Where it Began

It is thought that coffee cultivation may have started as early as A.D. 575, but one of the earliest written mentions of coffee was around the 10th Century by an Arabian physician called Rhazes.

The coffea Arabica tree (the plant specialty coffee is mostly linked with) can be found indigenous in Ethiopia, where it grows wild. It was first cultivated in the Arabian Colony of Harar. From here it was taken to the Yemen area of south Arabia and thus spread to the rest of the coffee-producing world. Robusta and liberica (an inferior plant) can be found indigenous to other parts of Africa, but Ethiopia remains the birth place of coffee.

Coffee and Europe

The first coffee plant to be brought to Europe was stolen by the Dutch in 1616. They realized the commercial advantages of cultivating this brand new drink. A Dutch sea captain called Pieter Van Der Broeck stole a dozen plants from Mocha and took them back to Holland . These plants gave birth to the plantations in the Dutch colonies in Java Indonesia, Timor, Sumatra Ceylon and Celebes. Next followed the French and the Spanish. The UK was the last to join this parade of countries wishing to grow coffee in there colonies. It wasn t until 1730 that Britain began production in Jamaica and waited until 1840 till they introduced it to India, where for years they had Produced Tea.

But the largest explosion of coffee growing was to be down to Gabriel Mathieu de Clieu a young naval officer who is charged with bringing coffee to the new world of the Americas around 1720. It is a story that is unconfirmed, and surrounded by myth and counter claim. But for the purposes of this article we will go with it. Gabriel became passionate about his coffee whilst visiting the Paris coffee houses, on a short break from Matinique. He became fascinated with the idea of growing coffee in the new world. So cleverly obtaining a seedling, he set sail for Matinique. Whilst on the voyage the plant was a point of interest for many passengers, some of whom tried to destroy it, on many occasions. Then when the voyage hit problems the water supply was rationed. With the bare minimum Gabriel shared his scant supplies with the plant that was to become the farther of all the coffee in the Americas and Caribbean. The story ends ultimately in sadness, as Gabriel ended up poor and destitute, the man who introduced coffee to Latin America-, died a poor man in Paris, during the revolution.

Coffee gets its name from the Arabic qahwah, though its Turkish form kahveh becoming café in French caffe in Italian koffie in dutch and kaffee in German.

Coffee Origins

Coffees early origins have quite deep religious links, for some it was an important part of their ceremony, for some it was as an evil concoction that needed to be outlawed. There is a story that pope clement VIII was asked to outlaw the drink by priests. Their argument was that Satan had forbidden his followers (the infidel Muslims) the use of wine so he had given them this hellish black brew . After consideration the pope demanded to be prepared a cup of this evil elixir. Upon drinking the coffee he was reported to have said, Why this Satan s drink is so delicious that it would be a pity to let the infidels to have exclusive use of it. We shall cheat Satan by baptizing it , thus coffee was born in Europe.
Coffees popularity spread through Europe during the 17th and 18th centuries. For example, there were more coffee shops in London then than there are today. Coffee shops were influential places, used extensively by artists, intellectuals, merchants and bankers. The coffee houses became a forum for political activity and where business was done. For instance the great Lloyds insurance company began its life in a small London café, and grew into the institution we know today.

So what next?

In the late 20th century coffee's popularity is again on the rise. With many specialist coffee bars and bean roasters springing up in the cities of Great Britain. In the USA the boom is in full swing with many small Roasteries and independent retailers joining in the revolution. Coffee consumption in the whole world is on the up and particularly here in the uk. With improved knowledge and education, and more importantly improve quality, gourmet coffee is here to stay.