Coffee - The Story of a Lifetime

When we talk about the history of coffee, we can almost consider it a mythical element: as no one can tell exactly when, where, and how it was discovered. All we know is that today it is present everywhere, in many forms, ready to make anyone's morning better. But with all myths, there are also legends surrounding them.

Ethiopian Folklore 

What we know for sure is that almost any coffee plantation around the world can thank ancient coffee forests from Ethiopia for their existence. But how was it discovered there?

The answer to this question seems to be held by Kaldi- a local goat herder. He noticed one day that some of his goats were unusually energetic, they didn't even sleep that night after they ate berries from a certain tree. He then unveiled his discovery to the abbot of the local monastery, who derived a drink from the unusual beans and also found that it was keeping him alert throughout the day, even in the long hours of evening prayer. The abbot also let other monks in on the miraculous drink, that being the moment when the popularity of coffee began. As the word was spreading to the east, it finally reached the Arabian peninsula, and ever since, coffee began to spread worldwide.

Popularity increases in the Arabian Peninsula

The ones responsible for the beginning of coffee commerce were the people in the Arabian peninsula. They began to cultivate and trade it and by the 15th century the main region of growth was Yemeni, a fact that allowed coffee to also be known in Turkey, Egypt, Persia, and Syria, only a century later.

Once the new drink gained more and more popularity, coffee houses also appeared (known as qahveh khaneh), mostly in the cities located in the Near East. That was all the rave back then, and people frequented these places in order to engage in numerous social activities. These included diverse conversations, listening to music, watching performances, chess games, and staying in touch with the latest news. Their social importance became so big that they were also known as ”Schools of the Wise”.

Another factor that made coffee popular was the many pilgrims that came from all the places around the world and visited the city of Mecca for its holiness. They spread the word about the ”wine of Araby”, a new, interesting drink that was yet to be discovered by other countries. 

Next Stop: Europe

Of course between those pilgrims and travelers to the Near East were also Europeans, who met the outlandish and pitched black beverages with skepticism, even fear. All of this was happening in the 17th century when coffee began to be called the ”bitter invention of Satan” and was even condemned in 1615 by the local clergy of Venice. Because the phenomenon was met with such controversy, Pope Clement VIII had to intervene in order to clear the waters. After he tasted the coffee, he was so pleasantly surprised by the taste and aroma that he decided to give it the papal approval.

Holland, France, England, Austria, and Germany quickly took the example from the Arabian peninsula and opened up coffee houses, which had the same success. In England, they were known under the name of ”penny universities”, as for the humble price of one penny, you could buy a coffee and engage in university-level conversations. 

Its popularity became so high that it replaced the back then breakfast beverage: alcohol!- mainly beer and wine. People concluded that when they drank coffee in the morning, they were more energetic and, therefore, the results of their work were so much more efficient. Nowadays office coffee service might be traced back to this moment!

The coffee houses spree in London was an opportunity for many businesses at the time, as they attracted many brokers, merchants, shippers, and even artists. For example, the famous Lloyd's of London was born in Edward Lloyd's Coffee House.

A New Drink in the New World

In the mid-1600s, coffee was brought to New Amsterdam (later known as New York). In spite of its continuous growth in popularity, tea remained the favorite drink in the region, but that was only until 1773, when the Boston Tea Party struck, because of the costly taxes. From that moment on, the drink preferred by the Americans was forever changed to coffee, Thomas Jefferson even calling it ”the favorite drink of the civilized world”.

Plantations Begin to Spread

As the demand kept on growing all around the world, the competition in coffee cultivation outside of Arabia also grew exponentially. 

The ones that made an important difference were the Dutch, who managed to develop plantations in the latter half of the 17th century in the now known Indonesia, but only after they met failure in India. The success determined their ability to also expand in the islands of Sumatra and Celebes. 

Expanding the Business to the Americas

At the beginning of the 18th century, King Louis XIV of France received from the Mayor of Amsterdam a young coffee plant, as a gift. It ended up being planted in the Royal Botanical Garden in Paris and a few years later a young, but brave naval officer obtained a seedling from the plant and transported it to Martinique, despite the many challenges he met. 

Thanks to his contribution, in the next 50 years the coffee trees on the island thrived, reaching a number of 18 million. They are believed to be the source of the famous coffee trees in Central and South America and the Caribbean. 

In Brazil, coffee was brought by Francisco de Mello Palheta, sent by the emperor to bring it all the way from French Guiana. Even though the French were not willing to share, he was struck by luck when the French Governor's wife was impressed by his looks. As a result, when the moment came for him to leave, she offered him a large bouquet of flowers that held an important secret: buried inside it was the coffee seeds that are responsible for today's billion-dollar industry.

An ongoing industry

By the end of the 18th century, coffee was one of the most profitable crops for export. People from all over the world experimented with it and while some failed, others found their source of wealth.

We hope that this article brought you new information that will make you enjoy your daily cup of coffee even more!