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 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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Did you know that the coffee plant actually grows into a tree? The coffee tree is an evergreen tree. Its broad leaves are a very shiny green with pointed ends that are sleekly reminiscent of arrowheads. Their leaves grow in pairs one on each side of their long thin branches as they flower and seed from the base of each pair of leaves growing along the stems or branches. Their tiny blooms flower into five petals with yellow stamen, as the seedpods progress into berry like cases for the seed. Inside each seed, two beans are usually found these beans are what are used to make coffee. The berries of the coffee plant can display as green in unripe berries, red in ripe berries and black of over ripened berries. The coffee plant can be rooted from cuttings as well as grown from seed and thrives best in shaded areas.

The coffee plant is native to Ethiopia then transported to Yemen of Africa. There these coffee beans were chewed raw for the extra energy that they provided the people. In Yemen Europeans found the plant as it was taken to Europe to be transplanted there. Arabians first made a drink with the green coffee beans however; by not having been roasted, the drink did not offer the brunette russet flavor of coffee, as we know it to be. The idea to roast the coffee bean before boiling it is believed to enter the picture back in the 1400s.

From Europe, the Venetian mercantile decided that coffee should be introduced to the wealthy people there and charged outrageous prices for the coffee that they purchased. Although it was suggested that coffee be banned it was however baptized by a pope of that time, coffee then gains great popularity as a good hearty drink. At that time while being introduced to the French, they upheld the brilliant Arabians for being so ingenious to have introduced the world to the strong drink of coffee and opened the first coffee house in Paris. Coffee houses have flourished since that time. Eventually, coffee made its rounds into Austria and Poland.

Introduced in the seventeen hundreds, to the new world by aid of colonial officials, coffee came to America as a high value cash crop and is today only second to oil, as a valuable trade commodity. Billions of dollars every year are in used in spending for the purchase of coffee, the world round. While a bit later the Boston Tea Party called for drinking coffee an American patriotic duty. Although the ruler of Prussia attempted to block the imports of coffee, the public outcry of injustice turned these thoughts of this around.

The year of 1886 found Maxwell House coffee to be named after a hotel in which the drink was served. The nineteen hundreds saw the introduction of the Hills Brothers packing roast coffee into tins, which were vacuum-sealed, thus bringing about the end of coffee mills and local roasting shops. The American soldiers of WWII were issued instant Maxwell House coffee in their kits of ration, while in America the widespread issue of hoarding led the coffee to be rationed.

As for coffee, Johann Sebastian Bach said it best in 1732 within his lyrical gist of the Coffee Cantata, Mm! how sweet the coffee tastes, more delicious than a thousand kisses, mellower than muscatel wine.

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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 has been a popular beverage for many years. Looking back at history, coffee lovers are in very good company. Following are examples of famous historical personalities who enjoyed drinking coffee and helped promote this beverage among their fellow citizens and observers. Who knows? Perhaps coffee contributed to the inspiration that gave way to so many wonderful works of art, poetry, literature and music from the Age of Enlightenment!

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750). Famous 18Th Century composer, harpsichordist, violist and violinist. Renowned for ecclesiastical and secular works for choir, orchestra and solo renditions. Bach liked coffee so much he immortalized it in his “Coffee Cantata” by writing for this musical piece “How sweet coffee tastes! Lovelier than a thousand kisses, sweeter than Muscatel wine!” and he also wrote” Without my morning coffee, I’m just like a dried up piece of roast goat.”

Alexander Pope (1688-1744). 18Th Century English poet, satirist, who said about coffee, “Coffee, which makes the politician wise, and see through all things with his half-shut eyes.”

Franois-Marie Arouet, better known by the pen name Voltaire, (1694-1778). Writer and philosopher famous for his wit. Built a reputation as a coffee lover by allegedly drinking 40 cups of coffee a day mixed with chocolate. Voltaire said about coffee, “Nothing would be more tiresome than eating and drinking if God had not made them a pleasure as well as a necessity.”

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790). One of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A leading author, printer, satirist, political theorist, politician, scientist, inventor and diplomat. Benjamin Franklin had high standards for his coffee, “If this is coffee, please bring me some tea; but if this is tea, please bring me some coffee.” Another quote from Benjamin Franklin: “Among the numerous luxuries of the table…coffee may be considered as one of the most valuable. It excites cheerfulness without intoxication; and the pleasing flow of spirits which it occasions…is never followed by sadness, languor or debility.”

Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778). Philosopher, writer and composer of the 18Th century enlightenment age. Rousseau said about coffee, “Ah, that is a perfume in which I delight; when they roast coffee near my house, I hasten to open the door to take in all the aroma.”

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826). The 3rd President of the United States of America. Principal author of the Declaration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson deemed coffee “the favorite drink of the civilised world.” Jefferson enjoyed the coffee houses of Williamsburg and Paris. He served coffee often at the President’s house, Poplar Forest, and Monticello.

John Paul Jones (1747-1792). He was the first well-known United States naval fighter in the American Revolutionary War. He was a frequent patron at the Procop, opened in 1686. This is one of the oldest cafs and restaurants in Paris still in operation. Procop was the meeting place for intellectuals, writers, poets, artists, revolutionaries and other “enlightened” personalities. Procop served coffee, a somewhat exotic beverage at the time. John Paul Jones was known for saying, “I have not yet begun to fight!” After such exclamation, he would often drink coffee with delight.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832). German writer and polymath. Goethe was a person known for his expertise in a significant number of different subject areas. Goethe was a personal friend of Friedlieb Ferdinand Runge who was able to isolate relatively pure caffeine from coffee beans in 1820. Goethe had an interest in decaffeinated coffee to reduce insomnia symptoms. Goethe, who was an enthusiastic coffee drinker, once said, “Enjoy when you can, and endure when you must.”

Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821). Masterful soldier, tactician, superb administrator, Emperor of the French, said about coffee, “I would rather suffer with coffee than be senseless.”

George Gordon Byron, also known as Lord Byron (1788-1824). British poet and leading figure in Romanticism who said about coffee, “Tis pity wine should be so deleterious, for tea and coffee leave us much more serious.”

Benjamin Moseley (1789-1819). English Physician who said about coffee, “The use of coffee will probably become greatly extended – - as in other countries, it may diffuse itself among the mass of the people, and make a considerable ingredient in their daily sustenance.”

Ready for a cup of delicious Vanilla Hazelnut flavored gourmet 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

Copyright – Timothy S. Collins. All Rights Reserved Worldwide

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