The history of coffee part 1

Oct 4, 2020 | Let's talk about coffee

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Leer en español: La historia del café parte 1

The history of coffee – part 1, is a journey through the most outstanding events from the 15th to the 17th century.

BEFORE THE 15th CENTURY – THE DISCOVERY

It is believed that the Sufis were the first to adopt coffee consumption in the late 15th century.

Regarding the origin of the name of the coffee, it seems that the Ethiopians called “Bunn” to the cherry and the tree and “bunchum” to the beverage.

Later, and because the coffee was prepared in the form of wine, the Arabs gave the coffee the name “qahwah” and it degenerated into “cahueh”. From there the Turks took it to call it “kahve”.

Coffee preparation

16th CENTURY – GOES TO ARABIA

At the time when coffee was introduced in Arabia, there were already several conflicts with the prohibition of alcohol in these Islamic countries due to their religion.

In Mecca, the Emir Kha’ir Bey observed several men outside the mosque drinking what appeared to him to be alcohol in places resembling rudimentary taverns; He asked questions and discovered that it was a new drink, coffee.

Kha’ir Bey prohibits the consumption of coffee in that city and informed the Sultan in Cairo of his action, who later ordered him to revoke the prohibition.

Turkish coffee shop

XVII CENTURY – SPREADS IN EUROPE AND ASIA

In 1665, according to a legend, the Sufi Baba Budan, brought the coffee plant from Moca (Yemen) to the state of Mysore (India) to plant it there. In this way, the cultivation had begun to spread in areas other than Arabia.

Sufi Baba Budan

Coffee was introduced to Europe by the Ottomans during the 17th century through two channels: diplomacy and war.

In the case of diplomacy, the café slowly established itself in France and, in the case of war, the café established itself in Vienna.

On its journey through Europe, coffee arrives in Italy thanks to Venetian merchants.

Pope Clement VIII was advised to ban coffee, as it represented a threat from the infidels. After having tasted it, Pope Clement VIII was captivated, and to solve the religious dilemma, he symbolically baptized the beverage, thus making it acceptable to Catholics.

Pope Clement VIII

It seems that, in 1616, the Dutch obtained a coffee plant from Yemen (Moca) which they later planted in Malabar (India). A few years later they imported the seeds of this plant to Ceylon (Sri Lanka).

At the end of the 17th century, they made the first efforts to bring the plant to Java (Indonesia) and they are so successful that the West Indies become one of the world’s first production areas and the Javanese coffee trees became the progenitors of all the coffee trees that were to spread throughout Asia and America.

So far the History of coffee part 1, in part 2 of this video we will tell you the most outstanding facts from the 18th century to the present day.