Coffee

Where did coffee originate? Coffee lovers around the world today may be numbering in the millions, but only a small number could be fully aware on the beginnings of this well-loved beverage. The history of coffee is definitely as rich as its flavor, spanning numerous centuries and dating as far back as 6th century A.D.

The oldest coffee legend

In the 6th century AD, farmers from Yemen were already growing coffee cherries. According to legend, a goat herder in Ethiopia was bewildered to discover that his goats were showing inexplicable energy after consuming a particular kind of cherries. After this goat herder tried the berries for himself and found that he too felt a surge of energy, Muslims discovered a way to extract the brew from the cherries, transforming the beans into a heady beverage. Thus, coffee became a secret beverage of the Muslims for a while, revitalizing them even during lengthy periods of worship. When 900 AD came round, coffee was already commonplace in the entire region of Arabia. From this period until 1500 AD, coffee farming practices were still a well-kept secret, although coffee beans were already exported to other places.

Coffee invasion in Europe

Before long however, Europeans found a way to bring coffee seedlings into their own lands. By 1615, merchants from Venice were able to bootleg a coffee plant out of the Yemen borders and into Europe. This time, coffee was used for its therapeutic purposes, being sold both as a drink and as a health remedy. When the Dutch got hold of the Ethiopian territory, they were able to bring coffee plants into Holland.

When it was discovered that Holland’s climate was not conducive to coffee farming, the Dutch brought the plants to other regions. When the first coffee shop opened its doors to the public in Oxford, England by the year 1650, women were forbidden to enter the shops. It was only three years later, when a teahouse was opened, that women found a place to converge.

The love story behind coffee Arabica

A Brazilian coast guard officer found two things he loved when he visited Cayenne in French Guyana in 1727: one, the coffee and two, the Governor’s wife. It was this affection that led him to acquire a few seeds which he took back to Brazil, initiating the Arabica coffee variety production in the country. Brazil eventually became the world’s largest coffee producer in 1800.

Afterwards, coffee traveled from country to country, spreading its popularity as a principal beverage of choice. The British introduced coffee to Jamaica in 1730. In 1774, Americans expressed a predilection for coffee during the Boston Tea Party, as a sign that they are replacing tea with coffee, due to the exorbitant taxes levied on tea trading. Costa Rica acquired coffee from Cuba, and this eventually spread to Mexico. The Island of Martinique cultivated coffee in the 1700s and Hawaii in 1825.

Present day coffee and coffee houses

Coffee houses are popular in Arabia; however they are as popular in Europe as well. From the 1600′s to the mid 1900s, coffee shops had already proliferated in Paris, reaching to approximately 3,000 in number. Presently, coffee is second to oil in terms of the most traded commodity worldwide.

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Coffee has a fairly secure history when in comes to details, although there are a few controversies as to actually who was the very first to grow it. One fact that is not disputed, however, is that Arabian coffee is the finest in the world.

It is accepted that Arabia was most definitely the first country to commercialize coffee growing – so hence its name coffee Arabica. There are in excess of 40 different types of plants in the coffee family but only two of them can be used for coffee; the first being coffee Arabica and the second, somewhat inferior species, Robusta.

Variables that go into making good coffee including Arabian coffee are so many that one little alteration and it can change the quality and taste dramatically. This is one of the factors that makes coffee so intriguing and yet can make it a little frustrating when trying to find that personal perfection in your coffee tastes. There is little doubt though that you will find what you desire within the Arabian coffee selections.

Arabian coffee is such a desired commodity that it makes up for about 80% of the coffee sales in the entire world. It is somewhat harder to grow then Robusta so that partially accounts for the extra cost that is associated with buying Arabica coffee as opposed to Robusta.

Very specific growing conditions are demanded by Arabica coffee beans and where those needs are met then that’s where the most superior coffee in the world is produced. It must have high elevations for optimal growth, which is between 3,000 to 6,500. The consensus is the higher the altitude is the longer it takes for Arabian coffee plants to grow and mature. This is beneficial because it allows for a longer time for the characteristics it possesses to materialize and permeate.

Every coffee has its variations and coffee Arabica basically has three major varieties being Typica, Caturra and Bourbon has well. Although they all have the same origin, they each have subtle differences that make for different variances in the final cup. Most avid coffee lovers that really know their coffee would be able to identify these differences, but many others probably would not. There are small differences in the body and balance for example.

As we, mentioned Arabica coffee can be somewhat fragile to grow, but by having these sub types developed, it has also hardened them up somewhat without jeopardizing the quality and the taste.

What it comes down to coffee Arabica is still great in its worst form but when it is prepared at its best its difficult to put into words just how superior it really is. One of the problems that can happen is if you have had the joy of getting a superior cup of coffee Arabica then go back to what you usually consume you are just not going to be happy with the brew that you have always enjoyed in the past.

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Coffee is an integral part of my family. We’ve had disputes, and discussions settled over coffee. Sometimes we have bargains and agreements done over coffee. In demonstrable fact coffee has given our family time to slow down and simply catch up.

With coffee so ever famous, it’s no wonder that it’s become a business life blood. Some companies even charge up to $5 for a cup, and yet people are still buying. All the benefits, all the wonder and taste but we have never really asked about the coffee bean to whom we have much to thank for.

Coffee Beans through the Years

A lot of people consider coffee a friend, and a shoulder to lean on. The coffee bean has many secrets which we as firm patrons of its fruits have yet to explore. It’s come a long way from its humble origins; the coffee bean has had many travels. Did you know that the lowly coffee bean was first venerated for its curative properties? The bean is also brewed for religious meditation purposes.

Coffee comes from berry producing trees encountered in the Middle East. The berry itself looks a lot like a very small cherry, red and agreeable. The berries are edible, they are considerably sweet. Each berry contains two locules, enclosed inside are the beans which is the cash crop. The coffee tree cannot tolerate frost or extremely cold weather that is why it is generally found on regions where there is ample sun and rain.

The coffee tree used to be a source for a tisane, where in the fruits, flowers and leaves where boiled in water, kind of like tea.

“Coffee beans, botanically inaccurate, are the seeds of the coffee plants”

It was the Arabs, who innovated upon the idea of making drinking coffee by roasting the dried coffee bean.

The Coffee Bean Travels

The story is that a Moslem stole some coffee beans from a farm in Arabia and brought them to his home in India. There he planted the coffee bean one by one and made it flourish, supplying one – third of India’s coffee produce.

From Arabia to India, word spread of the deliciously enchanting and aromatic coffee. Soon the French and the Dutch became enamored of the coffee bean as well. In their desire to produce the bewitching brew; the French brought coffee to Dijon ( a region in France ) unfortunately the coffee tree is not adept to cold weather, so the whole crop was wasted. The Dutch however was a lot cleverer. They planted the coffee seeds in Java where it thrived and became a reliable crop.

Even the famed King Louie XIV, who is captivated by coffee had a tree shipped to Paris, and built a Greenhouse especially for the Noble Tree. That same coffee tree is the fore bearer of the trees found in the South and Central America today.

There are 50 types of coffee trees in the world today. But only three are acknowledged to produce the best coffee bean of all time. No matter who you are, or where you’re from – have a quiet moment, enjoy a cup and let your mind wander.

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Coffee is one of the most popular beverages in the world. The word coffee is believed to have been deduced from Kaffa, a place situated in Ethiopia, Africa, It came into existence around 800 A.D. and there are many legends and stories associated with discovery.

One such interesting story goes like this. One day a monk saw a goatherd imitating his sheep who were dancing from one shrub to another, grazing the cherry-red berries containing coffee beans. The monk was amazed at the goatherd’s caper on eating the beans. The monk took some of the berries for his fellow monks and that night they realized that they seemed to attain something that they felt was ‘divine stimulation’.

Other than the legends and stories there is also historical evidence about how the Africans of the same era used the coffee plant in different ways. Africans used what can be called primitive ‘Power Bars’ made of coffee and animal fat as a stimulant. They also made wine from the coffee-berry pulp. From Africa, coffee moved out towards Arabia via the Red Sea and then slowly made its way to the rest of the world.

Coffee, as we know it today came into existence around 1000 A.D. and this is when it was first roasted and brewed. By the 13th Century, coffee became popular with the Muslim holy men who found it a very convenient drink it to keep worshippers awake and send them in a tizzy. Then onwards, coffee traveled with the Muslims. Wherever Islam went, coffee traveled along. However, Arabians were cautious and did not want to share the plant with the world. They made sure that no coffee bean sprouted outside Arabia and coffee beans were boiled or parched to make them infertile before taking out of Arabia.

An enterprising Indian pilgrim cum smuggler, Baba Budan, strapped some fertile coffee beans to his stomach and left Mecca. These beans were ultimately responsible for the agricultural expansion of coffee, which later reached Europe’s colonies in the East.

From these colonies, coffee was traded by a Venice merchant who took it to Europe. The Europeans liked it so much that they wanted a constant supply of the beans. And later, it was the Dutch who set up the first European-owned coffee plantation in colonial Java in 1616. The Dutch were, however, not as cautious as the Arabians and they gifted coffee trees to the aristocracy all over Europe. Louis XIV was presented one such coffee tree in 1714, for his garden in Paris.

The coffee tree finally crossed the Atlantic with Gabriel Mathieu de Clieu, a retired French naval officer. He smuggled a sprout with him to Martinique, a French Colony in the Caribbean after he was denied a clipping of the tree. Gabriel Mathieu de Clieu guarded the plant religiously. When the ship got caught in a storm de Clieu nurtured the pant with half of the water that he was rationed. Ultimately, the sprout flourished in Martinique and in the next 50 years more than 18 million coffee trees were grown there.

By 1727, Brazil had realized the potential of the plant and wanted a share in the coffee pie. Unable to get the plant through fair means, they dispatched Lt. Col. Francisco de Melo Palheta, allegedly to mediate in a border dispute, to French Guiana. Avoiding the heavily guarded coffee plantations, he chose to take the easy route of befriending the governor’s wife who slyly presented him a bouquet spiked with coffee seedlings on his farewell dinner. Coffee had now entered Brazil, a land of extremely fertile farms.

From 800 A.D. in Africa to 1727 in Brazil, the coffee plant had traveled through Middle East, South East and Europe and then to South America. Production of coffee reached dizzying heights due to the enormous harvests of Brazil’s fertile lands. This boom in production, apart from anything else, was instrumental in turning coffee, an elitist drink till then, into a drink of the masses.

Initially considered as a poor substitute for alcohol by the American colonists, its popularity grew when tea from Britain became scarce during the Revolutionary War. During and after the American Civil War, coffee had gained a premier position and was being increasingly accepted. Later, advancement in brewing technology ultimately secured its place as an everyday beverage of America.

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Coffee is a very popular caffeine-based drink prepared from roasted seeds, usually called coffee beans. It was first discovered in the 19th century in the Ethiopia highlands. It then spread to Yemen and Egypt. Soon enough, it became popular throughout the world.

Coffee plant is native to Southern Asia and subtropical Africa. It belongs to a genus of 10 species of flowering plants. Coffee is a small tree or evergreen shrub that can grow about 5 meters long and 6 centimeters wide. It produces a cluster of fragrant and white flowers that bloom simultaneously.

Coffee is commonly propagated by seeds. The usual method of planting coffee is to place 20 seeds in each hole at the beginning of the rainy season. Coffee is frequently intercropped with food harvests like beans, rice or corn during the first few years of cultivations.

There are two main cultivated species of coffee plants – Coffee Arabica and Coffee Canephora. Arabica coffee is more suitable than Robusta because Robusta coffee tends to taste more bitter. The cultivation of Arabica coffee accounts to about three quarters of coffee cultivations globally.

Most of the Arabica coffee beans originated from Eastern Africa, Latin America, Asia or Arabia. Robusta coffee beans, on the other hand, are grown in Central and Western Africa, all over Southeast Asia and in some parts of Brazil.

Coffee beans are brewed or grounded in making coffee. Roasting the grounded coffee beans can be done at home, in a roastery or in the grocery store. Coffee beans can be grounded in many ways. It can be steeped, pressured or boiled. The earliest method of brewing coffee was boiling. In fact, Turkish coffee uses this method.

Coffee grinders and coffee mills are two advanced means of making coffee nowadays. It comes in different models, and some of these are discussed below.

The Ascaso M.101 Anthracite Grinder Color Coffee provides commercial quality grinding with more than 9lbs of production per hour. It has a 700 rpm motor, optional electronic timer, built-in MRS or Micrometric Regulation System, and 250 watts of power. The large 600 gram hopper of this coffee grinder helps position the nozzle, for simple pouring of the grounded coffee.

The Black and Decker SmartGrind Deluxe Bean Burr Mill features removable beans and a coffee container. It crushes beans rather than grinding it to preserve the aroma and flavor of the coffee. The bean container can hold more than 20 cups of coffee. The settings can be adjusted to make espressos, medium drips and coarse percolators.

The Bosch Blade Coffee Grinder is easy to operate, even by left-handers. Its housing is made of durable shock-resistant plastic. It can also be used for grinding shelled nuts and certain types of spices. The slant basket and special beater blade system produce consistent and uniform grinding.

The Bodum C-Mill Blade Coffee Grinder has a very precise and strong motor. The C-Mill blade is not only used in grinding coffee, it can also be used in grinding shelled nuts and other types of spices. It has a convenient cord storage, and safety on and off switch.

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