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Coffee hailed as the second most popular beverage across the world, had an innocuous origin. From the arid tracts of Ethiopia, North Africa to a conspicuous global presence, coffee has indeed come a long way.
Out of Africa
There are legends galore which attempt to trace the origin of this wonder substance. One says that a 9th-century Ethiopian goatherd named Kaldi who lived at that time stumbled upon coffee when he noticed that his flock became hyperactive after eating the beans from a strange plant.
According to an ancient chronicle, Sheikh Omar, a Yemeni nobleman who reportedly possessed healing powers was exiled to the desert on one occasion. A starving Omar chewed some berries growing on a nearby shrubbery which tasted bitter. Next, he roasted the seeds, but they got hardened. Finally, he tried boiling them, which resulted in a fragrant brown liquid. Upon drinking the liquid Omar felt refreshed and recharged. When this tale reached his hometown, Omar was accorded a hero’s welcome and declared a saint.
However, coffee was officially and scientifically discovered only in the 11th century. The coffee plant (Coffea Arabica) bears white blossoms whose fragrance resemble that of jasmine and red fruit which are cherry lookalikes. After its discovery, the coffee seeds were boiled in water and the concoction was drunk straightaway because it was believed to have medicinal properties.
In Neighbouring Yemen
By the mid-14th century, coffee cultivation reached Yemen and for 300 years, it was drunk by ordinary people the way they did in Ethiopia. Yemen’s climate and topography were suitable for its cultivation.
Turks & Coffee
Coffee was introduced to Ottoman Empire (Turkey) around 1555, when the Ottoman Governor of Yemen,
Coffee Goes to Europe
The Europeans got acquainted with coffee in 1615 when Venetian traders, who had drunk the beverage in Istanbul brought it home back with them. In 1645, the first coffeehouse opened in Italy. Then followed a mushrooming of coffeehouses across the country. They became clubs for people from all walks of life, especially artists and students to meet and interact.
Onward to France. In 1644, the first coffee beans, along with necessary equipment were brought to Marseilles by Monsieur de la Roque, the French ambassador to the Ottoman Empire. Thereafter, local traders began importing coffee for consumption by locals. After the first coffee house opened in the city, in 1671, the popularity of the drink soared. Paris, the Mecca of Continental culture and fashions had its brush with coffee, in 1669, when Süleyman Ağa, the Ottoman ambassador to the court of Louis XIV brought the “magical beverage” to the city.
In Paris of that era, it was in vogue for members of Parisienne High Society to drink Turkish coffee with the Envoy, while listening to his innumerable interesting tales about coffee. Paris got its first public coffee house, Café de Procope, in 1686, which drew poets and celebrated authors like Rousseau, Diderot, and Voltaire.
England first became acquainted with coffee, in 1637, when a Turk introduced the drink to Oxford. It became a fad among students and teachers who established the “Oxford Coffee Club”. In 1650, the first coffee house, named Angel, was opened. In 1652, London’s first coffee house was opened by a Greek named Pasqua Rosée. Gradually, coffee houses became a part and parcel of its culture. The public nicknamed them ‘Penny Universities’ since they were patronised by writers, artists, poets, lawyers, politicians, and philosophers. For any visitor it was a fruitful deal: By paying an entrance fee of one penny, he could sip a cup of the brew as well as benefit from the intellectual conversation that raged on.
Westward Ho!
From Europe, coffee travelled westward, reaching North America, in 1668. New York’s first coffee house, ‘The King’s Arms,’ opened in 1696. In 1714, Dutch traders had gifted a coffee sapling from their plantations in Indonesia (read Java) to French ruler Louis XIV. This sapling was cultured and maintained at Paris’s famous botanical garden, Jardin des Plantes. In 1723, a French mariner named Gabriel du Clieu took a sapling from the garden to the island of Martinique. From here, the coffee plant spread to other Caribbean islands, besides Central and South America. In 1727, a Portuguese sailor named de Mello Palheta introduced coffee saplings to Brazil. Over the centuries, Brazil emerged as a major global coffee producer. In 1730, coffee cultivation began in Jamaica, under the aegis of the British.
Evolution of Coffee
During its nascent years, the wonder liquid was drunk plain and in its natural state. However, with the passage of time, coffee enthusiasts carried out all sorts of experiments in order to enhance both tastes as well as the quality of the beverage. A milestone in the arena of coffee is the invention of the Espresso
Who does not know Nescafe’ the globally renowned brand of coffee? The name is a fusion of the reputed corporate Nestle’ and café. The company first introduced the coffee brand, in Switzerland, in 1938. Today there are scores of varieties and still counting. Think coffee think Starbucks. Born in 1971, in Seattle, the USA, this chain of stores has emerged as the largest coffee vendor in the world. It boasts of 9000 stores worldwide, most of them in the USA. On a personal note, their coffee is sheer bliss. If you haven’t tasted it yet, do so now. For the ultimate experience.
The journey of coffee is unending; cutting across continents and international boundaries it has carved a niche for itself in most households. Be it the dhoti-clad Pillai sipping kopi from a steel tumbler or un hommeFrancaise enjoying his café au lait (milk coffee) at breakfast, to groups of Arabs drinking Turkish coffee in an Arabian home – there is something for everybody!
©Ruchira Adhikari Ghosh
Photos from the Internet
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