INFORMATION ABOUT COFFEE HISTORY & MYTH

By Bhadresh Bundela

Coffee beans were chewed raw for centuries in Ethiopia and Yemen. Excavations in the Ethiopian highlands where coffee grows wild indicates human gathers have been eating coffee berries over a hundred thousand years. The fleshy pulp around the coffee bean in Ethiopian coffee has a high sugar content. Being sweet, being nutritious, and seeds, nuts, grapes and berries being generally eaten by humans for over a million years sort of supports this theory.

Ugandans were noticed chewing dried coffee beans when the first explorers from Europe were searching for the origin of the Nile river. Green coffee beans were ground up and mixed with fat, then made into small balls, which were eaten by travellers on long journeys. Some say this is the first trail mix.

Stories in the Southern Arabian peninsula known as Yemen where Europeans first found the coffee plant cultivated support the coffee bean being traded as early as 800 BC. Facts support trade between Yemen and Ethiopia during this time. Knowing how eating the coffee berry acts on people, it would be logical that those early traders would attempt to trade this item. Additionally, evidence does not support the coffee plant would grow wild in Yemen but was cultivated instead. Although, it is possible that a large bird could have carried the coffee berry that far, it is not likely.

No specific historic event is involved in coffee arriving in Southern Arabia but Ethiopia did invaded Southern Arabia in 525 AD. Many speculate that coffee could have been introduced to Arabia at this time. Some historians say coffee was introduced into Arabia by slave traders who raided Africa as early as 1000 BC.
The two things that support the theory that coffee spread very early in civilized trade are coffee's affect on people and old Arabian stories. Here is one such story:
Once upon a time in Arabia, there lived a goat herder named Kaldi. Kaldi was a sober and responsible goat herder. One day, Kaldi's goats didn't come home so he went looking for them. He found them hopping with glee acting in an eccentric behavior around a shiny dark-leafed shrub with red berries. Kaldi noted that the goats were eating the red berries. So, he tried the berry. Kaldi was soon dancing around the tree too.

A learned man from a local town named Aucuba came by, he was sleepy, tired, and hungry. Aucuba saw Kaldi acting wildly. He saw the goats acting wildly too. Because he was hungry he tried the berries. He became wide awake and was instantly ready to keep traveling. He took some berries back to his town and used it with other foods. He mixed the berries with drinks at his monastery which kept people awake during prayer. It then spread to other towns and monasteries. Aucuba became a rich man. No one knows what happen to Kaldi.

Here is a different version of the same story from a different book:
Kaldi was an Ethiopian, grazing his flock on the uplands plains of Ethiopia and noticed his flock becoming frisky after eating the leaves and berries of the coffee plant. He tried some and he felt frisky too. He took the "magic" berries to a nearby monastery where the Abbot believed them to be the work of the devil, threw them into the fire. This released such an aroma that the beans were quickly rescued from the flames and the monks eventually learned how to make the hot black beverage we know today. The monks considered coffee as a gift from God because it kept parishioners awake during prayers.

This story is interesting because it was in many different books just slightly changed. 1949 Encyclopedia Britannica, Otis, McAllister & Co. 1954, From Coffee to Espresso by Francesco & Riccardo Illy 1989, Coffee by Kenneth Davids 1991 where just some of the books. Kaldi's name was always used and a monastery was always involved. But one of the most interesting of all things is they all spelled "goat herder" as "goatherd." I have also seen this story on several Web sites. Funny though, the web sites spelled goat herder right.

We can make an assumption from the facts here. The assumption of fact is that the story is interesting enough to be repeated. Another fact, a lot of people rely on the Encyclopedia Britannica. Other than that, the story doesn't have much bering on reality.

Yet, another story was that the Archangel Gabriel came to the aid of Mohammed who was about to be overcome by sleep during a political battle. After a few sips of this brew from heaven, Mohammed felt so good that he was able to unhorse forty man and make forty women happy.

It has been proved that the coffee seed and skin was commercially removed from the berry as early as 1000 AD. The pulp was added to animal fat to make it easier to eat while traveling. When Arabs discovered how to boil water, they made coffee initially by boiling the green bean at that time. (Green beans do not give up the coffeeols because the chemical change caused by roasting has not taken place.) Therefore, the taste is very different.

One can start to trace the history of coffee from the words used to name it. Kaffa which is a regon in Ethiopia where it is believed coffee originated. Mocha is a city in Yamen which types of coffee are named after.

One of the characteristics of the coffee bean is it can be fermented. Fermentation is the process of making alcohol form high sugar content plants. The word "qahwa" in Arabic means wine. Qahwa is the origin of the word coffee. In Europe, coffee was called "the wine of Arabia." Fermenting the coffee berry is still done today in Ethiopia and some Arabian countries. It is not commonly known that the coffee berry can be fermented.

The pulp of Ethiopian berries sells for more than the beans do. A wine or alcoholic beverage is in fact, made from the coffee bean today. Now, wine and beer production goes back some 5,000 years, some say 20,000 years. Brewing and wine making are not new concepts. It would be an easy connection to make between coffee berries and grapes in the fermenting trade. They look the same on the plant, they look the same when smashed, they both have seeds, and they act the same when the same process is done to them. The word "qahwa" goes back some 1000 years BC in mud tablets. Additionally, there was heavy trading of wines around 1000 BC in the Mediterranean area. Given grapes can be grown almost everywhere in the Mediterranean but coffee can not be, it is a very strong probability that coffee was first made as a wine and traded. This gives a new meaning to "wide awake drunk."

Records indicate the actual roasting and grinding of coffee goes back to about 500 AD. The way the bean was roasted is typical of roasting meat. Dig a hole, build a fire, throw the beans in, and cover it up. Not exactly a scientific method but well practiced during that time period. It would also support a secondary use for those beans which were popped out of the berry while preparing the berry for fermentation. It is quite possible earthen pottery was used to hold the bean during this period too. A common practice for this type of event was put the nuts, seeds, etc, in a bowl, insert a hot rock and close. It is very possible that roasting did not start with Iron because one of the first things made from Iron was coffee roasting pans. You would think it would take a little time to make the connection between roasting the beans in an iron pan and the development of iron if beans had not been roasted prior to the development of iron pans. But no, the connection was made immediately. Thus, the conclusion would be, coffee was roasted somehow, prior to the development of iron and when the iron pan was developed, someone said lets try roasting coffee in the pan.

After the bean was roasted, grinding would be done in the same old fashion way it was for breaking up anything. Put it between two rocks and whack it. They ground wheat this way, why not coffee? Mortar and pestle go back to the stone age. After crushing, it was thrown into water and let sit. The water doesn't need boiling. Although boiling water works faster, I know many people who make cold water coffee still today.

It is believed that coffee roasting using traditional methods came about in the fourteenth century. It came about with the use of iron. However, bronze would have worked just as well. And, as stated earlier, the connection was too quick between roasting the beans and the development of iron roasting pans.

Coffee roasting was prevalent in Turkey in 1540's. One book had coffee introduced in Turkey around 1480. Another book had coffee in Turkey in the times of the Crusades. It is thought that roasting began around Damascus because Damascus iron was easily able to handle the thermal characteristics which were required for roasting. Well, iron pan roasters any way. The first iron roasters were more like frying pans with a lid. In many countries, the frying pan works great still today. Frying tends to sear the coffee bean and doesn't give an even roast but it works well when there is nothing better. In fact, searing the bean retains much of the moisture and oils whereas roasting dries the coffee bean out. Although consistency isn't one advantage with frying, searing the coffee bean has some real definite advantages.
Any way, coffee didn't become super popular over a large area until the Ottoman Sultan in Istanbul outlawed it in 1543 because it started to get more recognition than he wanted. Then coffee boomed. In 1554, the first coffee house was set up in Istanbul.

The extreme spread of coffee by outlawing it is proof that you can't legislate something people like. In the case of coffee, the taste needs to be acquired. Coffee is naturally bitter. One must learn to drink coffee. You would think once coffee was outlawed and due to its bitter taste, coffee would have disappeared in the 16th century. This event is a true classical example of the best way to promote something is outlaw it. This has been true with books, films, alcohol and drugs. You'd think after five hundred years and the American's Constitutional 18th amendment politicians would learn this fact. On the other hand, what if the politicians do understand this? Is it possible that the drug laws in America are not to prevent the use of the substance but rather keep up the price?

One of the side effects of an empire is widespread policing. Just like the Mongols did, the Ottoman Sultan in Istanbul had immense power to control trade. Besides ships to take vast amounts of products to other countries, so came the large caravans. Although the Roman Empire did policing, by the end to its reign when coffee became prevalent, safety on the old Roman roads was fairly well compromised. The Ottoman empire, by its police power, had a big hand in spreading coffee throughout the European countries, Western Asia, and India.

Quhveh Khaneh, coffee houses popped up everywhere. People started going to these places to listen to music, play games, and discuss matters. Coffee has been scientifically proved to improve mental activity but in the early days it was just an interesting phenomenon. As such, because of this intellectual activity, rulers and religious leaders believed it was subversive and declared coffee houses illegal too.

Note: It was around this time that the game of chess was condemned as a game of the satin. It was the game of idle hands. Obviously, rulers and religious leaders didn't want people to think. Thinking people don't tend to believe in fantasies. This type of philosophy is common today. Because of this view, chess became the game of Kings. It wasn't until the Jester was renamed the Bishop, did chess recover it's popularity among the common folk. It then regained its position as a popular game to play in coffee houses.

Even the women got involved in making coffee illegal. Their husbands were affected by this substance. At first, women wanted coffee to be outlawed. Then they started drinking coffee. After women started sucking coffee down, another law was made which allowed women to divorce their husband if he was unable to procure coffee for his wife.

Around the later 1600's, the standard coffee beverage took Europe by storm. Of course, the invasion of Europe the Turks between 1683 and 1699 had a lot to do with it.

The Arabs in the 1600's were very protective of their coffee bean. The spread of coffee was inhibited by the availability. Although coffee was grown by Arabs in Ethiopia and Yemen, there was not a lot of it to supply the demand. As with all supply and demand economics, the price went way up. Because the price was high and thus profits would be high, promoting the drink increased. And like everything of this nature, where profits are high and the product is highly protected, unlawful behavior resulted.

Evidence has it that the Europeans had hijacked coffee plants as early as the late 1500's. People were killed because they had possession of coffee plants. However, one of the problems is, the coffee plant can not take cold. The coffee plant died when it was planted in Europe. Thus, because of the cold, the coffee plant was capable of being controlled.

A man called Baba Budan snuck some coffee seeds out of Arabia. Legend has it he bound seven coffee seeds to his belly. When he reached his home, he found a cave in the hills near Chikmagalgur in south India in which he started the coffee seedlings off. Later he planted coffee in the jungles near Chikmagalgur. Today, offspring of these original coffee trees are officially known as "Old Chick." Old Chick, as they say, still supplies about one third of India's coffee. One important note, although India is a coffee producing country, India imports two thirds its demand for coffee. The only other country which does this is the United States. Kona, Kaui, Maui and Molakai Coffee's hardly produces but a pittance of the demand for coffee in the United States. However, India produces a lot more coffee than the United States, yet as a producing country, it does not supply its own demand.

Coffee was introduced to Indonesia by the Dutch. Legend has it that the original coffee plant which was introduced into Java, in 1696, was one of the seven high jacked coffee plants from Arabia. Java became a major coffee producing area. However, both the port of Mocha in Yemen and the island of Java in Indonesia could not ship enough coffee to supply the growing coffee demand in Europe. It should be noted that these two ports' names are how coffee got the name Java and Mocha. Any how, the price got so high that only those Europeans rich enough to afford exotic luxuries could drink coffee.

A situation occurred in Europe which was responsible for the spread of coffee world wide. King Louis XIV of France was an avid coffee drinker. He also was use to getting his way. As with most the trading going on during the 1700's, the Dutch were the sea traders which did most the transferring of goods around. Being how England, Spain, and France were always arguing with each other, the Dutch being neutral seem to get use of the sea lanes without being attacked. It is said, King Louis XIV called in a favor from a Dutch trader and wanted him to supply him with a plant. This Dutch trader obtained a plant form either Mocha or Java, beings how both were on his itinerary and brought it back to Holland. The odds being very good that it came form Java beings how taking a live plant or a fertile seed form Mocha would get you killed or at the very least, loose docking rights. From Holland the single coffee plant went to Paris.

Another coffee story is the Burgomaster of Amsterdam gave King Louis XIV of France at the Chateau of Marly a seedling coffee plant from the Amsterdam Botanical Gardens in 1714.

It was very well known at the time that frost killed coffee plants. Obviously, they must have had access to the coffee plants in order to know this. Records show the French tried to cultivate coffee in Dijon but during a frost, all the coffee plants died. So, old King Louis had constructed the very first building to house his coffee plant. Thus, the first greenhouse was introduced to the world. The coffee plant flowered, bore fruit, and became the most prolific parent in the commercialized plant kingdom.

The second saga of this story is after the coffee plant was cultivated in the greenhouse, the coffee plant was scheduled to go to the Americas. King Louis knew what he was doing, he knew the market place, he had a taste for luxury, he was well aware of the concept of supply and demand.

He commanded Chevalier Gabriel Mathiew de Clieu to take coffee plants from Paris to the Americas. Some story tellers say de Clieu stole the coffee plants, but his writing don't say that. De Clieu was the ship's captain which was flying the French flag. De Clieu suffered greatly in his transporting the coffee plants to the Americas. He wrote in his diary he shared half his water ration with his "charge" to keep the coffee plants alive. In those days "charge" means you are given it as a duty, load a burden on one or something. A ships captain wouldn't use the word incorrectly. Any way, the coffee plant reached Martinique where it flourished in the Caribbean around 1720. De Clieu was touted as a hero by Martinique's governor. If de Clieu had of stolen this coffee plant, you could count on him being return to France in chains by the French appointed governor in Martinique. De Clieu would have lost his head, the coffee plants would have been destroyed, and that would have been the end of it.

No, King Louis really wanted this coffee plant to flourish because he also shipped coffee to the east in order to grow in areas in the Indian Ocean which France also controlled. One such area was the Isle of Bourbon in the Indian Ocean where the coffee plant also flourished.

Besides the first greenhouse, the coffee plant was being worked on so it would grow in less stringent environments. To facilitate the mixing of the coffee plants, grafting was developed. Prior to the development of grafting, artificial pollination was used to mix plants. Graphing worked a lot better in changing the genetic variants which a coffee plant can have. So not only was the first greenhouse made to house a coffee plant, but a new method of genetic plant mixing also can be attributed to the coffee plant. A strain call arabica which had smaller beans and was named "bourbon." This particular strain worked its way to French Guinea in Africa where it flourished.

Francisco de Mello Palheta of Brazil in 1727 was sent to French Guinea to obtain coffee seeds. Like the Arabians, and the Dutch, the French didn't want their coffee plants cultivated by other countries either. Legend has it, de Mello charmed the French governor's wife and she buried some coffee seeds in a bouquet of flowers. So, again coffee was swiped and brought to Brazil and Mexico where coffee cultivation got going around 1729. The another story has it that a coffee seed was imported into Surinam in 1719, and a coffee seed from there or Cayenne reached Brazil in 1723. It wasn't until 1767 that the first coffee estate in Brazil is said to have been planted.

Then around 1893 the coffee plant completed its journey around the world where coffee plants were introduced in Kenya and Tanzania. Thus, the coffee plant was the first plant to be cultivated around the world.

Robusta coffee grows indigenously in Uganda and the Congo. The second coming of Robusta coffee took place around the 1902. Africa was just being explored by the Europeans. When the Europeans found Robusta coffee, the seeds were exported right away. Robusta coffee plants found there way to Madagascar, West Africa, Angola, West Indies, and Vietnam. This was because even as late as the 1900's, having fertile coffee beans for export is a crime in most coffee growing countries. Since central Africa was not well controlled, explorers took what they wanted and the spread of Robusta coffee began on a relatively large scale.

After World War I, the coffee plant spread to just about everywhere coffee could grow. Due to the war, some countries got formed, others got eliminated, and manys got broken up. WWII did the same thing. Many countries went through changes in coffee growing as disease, ignorance, and weather wiped out whole plantations' of coffee plants. At times, some countries didn't have coffee growing for whole decades. As economics and intelligence change, coffee growing has been reintroduced in many of the countries which gave up growing coffee. The coffee plant is not as protected as it use to be from the standpoint of hording. It is protected from the standpoint of damage however. So, coffee plants finally found their way into homes.

For More Information about Coffee!!!!!! Kindly Visit
http://coffeewebs.blogspot.com/