Remembering the History of Coffee

When you sit down to sip your freshly brewed coffee every morning, pressing a simple button and waiting for your one cup coffee maker to whip you up your daily dose of caffeine, you probably don’t think about the history of that finely roasted brew you’re drinking. It’s probably such a habit by now you don’t even think about the machine making it.

Your coffee is an afterthought and because of that you might take it for advantage, but try to keep in mind that with over 1000 years of history and billions of dollars in industry, the coffee bean is one of the most beloved natural resources in all of early morning rituals.

The first recorded consumption of coffee is too far back to properly nail down. There is one story of an Ethiopian shepherd who notices the effect of a certain red berry on his flock. He partakes of the berry and is scolded by a local monk, who then takes and uses the berries for the benefit of his order. Another story tells of a group of exiled Arabians who boil and eat the special fruit to survive in the desert. Their survival is taken as a sign and the plant is named for the town, Mocha.

The actual origin is debatable but the effects of those first Arab traders bringing back the plant to their plantations in 1000 AD is indisputable. The world’s first coffee shop opened in 1475 in Constantinople, the first execution over coffee occurred in 1511 (as a local governor attempted to ban it and the sultan had him executed), and in 1600 the Pope baptizes the drink instead of banning it, a show of respect to the Turkish “infidels” they fought in the crusades.

The history of coffee takes it through heads of state the world over, introduced to every new country founded by an explorer and serving as an incredibly powerful industry as Europe began colonization of South America. Coffee’s effect on the world is incredible as more than 70% of the population has at one point or another tasted the morning beverage and a good many of those drink it every day.

Coffee shops are the places of historians and world leaders, construction workers and college students. The soothing qualities of a simple cup of Joe are older than nations, and as you sit and sip your own cup of coffee on a Sunday morning, watching TV or reading the paper, try to remember what those little beans have been through for you.