Exactly where and
when coffee was first cultivated is not known, but some authorities
believe that it was grown initially in Arabia near the Red Sea around the year
675. Other authorities say that coffee was discovered in Ethiopia
around the year 900. Still others say that around the year 575,
Arab traders took it to the southern tip of the Arabian peninsula, now
known as Yemen, where the cultivation of coffee began.
According to the Kaldi Coffee Legend,
coffee is said to have been first discovered when a goat-herd in
Abysinia, while basking in the sun, observed his goats dancing on their
hind legs after eating some red berries. He tasted the berries and his
sleepy eyes opened. He took some to the village and everybody also liked
it, as it kept them awake during their prayers.
Botanical evidence indicates that Coffea
Arabica originated on the plateaus of central Ethiopia, several thousand
feet above sea level.
Coffee makes up the genus Coffea of the
family Rubiaceae. Arabian coffee is classified as Coffea Arabica, Robusta
coffee as Coffea Canephora, and Liberian coffee as Coffea Liberica.
Initially, coffee was brewed from green,
unroasted beans to yield a tea-like beverage. By the late 13th century,
Arabians roasted and ground coffee before brewing it. Ironically, coffee
was usually brewed by Arabian men, and then drunk by Arabian women to
alleviate menstrual discomforts.
Coffee cultivation was rare until the 15th
and 16th centuries, when extensive planting of the trees occurred in
the Yemen region of Arabia. From Yemen the use of coffee beans spread
throughout the Arabian peninsula and later via the Othman Empire to
Turkey. At that time, coffee was used for it's medicinal properties and as
a ritual drink. The world's first coffee shop, Kiva Han, opened in
Constantinople in 1475.
The modern coffee drink was invented at the
end of 15th century, when roasting and crushing the coffee beans
before extracting them with hot water grew in acceptance.
Turkish people claimed coffee to be an
aphrodisiac and husbands kept their wives well supplied. If the husband
refused, it was a legitimate cause for a wife to divorce!
Legend also has it that the Arabs,
protective of Coffea Arabica, refused to allow fertile seeds to leave
their country. Transportation of the plant out of the Moslem nations was
forbidden by the government. Around 1650 a Moslem pilgrim from
India named Baba Budan snuck seeds out of Arabia. He planted his seeds in
the hills in Mysore, India where they flourished.
Introduced into Europe in the early
1600's, coffeehouses quickly appeared. The Arabs used so much coffee
that the Christian church denounced coffee as "the hellish black
brew." But Pope Clement VIII found it so great tasting that he
baptized it and made it a Christian beverage saying "coffee is so
delicious it would be a pity to let the infidels have exclusive use of
it."
In 1607, Captain John Smith founded
the colony of Virginia at Jamestown. It's believed that he introduced
coffee to North America.
In 1652, the first coffeehouse opened in England. A cup of
coffee sold for a penny.
In 1672, Paris coffeehouses opened.
In 1675, Franz Georg Kolschitzky, a
Viennese who had lived in Turkey, opened central Europe's first coffee
house. He also established the habit of refining the brew by filtering out
the grounds, sweetening it, and adding a dash of milk.
In 1683, coffee made its way to Austria. Franz Kulczycki opened its
first Viennese coffeehouse.
Along with the increase in popularity of coffee in Europe and especially
England, the Dutch began to cultivate it in their colonies during the 17th
century.
In 1715, the Jesuits started coffee cultivation in Haiti.
In 1721, the first coffee house opened in Berlin.
In 1723, French naval officer, Gabriel Mathieu do Clieu, stole a
seedling and transplanted it to Martinique. That cutting was the start of
coffee plantations in Latin America. Within 50 years an official survey
recorded 19 million coffee trees on Martinique.
In 1773, Americans revolted against King George's Tea Tax and the
Continental Congress declared coffee the official national beverage.
In 1825, coffee was taken to Hawaii.
By 1887, coffee had made its way to
Tonkin, Indo-China.
In 1896, coffee was taken to
Queensland, Australia.
Before World War II, due to the
economic importance of coffee exports, a number of Latin American
countries made arrangements to allocate export quotas so that each country
would be assured a certain share of the United States coffee market.
In 1940, the first coffee quota agreement was arranged and was
administered by an Inter-American Coffee Board.
In the 1950's, New Guinea began
cultivating coffee.
In 1962, the idea of establishing
coffee export quotas on a worldwide basis was adopted, when an
International Coffee Agreement was negotiated by the United Nations.
During the 5 year period, while the agreement was in effect, 41 exporting
countries and 25 importing countries acceded to its terms. The agreement
was renegotiated in 1968, 1976, and in 1983.
In 1968, the term OCS was coined for
the Office Coffee Service Industry. 30 years later, Discount
Coffee.com would create a new Industry. (See 1998)
In 1989, world coffee prices plunged when participating nations
failed to sign a new pact.
Coffee
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