The History of Coffee

Author: Alison Benjamin

Few drinks nowadays can claim such widespread popularity as coffee. Probably the most effective source of caffeine short of the new energy drinks currently being marketed, coffee is certainly popular in many different locations, from the home to the office, from small coffeehouses to swanky eating places.

The history of coffee can be tracked for just over a thousand years, a comparatively short period of time in comparison to alcoholic beverages, which have been drunk since prehistoric times, and tea, which dates back over a thousand years BC. Not surprisingly, coffee has spread around the world as a well-liked drink. A look at the history associated with coffee will show the way it has gained its acceptance.

Ethiopian Beginnings

The history of coffee as a drink developed in Ethiopia some time around the 9th century. Legend suggests that Ethiopian herders noticed that their goats were particularly perky after consuming the berries of a particular plant, and therefore had the idea to eat it as a stimulant. The fact is that coffee probably had already been developed as a drink by the ninth century as a natural consequence of cultivation connected with plants. From Ethiopia, the beverage spread to North Africa, including Egypt.

Popularity In The Middle East

The introduction of coffee to Egypt made it readily available at places with trade with the rest of the Middle East, where coffee became a popular beverage by the 1500s. Soon after its introduction, regulators placed a ban on the drink due to its stimulant attributes. But like prohibition in America, the ban on coffee did not survive and was eventually rescinded. At this time in history, though, tight controls on the commodity were in position. Although coffee in its roasted form began to be exported to Italy as well as other European nations, export of the unroasted coffee beans as well as plants was still banned.

Colonization and Coffee

This tight control over the export of coffee plants didn’t continue. This particular period of the history of coffee ended when Dutch merchants smuggled coffee seeds from the Middle East during the 1600s, where they were planted on the island of Java, which is still a major exporter of coffee in the present day and also shares its name with the nickname for the particular beverage. Oddly enough, as coffee plants spread to other European colonies, another century into the history associated with coffee, in the 1700s, the plants were smuggled to Brazil, which happens to be still the largest exporter of coffee beans. [Read more…]