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Coffee, Cafe,
Caffee, Koffie,
 
The story of coffee begins on the
Arabian Penisula when a shepherd named Kaldi noticed that his dozing goats
became much livelier after eating some variety of dried fruit and nuts.
After seeing this Kaldi, too, tried the same and found that he felt more
vigourous as a result.
In the beginning coffee was eaten by chewing or
breaking it up and mixing it with oil. The delicious taste of the coffee
we drink today was discovered in the 13th century when some coffee beans
accidentally burned. The use of coffee beans, which began to be oven baked
from this point on, spread first to Mecca and Medina, and from there to
Iran, Egypt, Turkey and the entire Islamic world. The word qahwah whish
means pleasure giving beverage became the word kahve in turkish and cafe
caffee, koffie, coffee, etc throughout Europe.
An important turning point in coffee's adventure some
history occured in 1519, during Selim I's Egyptian military campain at
which time it spread from Istanbul to the rest of the world. As a result
of this popularization coffee gained a social significance in addition to
its commercial value. The first coffeehouse was opened in Istanbul thirty
years after the arrival of coffee, and following suit, many more
coffeehouses were soon added to it. As coffeehoses spread throughout
Istanbul to such a degree that there was soon one to be found in the every
neighborhood.
As Europeans comming to Istanbul began mentioning
coffee in their memoirs and Venetian traders brought coffee from the
Arabian countries to Europe. coffee's star began to rise in Europe.
However the real event that introduced Europeans to coffee was the ottoman
Empire's defeat at Vienna in 1683. The Ottomans left behind large
quantities of coffee when retreating from Vienna. At the end of the war an
officer who was acquained with the taste of coffee took 500 sack of coffee
which the Autrians had assumed was camel feed in return for his services
and opened the first coffee store in Vienna.
Although the first coffee store
was opened in Vienna it was the Dutch who carried out coffee production
outside of the Arabian Peninsula in the following years, the coffee
production in the Dutch colonies allowed Europe to become the center of
coffee commerce and Amsterdam the capital of this trade in 1714, a present
left Amsterdam heading for French King Louis XIV, and thus coffee began to
take root in the land of the Versaille Palace. In the year 1723, a captain
took some of these roots to Martinique on one of his trips to the French
colonies. The roots then became millions of trees in Martinique and the
world empire of coffee begins its rule out of the American continent.
Coffee is now the second most
consumed beverage in the world after water and the second most traded
product after petroleum. It is a flavor a pleasure a passion that has
overcome all types of obstacles throughout history. It became a popular
song in Ottoman times it comes from Yemen When hearts desire conversation,
coffee becomes an exuse for frendship in Turkey, there is a sating that
means that a cup of coffee that is offered creates forty years of
frendship. It also gives its name to the few bites of food eaten before it
is drunk in the morning the word for breakfast in Turkish kahvalti
literally means below or before coffee. It become a passion of J.Sebastian
Bach's to which he gives voice in Coffee Cantata. It goes from heart to
heart and from flavor to flavor. Turkish Coffee, Caffe Latte, French
Press, American Coffee, Instant Coffee, Cappuccino, Espresso, Filter
Coffee, Drip Coffee, Perc Coffee, Irish Coffee ..... It changes its apperance crosses the borders set
up by technology and creates websites where those interested in coffee can
find one another.
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