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Coffee – Beverage or Food?

Geoff Marks — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 22:05:06 +0000

Coffee is a beverage in every country in the world. Granted, the coffees of different countries vary in taste (and strength), but every country has coffee of some kind. The history of coffee is long and storied, and coffee is called by many names in many lands. The Arab traders of yesteryear called it Gahwah. The Spice Islands’ name for it was Java. Ancient Portuguese explorers called it café. That word is often used to mean a gathering place in many countries now. It stands to reason — coffee is most often a shared experience between friends.

Scientists believe that coffee was born in Ethiopia and was a food rather than a beverage in the beginning. Coffee was actually used as a replacement for wine. The drinking of wine was (and is) forbidden by Islamic law. Coffee was first used in religious ceremonies in place of wine and the plants were considered so valuable that removing even one was punishable by death. (I’ve been dying for a cup of coffee before, but that seems a little extreme.

Turks pulverized coffee beans and mixed them with water and spices like cinnamon, cloves and cardamom back in the thirteenth century to make what we call Turkish coffee. It is believed that Venetian traders may have smuggled coffee plants out of the East and into Italy.

Over the centuries we have learned a lot about coffee, especially how important it is to store it in airtight containers. Air is the biggest thief of coffee flavor, whether the beans are whole or ground. Coffee should always be stored in an airtight container in a cool dark place but never in a refrigerator. Correct storage is one of the major secrets of producing a great cup of coffee with every brewing.

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History Of Coffee You May Not Aware Of!

Geoff Marks — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 19:40:30 +0000

There is no other drink that elicits as much curiosity and a sense of history from people than coffee. Coffee is interesting because it is so intertwined with many peoples’ cultures from the East to the West. It means a lot of different things for different people and even its history is filled with stories and legends both grounded and amazing.

The history of coffee is peppered with details ranging from serendipitous events to deliberate actions, from intriguing truths to incredible legends. All stories form part of people’s love affair with coffee, an affair that has transcended geography and time to form part a global coffee-drinking culture.

The use of coffee has been traced back to as far as the 10th century in Ethiopia. Before the 1000AD, the members of the Galla tribe consumed the coffee berries with animal fat and experienced a boost in energy from the recipe. How the Galla tribe came to make use of coffee is unknown except for a legend saying a sheep herder named Kaldi noticed changes in his herds behavior after the animal ate the red cherries from the tree.

It was in 1000 AD that Arab traders began cultivating the crop in their homeland. It was also the Arab who started to brew coffee into drinks they called ‘qahwah’. The Arabs kept coffee a deeply-guarded secret. Coffee was illegally brought to India by an Arab named Baba Budan.

It was in 1453 when coffee was first introduced to Constantinople by Ottoman Turks. In 1471, the first coffee house was opened in Instanbul, the establishment was named Kiva Han.

In Europe, Venetian merchants introduced the drink to the members of society. They had gotten the coffee from Muslim traders from North Africa and Egypt. In Italy, in 1600, advisers of the Pope advised the Pope to banish the popular Ottoman drink then believed by some Christian as the devil’s brew. Pope Vincent III decided to baptize the drink after trying it himself. It wasn’t until more than four decades later when a coffee house first opened in 1645.

It is believed that it was Captain John Smith who brought coffee to North America in 1607. In 1652, a coffee house opened in England, the coffee became part of forums and discussions, much like how people discuss business and issues over coffee today. The coffee houses were dubbed as “penny universities” (a cup of coffee went for a penny at that time) for stimulating discussions among educated and non-educated people.

In 1668, Edward Llyod opened his coffee house in England. The establishment frequented by maritime insurance agents, became the predecessor for the company Lloyd’s, a business conglomerate that today offers maritime insurance, stages maritime events and others.

In 1675, after Turkish army left a sack of coffee in Vienna, Franz Georg Kolschitzky, a Viennese opened his coffee house and started the practice of filtering coffee, adding milk and sweetening it.

In 1727, the coffee industry in Brazil started. By 1907, much of the coffee production worldwide came from Brazil. In 1938 Nestle invented the process of freeze-drying to make use of Brazil’s production surplus.

It wasn’t long before coffee spread throughout other parts of the world. The Dutch began transporting coffee commercially in Ceylon and Java. It was seedling from the Dutch that started the whole coffee industry of France. In 1886, Joel Cheek named his coffee blend Maxwell House, a brand that exists up to this day. The Hills Bros started selling packed coffee in 1900. By 1901 the soluble instant coffee had already been invented.

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The Father of All Beans: Arabica Coffee Beans

Geoff Marks — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 11:06:31 +0000

Arabica coffee beans originated from Yemen and Ethiopia. It is the first genus of coffee that was cultivated; it has been growing in southwest Arabia for about a thousand years now. Arabica coffee beans are considered the best in the world; better than any other coffee bean produced anywhere.

The Pope and the Pot

Europe being the civilized society as it was back in the seventeenth century, aided in the rise of Arabica coffee beans’ popularity. Unfortunately due to the fact that Arabica coffee beans come from Moslem countries made Rome a little bit irked at the fact that it was so popular.

So Pope Clement VIII, a bit wary of the Moslem religion’s sudden surge of popularity wanted to make coffee into a drink that was Christian. He wisely tried a pot of coffee, and despite the opposition of his advisers he blessed the Arabica coffee beans concoction and made it a Christian brew.

The Revolution and the Arabica

Coffee houses in America were born when Dorothy Jones was first licensed to sell Arabica coffee beans to the colonies. It was in the coffee houses that the declaration of independence was first read. The Boston Tea Party was held in a coffee house, and that’s where revolutionaries met. Even the first continental congress was given birth in a coffee house.

After all those historical events America and the Arabica coffee beans began their love affair. Throughout the centuries coffee has held its own in America. It is the primary ration of soldiers during the war and when their supplies were a bit short they would mix it with chicory.

Arabica Coffee Beans Today

Arabica Coffee beans’ journey to Brazil, to become famous in America is as amorous as the drink itself. A clever Don enlisted the aide of a French Governor’s wife stationed in Guiana. Don Francisco smuggled the beans inside a bouquet his lover gave him as she bid him farewell in the docks of the islands.

Today however, the possibility of coffee shortage and having to smuggle it is unfathomable. The Americans are rediscovering the glories of coffee due to the rising popularity of coffee shops. Now coffee is not as simple as it was in the past. It is no longer simply black or white.

Applauding only the Arabica blend is unfair. It contemporaries is equally good as well, depending upon a person’s preference. Aside from Arabica coffee beans there are the other two varieties, the Liberica and the Robusta.

The Liberica came from the lowlands of Liberia. It is mainly cultivated in Malaysia, Philippines and Java. Among the three types of coffee beans it has the poorest flavor, however it is the hardiest and disease free of them all. It is simply good for blending and it’s not of export quality.

Robusta on the other hand was discovered in the jungles of Belgium Congo. It is hardy and produces multiple crops in a year. It is best made into instant coffee, which lent Robusta its popularity. But unlike the Arabica Robusta does not have the aroma and flavor of richness.