A Brief History of Coffee
The history of coffee is rich and spans several centuries, with its origins tracing back to ancient times. Here’s a timeline:
How Was Coffee First Consumed?
The earliest records of coffee being consumed by humans dates back to around 575 AD.
The Oromo people of Ethiopia would crush coffee cherries, the fruit for which coffee beans are the pip, and mix them with either ghee (clarified butter) or animal fat. This mixture would be rolled into balls so that they can be carried on journeys and provide energy and sustenance for the road.
We can find the first records of coffee being roasted and brewed into a beverage at around 850-900 AD.
At this time, several Ethiopian tribes living in the Kaffa province would roast coffee beans and create hot beverages, wine and even a maize based porridge with the roasted beans.
By 1000 AD, drinking coffee beans brewed into a hot beverage was by far the most common way of consuming coffee.
From the site “drinkycoffee.com”
Middle East and Europe
By the 15th century: coffee was known in Mecca and soon spread to the Levant.
In the 16th century: coffee caused controversy regarding its permissibility in Ottoman and Mamluk society.
In 1650, the Ottomans introduced coffee to Europe via Italy through Mediterranean trade routes, from there, the love of this caffeinated beverage spread like wildfire.
Coffee arrived in Italy in the second half of the 16th century through Mediterranean trade routes.
Central and Eastern Europeans learned of coffee from the Ottomans, and by the mid 17th century, it had reached India and the East Indies.
Coffee Houses and Global Expansion in 17th century:
Coffee houses were established in Western Europe by the late 17th century, particularly in Holland, England, and Germany.
One of the earliest cultivations of coffee in the New World occurred when Gabriel de Clieu brought coffee seedlings to Martinique in 1720.
These seedlings led to the spread of coffee to other Caribbean islands and Mexico.
By 1788, Saint-Domingue (now Haiti) supplied half the world’s coffee.
Modern Era:
By 1852, Brazil became the world’s largest producer of coffee, a title it has maintained since.
The period since 1950 saw the emergence of several other major producers, including Colombia, the Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, and Vietnam.
Vietnam overtook Colombia to become the second-largest producer in 1999.
Today, coffee is a global commodity and a household item, thanks to modern production techniques and mass productization.
The etymology of the word “coffee” is also interesting. It entered the English language in 1582 via the Dutch “koffie,” borrowed from the Ottoman Turkish “kahve,” which in turn was borrowed from the Arabic “qahwah.” The Arabic term traditionally meant ‘wine’ due to its dark color and was derived from the verb “qahiya,” meaning ‘to have no appetite.’ However, it most likely referred to the brew or the bean.
A dark side to coffee
The coffee industry, despite its popularity and profitability, has a dark side rooted in its history. Over the centuries, a common theme has emerged in global coffee production: the oppression of coffee farmers for profit.
The financial disparity between producers and coffee companies is significant. The industry is valued at more than $200 billion globally, but less than 10% of that wealth stays in producing countries, and only 5 to 7% makes it to the farmers themselves. Much of the rest goes to wealthy companies and their executives, who are almost exclusively based in North America and Europe.
This system, deeply entrenched in hundreds of years of oppression, won’t change overnight, but here at thegreatestcoffee.com we only purchase from sustainable farmers, and cooperatives, Fair Trade whenever possible, women owned and more, here we define the 4th wave as bringing you closer to your coffee farmer and the greatest coffee every day. We are dedicated to changing the industry this is how we define the fourth wave of coffee.
History and a future
This brief history highlights the journey of coffee from an ancient beverage to modern-day, and a new future i.e. “the 4th wave of coffee” is that coffee consumers will start to understand all the benefits of the taste of great specialty coffee.