History of Coffee
From the numerous legends about the discovery of coffee, the best known is that of Kaldi, an Arabian goat-herder who used to take his goats to the mountain foothills. Kaldi noticed that his goats were awakened and animated. He began to watch them more closely in order to understand the reason for their behavior. After observing them he saw that the animals became excited after eating the red fruits of a bush. The herder tried them himself and discovered the energizing effect of these berries. Eventually he told of his discovery to monks living in a monastery near his village. <p>Although this legend is hundreds of years old, it is believed that wandering tribesmen from Ethiopia were the first to notice the stimulating properties of coffee as the berries were eaten. Eventually traders introduced the coffee berries to the Arabs. By the 13th century, the practice of roasting and grinding the beans became popular in Arabia. In spite of the Arabs' effort to control the supply, pilgrims managed to smuggle out the green coffee beans. Coffee was soon being grown in all the areas surrounding Mecca and Medina. By the early 16th century, coffee was being grown, harvested and traded throughout Egypt, Syria and Turkey. Yemen was the primary source for coffee during this time and the Arabians eagerly guarded and protected their increasingly valuable plant.</p> <p>Coffee drinking spread very rapidly through the Eastern Mediterranean as far as Rome. Coffee was known as the 'Wine of Araby' because Muslims were forbidden to drink wine and used coffee as a substitute stimulant.</p> <p>The first coffee consignment arrived in Venice from Turkey. In Rome the clergy appealed to Pope Clement VIII to have coffee banned, calling it the Devil's drink, but the Pope liked it so much that he gave it his blessing. Soon the first coffee houses opened in Europe: Venice 1645, London 1645, Amsterdam 1663, Paris 1675, Hamburg 1679, Vienna 1683, Berlin 1721.</p> <p>In 1696,The Dutch founded the first European-owned coffee estates from coffee smuggled out of the Arab port of Mocha and transported to Ceylon and the East Indies for cultivation (Java and Batavia). Business boomed and the Dutch sprinted ahead to adjacent islands. Confident beyond caution, Amsterdam began bestowing coffee trees on aristocrats around Europe.</p>
