The History of Coffee
Ever wondered where did coffee come from, how it got to be so famous and why it is today one of the most traded commodities in the world? Well if you are interested keep on reading and I will teach you.
we will cover it through different periods of the history. I want to clarify that part of the history is actually fiction but I will be sure to tell which part don't worry.
This will be a kind of long post but I hope you read it and enjoy it! I will include a semi-timeline for those who don't want to read but still want to know what it's about.
If you want to know more in detail you can check my website at http://cafetocoffeemethods.com/what-about-the-history-of-coffee
Goats?
The story goes that a goat-herder named Kaldi, while pasturing with his goats in the Ethiopian plateau circa 800 A.D, he noticed that they were getting really hyper and excited when eating certain fruit from a tree, they were eating coffee beans and had the effects of caffeine.
So Kaldi grabbed those beans and took them to the local islamic monk of a Sufi monastery. The monk telling him that those beans were evil for the effect they induced on the goats threw them on the fire.
Enchanting aromas emerged from the burnt beans and they were used to make a beverage that induced and energetic and trance-like feeling.
That part of the story is fiction, but I myself find it really fascinating and fun to tell to people, it's a fun myth surrounding the origin of coffee.
Arab Tradition
Coffee as a drink has roots in Arab tradition during the 15th century and it was used by monks in Yemen's Sufi monasteries like in the story of the goats.
It was used to help monks focus during meditation and while they were chanting the name of God.
The original name was qahwa and in Arab it meant wine.
Coffee house in Constantinople, modern day Istanbul
Thanks to its energetic inducing effect it quickly moved to different big cities like Baghdad and Cairo.
Coffee houses started to open and because of it's stimulating effect it was seen in some places as an evil drug, it was even banned in some places, though the ban did not last very long.
Stories of its effect reached Europe and it quickly became popular.
Europe
Stories from Europeans that traveled to Asia began to appear in Europe, they talked about a black "liquor" that induced its user a state of alertness and kept them awake through the night.
Soon after Venetian merchants carried the idea to central Europe where coffee houses began to sprout.
They appeared all around Europe including Germany, England, Vienna, Italy, etc.
Just in London more than 300 coffee houses are supposed to have been established.
London coffee house in the 17th century
Coffee houses were a central part of the Enlightened Europe, they were called penny universities in London, because you could pay 1 penny for coffee and admission, there many intellectuals gathered to discuss everything from arts, science, gossip or politics.
They were a much better place than alehouses to discuss important affairs because they did not have liquor.
Curiosity: Beer and Wine was a common breakfast drink during that time. People who switched over to coffee started the day more alert and ready for work. Just like we do nowadays!
Coming to the new world
Around 1700s some coffee plants were given a gift to King Louis XIV by the mayor of Amsterdam. They were planted in the Jardin Royale des Plantes.
Some seedlings were given to Capt. Gabriel de Clieu, with the mission to take them to the isle of Martinique.
He had an arduous journey, you know it took several months to go from Europe to America in that time, imagine the task of keeping a seedling alive through all that harsh journey.
But he made it, and coffee plantations started to spread in the new world. thanks to the latitude similar to the African countries in which coffee could be grown.
Coffee started to be grown all throughout South and Central America.
And up until now it is still going strong, even stronger, becoming the second most traded commodity in the world nowadays.
Thanks for reading all the way through, I hope that you enjoyed a brief summary of the history of coffee.
Please upvote, commen, follow and resteem if you liked my content. I will be sure to keep on posting.
TL;DR
| Century | Event |
|---|---|
| 8th | Coffee discovered by Kaldi's Goats (fictional story) |
| 15th | Coffee became popular in Islamic countries, specially Sufi monasteries. |
| 17th | Coffee houses became popular in Europe, penny universities, centers for learning |
| 18th | Capt. Gabriel de Clieu brought the first cafeto seedlings to America |
Images used were obtained from https://commons.wikimedia.org
information sources:
http://www.ncausa.org/About-Coffee/History-of-Coffee
http://cafetocoffeemethods.com/what-about-the-history-of-coffee (my website)