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| Coffee Facts |
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| Coffee facts, coffee trivia & coffee information! |
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Java or Coffee
Coffee Articles
Ever wonder how the wonderful concoction that we know
today as coffee become known as java? Well, my friends, it's a long story.
In other words, it's time to wake up, smell the coffee, take a sip, sit back
and learn!
The origins of coffee are shrouded in uncertainty, although it is more than
likely to have been African, particularly Ethiopian, in origin. One legend
tells of a goat-herder named Kaldi, who one day found his goats to be a
happy lot as they frolicked around a cluster of dark-leafed shrubs bearing
red berries. Since this was before the age when one wore berries on hats,
shoes and other accessories and he wanted to be happy too, Kaldi decided to
test the berries by eating them. Soon he found himself as one among his
flock, more carefree than he had ever been before. He shared his discovery
with the nearby monastery, and the monks soon used the wondrous beverage to
keep them awake during their evening prayer sessions. (They deserved to be
happy too!)
After some thousand years, traders brought coffee across the Red Sea and
into Arabia (Yemen), where Muslim monks began cultivating the shrubs in
their own private gardens. At first, they made a type of tea-like beverage
from the pulp of the fermented berries and this concoction was known as "Qahwah".
This is the Arabic word for wine and the source of the modern word for
coffee. Because it was forbidden for Muslims to drink wine, this new drink
was used during religious ceremonies. Initially, it was prepared from green,
un-roasted beans boiled in water. By the late 13th century, Arabians began
roasting and grinding the coffee beans before adding them to boiling water,
improving the flavor. At that time, coffee was also a kind of revered
elixir, and physicians prescribed it regularly for longevity, increased
stamina and a host of other things.
Until the early 1500s, coffee was a closely hoarded secret. Uncooked berries
could not be taken out of the country, insuring an Arabian monopoly.
Religious pilgrims visiting Mecca each year slowly eroded this isolation,
and coffee seeds soon found their way to Turkey, Egypt and Syria. Many
eastern cities opened coffeehouses, where patrons lingered over conversation
and games of backgammon and chess. Here European traders were introduced to
the wonderful brew and sought to export it for their own caffeine-free
purposes and colonies. In 1516, with a plant obtained from Yemen, the Dutch
became the first Europeans to transport and cultivate coffee commercially.
By 1658 cultivation had spread to Indonesia, particularly Ceylon and their
East Indian colony of Java, which would become the world's center for coffee
production.
The warmer Indonesian climate provided the perfect breeding ground for the
delicate coffee trees and their tasty fruit became known worldwide as
"java." In 1714, the Mayor of Amsterdam presented Louis XIV with a Javanese
coffee plant. King Louis's love of coffee was life long and only interrupted
by the loss of his head during the Reign of Terror of the French Revolution.
He was thrilled with his gift and entrusted the plant's care and cultivation
to the botanist of the royal court. In a few short years, the offshoots of
the Javanese coffee trees crossed the Atlantic. From there coffee spread
into the New World and South America, particularly Brazil, which today is
the world's largest producer and exporter of coffee.
So with the next sip you take, pause and reflect. This wonderful drink has a
noble and formidable past. If you forget the details, don't worry about it.
Just finish your cup and have a wonderful java-enriched day!