as obtained from the Specialty Coffee
Association of America
ORIGIN MYTH
The origin of coffee remains shrouded in the legends and myths of the Middle East.
One legend tells of Kaldi, an Abyssinian Ethiopian goatherd who one day found
his heard frolicking at around a cluster of shiny, dark-leaved shrubs bearing
red berries. When Kaldi tasted the berries himself, he realized what had prompted
the goats uncharacteristic behavior. Kaldi shared his discovery with the inhabitants
of a nearby monastery, who developed a fondness for the fruit and its seeds-the
coffee beans encased in each berry. By drinking the beverage that resulted from
boiling the berries, the monks found they could stay awake during evening prayers.
Another legend attributes the discovery of coffee to Omar, and Arabian dervish
a Muslim mystic. Exiled by his enemies to the wilderness-where he faced certain
starvation-Omar survived by making a broth from water and the berries he plucked
from coffee trees.
HISTORICAL ORIGINS
Whether it was Kaldi or Omar who first discovered it, coffee is considered native
to the African country of Ethiopia. At least 1,000 years ago, some enterprising
traders brought coffee across the Red sea into Arabia modern-day Yemen where
Muslim monks began cultivating the shrubs in their gardens. At first, the Arabians
made wine from the pulp of the fermented coffee berries. Thus coffee became known
a "Qahwah," which is the Arabic word for wine, from which the modernly
word coffee derives. This beverage was known as "Qishr", now known a
"Kisher" and was used during religious ceremonies. Coffee became the
substitute beverage in spiritual practice in place of wine where wine was forbidden.
The Ethiopians ground the beans and mixed them with animal fat for a quick pick-me-up
snack. To this day the Ethiopians hold an elaborate coffee ceremony in which Frankincense
is lit as green coffee is ceremoniously roasted, ground, and tenderly served black
as night and sweet as love. Initially, the coffee beverage was prepared from green,
un-roasted beans boiled in water; in the late 13th century, the Arabians improved
upon this tea like beverage by roasting and grinding the coffee beans before adding
them to boiling water. In addition to its religious connotations, coffee captured
the attentions of physicians who prescribed it as a medicine. Coffee was attached
with claims longevity, calmed nerves, increased stamina, and even in enemas made
from the beverage itself. In the 10th century the noted Arabian physician Rhazes
first mentions the physical effects of coffee in medical texts. As coffees "powers"
spread, it increasingly became a social beverage. Throughout Mecca, coffeehouses
developed, known as "Kaveh Kanes" opened to meet the publics demand
for the drink.
BEYOND ARABIAS BORDERS
With time the Arabians carefully protected their monopoly on much of the trade
and market of coffee by forbidding uncooked berries to be taken out of the country.
Their efforts, however, were thwarted by thousands of religious pilgrims who visited
Mecca each year. By the early 1500s, coffee seeds had already made their way
to Turkey, Egypt and Syria. Constantinople, Damascus and other near Eastern Cities
all boasted their Arabian influenced coffeehouses - essentially places where patrons
lingered over coffee, conversation, games of backgammon and chess. These early
coffeehouses also introduced coffee to European business travelers and traders
whose sought new crops for their young outposts and colonies. The Dutch were the
first to transport and cultivate coffee commercially, beginning in 1616 with a
coffee plant obtained from Yemen. Imagine the tender loving care these first
coffee tree seedlings received. By 1658 the Dutch had begun cultivation in Ceylon
and their East Indian colony of Java. The coffee trees flourished in the warm
climates, giving rise to coffees nickname "Java." In 1714, The Mayor
of Amsterdam presented Louis XIV with a coffee plant from Java. The French king,
who loved the taste of coffee, entrusted the plants care and cultivation to the
royal court botanist. In a few short years, offshoots of the original Yemen born,
Javanese coffee trees were on their way across the Atlantic.
INTO THE NEW WORLD
The credit for bringing coffee to the New World goes to Gabriel Mathieu de Clieu,
a French naval Officer who believed the plant would do well in Martiniques warm
temperatures and rich soils. In about 1720, he set sail for the French colony
with three seedlings. The seedlings were obtained - somewhat illegally from the
Royal Jardin de Plantes the Royal Hothouse, surrounded in what historians note
as a cloud of court intrigue. Mr. de Clieu and his seedlings eluded the French
court but faced what would become a perilous transatlantic voyage. De Clieu and
seedlings managed to survive the trip, despite avoiding attack and capture by
pirates, the violent storms of the Atlantic, and becalmed waters. Fresh water
became so scarce it was rationed, and de Clieu shared his water portion with the
coffee plant. His devotion paid off. Once planted on de Clieus estate in Martinique,
the seedling thrived and flourished. These coffee trees became the progenitor
of most of the coffee grown in the French colonies. Coffee was introduced to many
of the countries in the new world, including the New English colonies who would
soon turn to easily accessed coffee imported from just due south of their sphere
of influence, versus the outrageously taxed teas imported from clear across the
Atlantic.
THE SOUTH AMERICAN CONNECTION
Like the Arabians before them, the Dutch and the French carefully guarded their
coffee seedlings. The Dutch had successfully brought coffee from Java to Dutch
owned Guiana Surinam in South America while the French cultivated their crops
in neighboring French Guiana. When a border dispute arises, Francisco de Melo
Palheta, a Portuguese Brazilian official is asked to arbitrate. Palheta, an army
officer with a reputation as a ladies man, saw a multifaceted opportunity; to
romance the wife of the French Guianas governor, as well as reach a settlement
between the French and the Dutch, and along the way obtain coffee seeds or seedlings.
His reward for a settlement was a farewell bouquet from his paramour in which
were hidden several coffee tree seedlings. Once planted in Paletas estate in
Brazil, these seedlings thrived and flourished in the tropical climate and rich
soils. By the end of the 18th Century, coffee had become a highly profitable export
crop for the Portuguese colony. Today Brazil is this planets largest producer
and exporter of coffee, supplying one third of the world; more than any other
coffee producing country."
