A Brief History of Coffee

Definitions
                 
Coffee

1. From Kaffe, the tree that produces the fruit containing the seeds;  Ethiopia.

Java

1. Dutch coffee

Mocha

1. From Mokka; Arabian coffee

Jamoka

1. slang; probably the blending of Dutch and Arabian coffee's

Joe

1. Slang; US Navy; probably from General Order 99(see below).

Java 

1. Slang; US Navy

Battery Acid

1. slang; US Navy

General Order 99: In the year 1915, Secretary of the Navy, Josephus Daniels issued a General Order (99), that outlawed alcohol aboard all Navy ships. Prior to that date, Grog was very much in use. Grog is from the British Navy and is composed of equal parts of water and Rum.

The substitute for Grog was and remains coffee. Coffee has been such a successful substitute that present day Navy uses 25-30 tons of coffee per day. There is a rumor that the slang term for coffee, e.g., Joe, is a diminutive of Josephus, but there is no written evidence or reference to support that rumor.

Coffee as we know it probably originates in Africa, Ethiopia to be exact. Compared to tea it is truly the new kid on the block. The first mention of coffee is from the tenth century and comes from reports from North Africa traders.

Tea, on the other hand, probably goes all the way back to the Neanderthal and it is easy to see why since Tea is derived from boiling leaves of tea plants.

Coffee is the seed of the red or purple fruit from Kaffe trees. The seed, when removed from the fruit

and dried appears dull gray and definitely unappetizing. The other factor about coffee is that the tree will only grow in a certain climate close to the equator unlike tea which is more universal and therefore has more variety.

Originally coffee was considered a tea due to the fact that the leaves of the Kaffe tree were boiled and though bitter, probably contained enough caffeine  to give the drinker a little buzz. the seeds were of course thrown away.

The first roasting of the seeds, now called beans, was probably in the 1500's in the city of Istanbul. At that time the beans were roasted over a fire, ground and then boiled in water slowly and at that time and place, coffee was born.

The magic of the whole sequence of turning these dull gray seeds into coffee was usurped by order of the Sultan Suleiman of Turkey and the making of coffee was entrusted to the man now known as

The Chief coffee Maker. There were other coffee makers in Istanbul and throughout Turkey but they all had in common the ability to keep secret the process of producing the drink as we know it. and the Sultans Coffee Maker was chosen by Suleiman because he was considered the best. For a long time the only ones allowed to drink the brew were the Royalty.

Despite the keeping of coffee making a secret it was not long before the process was common enough knowledge, that the frying of the beans in a pan and using the small flour grinders to prepare the beans, was soon enough commonplace. But it was one brave individual who took the secret public with the opening of the first commercial coffee house, open to the public. It was such a big success that in very short order, the coffee houses sprang up and  became the social gathering places for just about everyone in Turkey and from there to the rest of the Middle East.

It was in the 1600's that the coffee houses began turning up in Europe. It was the place to gather and chat, play chess, discuss the arts and politics and unlike the middle east it had the added benefit of admitting women, unlike the saloons of the day. The oldest and still operating coffee house is in England, Cornwall I think, and it opened in 1654 and is called Queens Lane Coffee House.

The Banning of Coffee and Coffeehouses:

Mecca 1511: Forbidden by orthodox Imams (Religious leaders), due to the stimulating effect of coffee. Overturned in 1524 by the Sultan Suleiman. Remember that guy who had his own Coffee Maker?.

Late 1500's: Coffee had finally made its way into Christian Europe and sure enough, the "Clergymen" went to Pope Clement VIII, and with passion unique to Religious fervor, implored the Pope to ban coffee, saying it was a heathen drink and thus Satanic. The Pope said that he would do nothing until he himself had sampled the drink. When he did he said that coffee should be baptized it tasted so good and promptly forbade any more banning talk. With that Papal blessing, coffee houses sprang up throughout Europe.

1632: Again in Istanbul, the Ottoman Throne, claimed by Marad IV, not only banned the drink but also installed penalties: A beating for first offenders and then drowned in the Bosporus for second offense.

1730's or so: In Sweden, King Gustav III, not only banned coffee use but also forbade ownership of Coffee Cups and implements of coffee preparation. It is interesting that in the mid last century, Sweden drank more coffee per capita than any other country.

As a counter point, Bach composed a Sonata for Coffee Titled simply "Coffee Cantata". It is the story of a young girl pleading with her father to allow her to continue drinking coffee...

At one point in time New York city had more coffeehouses than saloons. That was early 1900's. Since that time the coffeehouse went into decline until a young entrepreneur named Howard Schultz
opened the first Starbucks in Seattle and the coffeehouse was reborn.

Time for a coffee break.

Dad