Muslim drink. This was largely due to the rulers at the time liking the taste of the beverage, therefore decreeing it acceptable.

By the 15th century, coffee was common throughout the Middle East, Persia, Turkey and North Africa. The word “coffee” came from “caffé” in Italy in the 16th century. Before that it was called, in Arabic, “qahwa”. In Venice traders started buying coffee from Africa and the Middle East, and in 1645 the first European coffee house opened.

The Dutch defied the Saudi Arabians prohibition on exportation of coffee by smuggling seedlings from Aden into Europe in 1616. They were also the first country to import coffee on a large scale. They took plants to Java and Ceylon, where they started exporting to the Netherlands in 1711.

Coffee arrived in the United States during the colonial period. When it was first imported, it was not widely drunk in the United States. It wasn’t until the revolutionary war and the shortage of tea, that Americans began drinking it on a regular basis. After the War of 1812, America’s taste for coffee grew and it became a common drink.

As the consumption of coffee grew, so did the companies cultivating, roasting and grinding. The larger companies used (and still do) a blend of Arabica and Robusta beans for a commercial blend, while gourmet coffee is roasted from the Arabica bean alone. Arabica beans are considered the tastiest of the three types of bean and also the most expensive.

Today, coffee is the life-blood of the third world countries that produce it. Over a hundred million people depend on the growth, production and exportation of this flavorful bean.

The next time you pour yourself a wonderful cup of your favorite gourmet blend, consider the origins and history of the coffee bean and how it came to be in your favorite store. The rich history of gourmet coffee is almost as rich and full-bodied as the drink itself which will surely give you even more of that warm and cozy feeling that only a nice cup of coffee can give!

Katya Coen provides information on gourmet coffee for Coffee Online – the site for coffee lovers.

Author: Katya Coen
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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The first recorded use of coffee as a beverage goes back to the ninth century in highland Ethiopia. According to the legend, a shepherd named Kaldi in Ethiopia noticed that his goats seemed to dance about and to have a higher energy level after eating bright red berries from the coffee plant. Coffee use soon spread to Egypt, Yemen, and Arabia where raw coffee beans were processed by being roasted and then brewed into a beverage. By the fifteenth century coffee drinking had spread throughout the Middle East and into Turkey, Persia and all over north Africa. At the end of the sixteenth century a German doctor traveling in the Near East described coffee as a drink as black as ink which is useful in the treatment of many illnesses, especially stomach disorders.

The thriving commerce between the Middle East, North Africa, and Venice soon brought coffee and coffee drinking to Venice, from where it quickly spread throughout Europe. Although there was suspicion of the drink due to its Muslim origins, Pope Clement VIII declared coffee to be a respectable Christian beverage in 1600, which decree made coffee drinking socially respectable and increased its popularity. The first coffee house in Europe opened in 1645 in Italy. Soon Dutch traders began importing large quantities of coffee to northern Europe. In spite of Arab prohibitions against allowing green coffee suppliers to export unroasted seeds or living coffee plants, in 1616 a Dutch trader named Pieter van den Broeck was able to smuggle some live coffee seedlings out of Aden to Europe. The Dutch began to grow coffee in their colonies in Ceylon and Java, and in 1711 coffee was first exported from Java to Holland. The English East India Company was also active in coffee growing and exporting at this time, and in 1657 coffee was first introduced in France. Coffee came to Poland and Austria after Turkish invaders were defeated in the Battle of Vienna in 1683 and their supplies of coffee were captured by the defenders.

Coffee came to North America with the European colonization, but it was not as successful there as it had been in the old country. The English tax on tea, which led to the Boston Tea Party and other protests by American colonists, turned America into a principally coffee drinking country. During the American Revolution tea imports from England were cut off and coffee demand increased to such an extent that the dealers were forced to hoard the scarce supply of fair trade coffee beans and to raise prices drastically. The War of 1812 also restricted imports of tea from England and created greater demand for coffee. The Civil War was fought on coffee, which became a contraband item at the frontier between north and south: illicit salt and coffee being traded for tobacco and cotton.

Today raw coffee beans are the most valuable legally-traded export item after petroleum. Fair trade coffee beans are the most important cash crop in many countries in the Third World. Over 100,000,000 rural green coffee suppliers in developing countries depend on coffee as their main source of income.

Author: Alice Lane
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Ethiopia produces some of the most unique and fascinating coffees in the world. Ethiopian coffee is a great choice anytime but it is particularly good as an after dinner coffee.

The three main regions where Ethiopia coffee beans originate are Harrar (or “Harar”), Ghimbi and Sidamo (“Yirgacheffe”). There is historical controversy surrounding the term “Sidamo” instead of the historical correct name of “Sidama.” While there are calls to identify coffee from Sidama by the name of “Sidama” instead of “Sidamo,” the reality is that “Sidamo coffee” is an established label for this coffee used worldwide.

There are several Ethiopian origin coffees. For example,

• Wollega (Nekempte) Coffee: produced in Western Ehiopia. Medium to bold bean with a fruity taste. Good acidity and body, sold as a blend or as an original gourmet or special origin flavor.
• Limu Coffee: spicy and winey flavor. Washed Limu coffee is a premium coffee. Medium sized bean, mostly round in shape.
• Sidamo coffee: washed Sidamo coffee has balanced taste and good flavor. Often called “sweet coffee.” Fine acidity and a good body, produced in the southern part of the country, blended for gourmet or specialty coffee.
• Yirgacheffe coffee: intense flavor known as “flora.” The washed Yirgacheffe is one of the best highland grown coffees. Fine acidity and rich body.

One of the coffees, “Harrar Coffee” evokes the original mocha coffee from classic longberry mocha beans sought after all over the world.

• Harrar coffee is known for its full body, medium acidity and distinctive classic deep chocolate mocha flavor with a fruity blueberry tone.
• The Harrar coffee bean is medium in size with a greenish to yellowish color.
• It is this coffee bean that is blended with top grade Java Estate Arabic bean coffee to make the Classic Mocha Java Blend.
• Harrar is situated in the high mountains in Eastern Ethiopia above the Gulf of Aden and is the home of great coffee.

But, where does the name Harar come from and what does it represent to Ethiopians? Harar (spelled with one “r”) is a city of mosques, minarets and markets. This is a city that long ago struck its own local currency and still has its own unique language. In many ways, it is a city of mystery, romance and beautiful wild forests where coffee grows naturally.

Harar is situated high overlooking surrounding plains. The view is beautiful and the climate is balmy and inviting. In the “old days,” Harar could be reached only by caravan or mule journey. Sometimes, it would take days or even many weeks to reach. Today, the city is a few hours drive from Dire Dawa, a modern Ethiopian railway town with an international airport and many other amenities for locals and visitors.

The drive from Dire Dawa to Harar provides panoramic views of the torrid lowlands and cool highlands. The mountain scenery is amazing; particularly because of the abundant vegetation that includes acacias, eucalyptus, cacti, coffee and many other plants. Harar is in a rich agricultural land with many springs, streams and rivers. The crops include wheat, millet, maize, other grains, a large variety of fruits and vegetables. Coffee is everywhere. In this region, coffee has been cultivated for many centuries in gardens around the city. The city of Harar was designated in 1989 as part of the cultural heritage of humanity as a whole.

Ready to enjoy a specialty coffee that has rich, pleasing aroma, a bold and complex flavor with a snappy acidity and hints of fruit or citrus? What about a cup of delicious Ethiopian Longberry Harrar coffee freshly roasted to order? Or, why not have it in a cup of Mocha Java coffee?

Timothy (“Tim”) S. Collins, the author, is called by those who know him “The Gourmet Coffee Guy.”
He is an expert in article writing who has done extensive research online and offline in his area of expertise, coffee marketing, as well as in other areas of personal and professional interest.

Come visit the author’s website: http://www.ourgourmetcoffee.com
Also visit: http://www.squidoo.com/coffee-lensography-TheGourmetCoffeeGuy

Copyright – Timothy S. Collins. All Rights Reserved Worldwide

Author: Timothy S. Collins
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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