Coffee is everywhere these days. But where does coffee originally come from and how did it become the cult drink it is today?
If you are a coffee lover and want to know more about the origins of coffee, you will find answers to many questions about the origin of the cult drink here.
To learn about the history of coffee, let’s embark on a journey far back into the past. There are some legends surrounding the history of coffee, this is one of them:
According to legend, the coffee plant originated in Abyssinia, today’s Ethiopia. Around the year 850, a shepherd boy there discovered that his goats became more animated after eating a certain type of berry: the coffee berry. Thereupon monks tasted the coffee cherries, but the taste was too bitter for them. They threw the cherries into the fire and a delicious aroma spread. With renewed curiosity, the monks looked at the roasted coffee beans and used them to prepare an infusion. They saw it as a gift from God as the drink’s caffeine content helped them stay awake during prayer. Thus, by chance, the monks came across the right way to prepare the coffee cherry right at the beginning of the coffee story, namely roasting the cherries for a subsequent infusion.
Once around the world
The next big step in the history of coffee came about 250 years later: During this time, coffee came to Arabia and was enthusiastically received by the Persians under the name “Wine of Islam”. Devout Muslims are forbidden from drinking wine, so the stimulating effect of the coffee drink offered them a good alternative. The term coffee comes from the ancient Arabic word Qahwah, which means “exciting” and describes the effect of the caffeinated drink. The drink spread further in the second half of the 15th century in the Arab empire via Mecca and Medina, until it reached Cairo in 1510. The Ottoman Empire followed in the early 16th century. Arabia, Asia Minor, Syria, Egypt and south-eastern Europe were also under the spell of coffee. In the years 1530 and 1532, the history of the coffee house culture finally found its origin: This is where the first coffee houses in Damascus and Aleppo were founded. In 1615, coffee was brought to Western Europe by Venetian merchants, where the stimulant spread rapidly and resulted in the founding of more coffee houses. The enterprising bourgeoisie in particular benefited from the drink because it helped as a sobering drink. Dutch and English sailors spread the coffee plant in their colonies around the world.
Towards the end of the 17th century, the first coffee trees were successfully grown in greenhouses. Louis XIV received such a coffee tree as a gift in 1714.
Since the beginning of the 20th century, Brazil has been the number one coffee producer in the world. Today, about a third of the 150 million bags of coffee beans a year are produced by Brazil. Central America and the tropical regions of South America are also among the largest coffee producers. While coffee was still roasted in the home by everyone up until the beginning of the discovery, the history of coffee took a turn with industrial production. In 1901, the first instant coffee powder was invented by the Japanese Dr. Sartori Kato introduced. A little later, in 1938, Nestlé took up the challenge and began commercializing the soluble coffee powder, the so-called instant coffee. Coffee consumption increased exponentially from 600,000 bags in 1750 to 48 million bags in 2011.
The cult drink coffee
The history of coffee goes far back into the past: An exciting journey took the coffee bean from Ethiopia around the world and made the resulting hot drink a cult drink as we know it today. Especially in the last few centuries, coffee consumption has increased many times over to around 50 million bags. This high number means that coffee is the second most important traded commodity – right after petroleum products. Coffee is now available in a variety of varieties, which means that everyone can find their personal favorite coffee.
