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HISTORY OF COFFEE

Kaldi, the Goat Herder an Ethiopian goat herder (often called Kaldi) discovered coffee. One day the goat herder saw his goats prancing in a field and wondered why they were acting so lively. Noticing they were eating the berries of tree, he tried one himself. He found the fruit of this tree to be fairly bland, but vaguely sweet and mildly refreshing. After a few minutes around the meadows he found himself feeling quite lively himself - frolicking and prancing about.

Realizing that the usual boundaries of propriety between a goat herder and his goats were in a state of alarming deterioration, the noble (could the discoverer of coffee be any less?) goat herder composed himself as best he could, gathered up a handful of the berries, and took them to a local abbot. The abbot tried them and thought they were a gift from God created so he and his monks could pray all night.

SPREADING TO THE REST OF ARAB

Coffee berries were transported from Ethiopia to the Arabian peninsula, and were first cultivated in what today is the country of Yemen. From there, coffee traveled to Turkey where coffee beans were roasted for the first time over open fires. The roasted beans were crushed, and then boiled in water, creating a crude version of the beverage we enjoy today.

SOME INTERESTING FACTS

• A dried version of berry used to be eaten either as it is or by mixing with other grain, especially by travellers. Probably this is how granola was developed.
• In Yemen a sun tea used to be made of coffee cherries, beans, and a few leaves. This sweetened sun tea spontaneously fermented, and became a kind of wine. This accident of nature thereby provided the popular combination of alcohol and caffeine that today is most typically called "Irish coffee", or coffee spiked with alcohol.
• Initially coffee beverage was named "qahwah" which means "put one off" to sleep when consumed in moderation and "put one off" essentially everything if consumed in excess.
• Qahwah used to be considered as medicine, probably because of its obvious energizing effect.
• In 620 A.D. Muhammad arrived in Medina and saw the city full of drunkards. He immediately passed a decree that the faithful should no longer consume any alcoholic beverages. A drink made ofdried pulp/husk of coffee bean known as qishr was consumed as an alternative.
• Current form of Coffee beverage was created In early 1400s when metal pots first appeared. A combination of fire and coffee seeds most probably led to the creation of coffee.
• Kiva Han, located in the Turkish city of Constantinople (now Istanbul) was said to be the first public place serving coffee. Coffee was such an important item during that time period, that it was legal in Turkey for a woman to divorce her husband if he could not supply her with enough coffee. Turkish coffee was served strong, black and unfiltered, usually brewed in an ibrik.

• Franz Georg Kolschitzky, has recognized the value of beans, opened a coffee house. He lived in Turkey and introduced the idea of filtering coffee, as well as the softening the brew with milk and sugar. Beverage was quite a hit, and became popular when coffee houses started serving sweet pastries and other confectionary treats.
• Coffee house /coffee shop is an establishment which primarily serves prepared coffee or other hot beverages along with light snacks. Whereas "café" is an informal restaurant offering a range of hot meals, and possibly being licensed to serve alcohol. In Arab countries coffee houses offer shisha, powdered tobacco smoked through a hookah, while in the Netherlands cannabis were smoked.
• Pope Clement VIII, during his reign wanted to outlaw Coffee as it was then known to be the drink of Moslems. However, he had the desire to learn more about the beverage and fell immediately in love with its aroma. Tempted, he tried a cupful and decided that it was "too good to leave to the infidels," and instead of banning it, he "baptized" it as "a truly Christian beverage."

PERFECTION OF THE CUP

The Italians perfected this wonderful machine and were the first to manufacture it. Espresso has become such an integral part of Italian life and culture, that there are presently over 200,000 espresso bars in Italy.Today, coffee is a giant global industry employing more than 20 million people. This commodity ranks second only to petroleum in terms of dollars traded worldwide.