When was coffee first brewed

Today, the coffee plant is cultivated in over 70 countries across the globe with Brazil as the largest producer followed by Vietnam and Colombia. There are two types of coffee: Arabica and Robusta.

But who invented coffee and how was it invented? While the coffee plant is native to tropical Africa, specifically Sudan and Ethiopia, drinking coffee as a beverage seems to have originated in Yemen in the 15th century in the Sufi Shrines.

It was there that the coffee berries were first roasted and brewed in a way similar to how the drink is prepared today. However, the coffee seeds were exported from East Africa to Yemen via the Somali traders. There are several accounts surrounding who exactly invented coffee. Despite a challenging voyage — complete with horrendous weather, a saboteur who tried to destroy the seedling, and a pirate attack — he managed to transport it safely to Martinique. Even more incredible is that this seedling was the parent of all coffee trees throughout the Caribbean, South and Central America.

The famed Brazilian coffee owes its existence to Francisco de Mello Palheta, who was sent by the emperor to French Guiana to get coffee seedlings. The French were not willing to share, but the French Governor's wife, captivated by his good looks, gave him a large bouquet of flowers before he left— buried inside were enough coffee seeds to begin what is today a billion-dollar industry. Missionaries and travelers, traders and colonists continued to carry coffee seeds to new lands, and coffee trees were planted worldwide.

Plantations were established in magnificent tropical forests and on rugged mountain highlands. Some crops flourished, while others were short-lived. New nations were established on coffee economies. Fortunes were made and lost.

By the end of the 18th century, coffee had become one of the world's most profitable export crops. After crude oil, coffee is the most sought commodity in the world. Such was the consternation that Pope Clement VIII had to intervene: he sampled coffee for himself and decreed that it was indeed a Christian as well as a Muslim drink. Slingsby] and I in the evening to the Coffee House in Cornhill, the first time that ever I was there, and I found much pleasure in it, through the diversity of company and discourse.

For Pepys — and for many other literate men — the coffee house was his newspaper, his internet. In his entry for 3 November Pepys refers to diverse discussions on the Roman Empire, the difference between being awake and dreaming, and a discourse on insects.

By there were more than 3, coffee houses in England alone. Some even had bed and breakfast for overnight guests. He converses more with newspapers, gazettes and votes, than with his shop-books, and his constant application to the publick takes him off all care for his private home. Pfizer could never have found a better opinion leader. Sign in. Back to Main menu Virtual events Masterclasses.

Home Period Medieval A drink for the devil: 8 facts about the history of coffee. By parching and boiling the coffee beans, rendering them infertile, the Arabs were able to corner the market on coffee crops. In fact, tradition says that not a single coffee plant existed outside of Arabia or Africa until the s, when Baba Budan, an Indian pilgrim, left Mecca with fertile beans fastened to a strap across his abdomen.

European coffee houses sprang up in Italy and later France, where they reached a new level of popularity. Now, it is de rigueur for Parisians to indulge in a cup of coffee and a baguette or croissant at the numerous coffee cafes throughout Paris.

The Civil War and other conflicts that followed also helped to increase coffee consumption, as soldiers relied on the caffeine for a boost of energy. It may have started a bit later here, but Americans love coffee just as much as the rest of the world. By the late s, coffee had become a worldwide commodity, and entrepreneurs began looking for new ways to profit from the popular beverage. The Arbuckle brothers began selling pre-roasted coffee in paper bags by the pound.

This blazed the trail for several other big name coffee producers, including Maxwell House and Hills Brothers. In the s, a certain awareness for specialty coffee started to grow, inspiring the opening of the first Starbucks in Seattle in Today, the grass-roots coffee movement continues to grow with the increase of small independently-owned cafes boasting sustainable, locally roasted, fair trade beans.

Coffee has become an artistic trade that is valued for its complexity of flavors and terroir, much like wine.