In the
Ethiopian highlands, where the legend of Kaldi, the goatherd, originated,
coffee trees grow today as they have for centuries. Though we will never know
with certainty, there probably is some truth to the Kaldi legend. It is said
that he discovered coffee after noticing that his goats, upon eating berries
from a certain tree, became so spirited that they did not want to sleep at
night.
Kaldi
dutifully reported his findings to the abbot of the local monastery who made a
drink with the berries and discovered that it kept him alert for the long hours
of evening prayer. Soon the abbot had
shared his discovery with the other monks at the monastery, and ever so slowly
knowledge of the energizing effects of the berries began to spread. As word moved east and coffee reached the Arabian
peninsula, it began a journey which would spread its reputation across the
globe.
Today
coffee is grown in a multitude of countries around the world. Whether it is
Asia or Africa, Central or South America, the islands of the Caribbean or
Pacific, all can trace their heritage to the trees in the ancient coffee
forests on the Ethiopian plateau.
The Arabian
Peninsula
The Arabs
were the first, not only to cultivate coffee but also to begin its trade. By the fifteenth century, coffee was being
grown in the Yemeni district of Arabia and by the sixteenth century it was
known in Persia, Egypt, Syria and Turkey. Its
popularity was perhaps due, in part, to the fact that Muslims, forbidden
alcoholic drink by the Koran, found coffee's energizing properties to be an
acceptable substitute.
Coffee was
not only drunk in homes but also in the many public coffee houses -- called
qahveh khaneh -- which began to appear in cities across the Near East. The
popularity of the coffee houses was unequaled and people frequented them for
all kinds of social activity. Not only did they drink coffee and engage in
conversation, but they also listened to music, watched performers, played chess
and kept current on the news of the day.
In fact, they quickly became such an important center for the exchange
of information that the coffee houses were often referred to as 'Schools of the
Wise.'
With
thousands of pilgrims visiting the holy city of Mecca each year from all over
the world, word of the 'wine of Araby' as the drink was often called, was
beginning to spread far beyond Arabia. In an effort to maintain its complete
monopoly in the early coffee trade, the Arabians continued to closely guard
their coffee production.
Coffee
Comes to Europe
European
travellers to the Near East brought back stories of the unusual dark black
beverage. By the 17th century, coffee had made its way to Europe and was
becoming popular across th
e continent. Opponents were overly cautious, calling
the beverage the 'bitter invention of Satan.' With the coming of coffee to
Venice in 1615, the local clergy condemned it. The controversy was so great
that Pope Clement VIII was asked to intervene. Before making a decision
however, he decided to taste the beverage for himself. He found the drink so
satisfying that he gave it Papal approval.
Despite
such controversy, in the major cities of England, Austria, France, Germany and
Holland, coffee houses were quickly becoming centers of social activity and
communication. In England 'penny universities' sprang up, so called because for
the price of a penny one could purchase a cup of coffee and engage in
stimulating conversation. By the
mid-17th century, there were over 300 coffee houses in London, many of which
attracted patrons with common interests, such as merchants, shippers, brokers
and artists.
Many
businesses grew out of these specialized coffee houses. Lloyd's of London, for
example, came into existence at the Edward Lloyd's Coffee House.
The New
World
In the
mid-1600's, coffee was brought to New Amsterdam, a location later called New
York by the British.
Though
coffee houses rapidly began to appear, tea continued to be the favored drink in
the New World until 1773 when the colonists revolted against a heavy tax on tea
imposed by King George. The revolt,
known as the Boston Tea Party, would forever change the American drinking
preference to coffee.
Plantations
Around the World
As demand
for the beverage continued to spread, there was tense competition to cultivate
coffee outside of Arabia. Though the Arabs tried hard to maintain their monopoly,
the Dutch finally succeeded, in the latter half of the 17th century, to obtain
some seedlings. Their first attempts to plant them in India failed but they
were successful with their efforts in Batavia, on the island of Java in what is
now Indonesia. The plants thrived and
soon the Dutch had a productive and growing trade in coffee. They soon expanded
the cultivation of coffee trees to the islands of Sumatra and Celebes.
The Dutch
did a curious thing, however. In 1714,
the Mayor of Amsterdam presented a gift of a young coffee plant to King Louis
XIV of France. The King ordered it to be planted in the Royal Botanical Garden
in Paris. In 1723, a young naval officer, Gabriel de Clieu obtained a seedling
from the King's plant. Despite an arduous voyage -- complete with horrendous
weather, a saboteur who tried to destroy the seedling and a pirate attack -- he
managed to transport it safely to Martinique.
Once planted, the seedling thrived and is credited with the spread of
over 18 million coffee trees on the island of Martinique in the next 50
years. It was also the stock from which
coffee trees throughout the Caribbean, South and Central America originated.
Coffee is
said to have come to Brazil in the hands of Francisco de Mello Palheta who was
sent by the emperor to French Guiana for the purpose of obtaining coffee
seedlings. But the French were not willing to share and Palheta was
unsuccessful. However, he was said to have been so handsomely engaging that the
French Governor's wife was captivated. As a going-away gift, she presented him
with a large bouquet of flowers. Buried
inside he found enough coffee seeds to begin what is today a billion-dollar
industry.
In only 100
years, coffee had established itself as a commodity crop throughout the
world. Missionaries and travellers,
traders and colonists continued to carry coffee seeds to new lands and coffee
trees were planted worldwide.
Plantations were established in magnificent tropical forests and on
rugged mountain highlands. Some crops flourished, while others were
short-lived. New nation's were
established on coffee economies.
Fortunes were made and lost. And
by the end of the 18th century, coffee had become one of the world's most
profitable export crops.
