Celebrating International Coffee Day by Brent Simon

It is International Coffee Day! 

This hot beverage is consumed by every country in the world but, most persons who drink coffee have no idea of its history. The next time you share a cup of coffee with someone, you can also share some knowledge about it!

Coffee is the answer, but I don’t know the question! – author unknown

There are many stories about its origin but, no one can truly say exactly how or when coffee was discovered. The most pervasive legend has it that around 850 A.D., a goat herder named Kaldi discovered the stimulating effects of coffee after he noticed that his goats would not sleep at night after eating these berries. He told the priest at his local monastery about it and the priest came up with the idea of drying and boiling the berries. To dry the berries, he decided to roast them in his fireplace. After placing the coffee in the fire, that unmistakable scent wafted through the air. Enthralled he proceeded to crush the now burnt berries and dissolve them in boiling water. Thus was the first cup of coffee brewed.

“It is inhumane, in my opinion, to force people who have a genuine medical need for coffee to wait in line behind people who apparently view it as some kind of recreational activity.”

— Dave Barry, American author

By the 15th century, coffee was being commercially grown in the Yemeni district of Saudi Arabia and by the end of the 16th century it was known in Iran, Egypt, Syria, and Turkey.

As early as the 17th century, tales of a stimulating dark black drink were brought by European travelers who had made journeys to what we now call the Middle East, and soon it became popular across the European continent and was spreading throughout the Christian lands. Many people reacted to this new beverage with horror, calling it the “bitter invention of Satan!” or, “the devils drink”.

When coffee came to Venice in 1615 the bickering was so great that Pope Clement VIII himself was asked to intervene. Before making his decision, the Pope wisely decided to taste it. After a few sips, the Pope loudly declared, “This Satan’s drink is so delicious that it would be a pity to let the infidels have exclusive use of it!”

The grassroots people loved it, while those who ruled the common people began to view it as a threat because, people who drank beer became drunk and remained comfortable in their poverty but, the people who drank coffee had a novel sense of spirit but remained alert and wary. This made them a threat to the ruling class.

King Charles II of England, actually banned coffee houses and the sale of coffee in the “Proclamation for the Suppression of Coffee-Houses”.

It reads:

Whereas it is most apparent, that the Multitude of Coffee-Houses of late years set up and kept within this Kingdom . . . have produced very evil and dangerous effects; His Majesty hath thought it fit and necessary, That the said Coffee-houses be (for the future) Put down and Suppressed, and doth (with the Advice of His Privy Council) by this His Royal Proclamation, Strictly Charge and Command all manner of persons, That they or any of them do not presume from and after the Tenth Day of January next ensuing, to keep any Publick Coffee-house, or to Utter or sell by retail, in his, her or their house or houses (to be spent or consumed within the same) any Coffee, Chocolet, Sherbett or Tea, as they will answer the contrary at their utmost perils.”

Proclamation for the Suppression of Coffee-Houses, 1675

Science may never come up with a better office communication system than the coffee break.” — Earl Wilson

The growing demand for coffee was spreading, and the attempts to cultivate coffee outside of the Middle East began. The Dutch were the first to obtain these precious seeds and, although they failed in their first attempts to plant in India, they were later successful in establishing plantations in Indonesia in the latter 17th century.

King Louise XIV of France was presented a young coffee plant as a gift from the then Mayor of Amsterdam in 1714. That seedling was planted in the Royal Botanical Gardens in Paris and it was from that plant one, Gabriel de Clieu, obtained a seedling in 1723. He took the plant with him to Martinique and this seedling was the parent of all coffee trees in the Caribbean, South and Central America.

Brazilian coffee owes its existence to Francisco de Mello Palheta, who was sent by the emperor to French Guiana to get coffee seedlings. The French were not willing to share, but the French Governor’s wife, captivated by his good looks, gave him a large bouquet of flowers before he left— buried inside were enough coffee seeds to begin what is today a billion-dollar industry.

Missionaries 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 nations were established on coffee economies. Fortunes were made and lost. By the end of the 18th century, coffee had become one of the world’s most profitable export crops. After crude oil, coffee is the most sought commodity in the world.