The origin and history of coffee

 

It is not clear where the word coffee came from.  It is only estimated that coffee was first discovered around the 6th or 7th centuries.  Coffee first appeared in the literature in 900 AD by Rhazes, an Arabian physician.

As mentioned earlier, there is no exact literature data, but there are several theories known as the origin of coffee.  There are theories that it originated from “Kappa” in southwestern Ethiopia, the origin of coffee, and the theory that it originated from the Arabic name of coffee, Kahuwa (قَهْوَة).

The Arabic word kahuwa is a variation of 'kahiya', which means 'to reduce hunger'. It was originally used to refer to a type of wine, but it is said to have been applied to coffee, which has a stimulating effect similar to wine.

There are several stories similar to legends, from the story of Kaldi the shepherd to the legend of Omar, and the story of an Arabian shaman.

The legend of the shepherd Kaldi

The most widely known legend about the origin of coffee is that of Kaldi, a shepherd from Abyssinia (the old name of Ethiopia).  This legend is described a little differently in each book about coffee, but the one common plot is as follows.

One day, the goat herder Kaldi came in to gather the goats, and when he heard his signal, the goats that had usually gathered did not appear that day.  Kaldi climbs the hill in search of goats to reach a high plain, and finds the goats running wild with excitement.  That day he barely drove the goats and locked them in a cage when he noticed a few goats running around late into the night and behaving strangely.

As a result of observation for a few days, it was confirmed that the goats, who were excited by eating the red berries, often return to normal in the morning.  Full of curiosity, Kaldi ate the red berries that the goats ate, and felt like his mind was cleared and his strength surged.

He decided to confess this to the abbot of a nearby monastery, and took a branch with red berries and informed the abbot of his experience.  After the abbot boiled and drank the fruit, he couldn't sleep that night, and after that he drank this black drink to keep himself awake during the late night service.

The legend of Sheik Omar

In 1258, Omar, an Arabian Muslim monk, was condemned and exiled to Mount Osaba in Arabia.  After being driven out, Omar was not able to fight his hunger, so he wandered around and found a coffee tree in the Usaf Mountains (a bird also appeared here), and he picked the fruit and ate it.

When Omar ate this fruit, his whole body was filled with strength and fatigue was relieved.  Contrary to how it looks, the red fruit has a very bitter taste, so it was difficult to eat the fruit itself.

He used this drink he discovered to treat his patients.  Then the plague was cured, and they went back to the village and told about Omar and the drink.

The lord, who had expelled him, built a hermitage for Omar and dedicated it to him.

The initial reaction to the coffee was not very good.  It was banned in 1511 by the conservative imam of Mecca because of its nerve-stimulating properties.  However, the drink's popularity, especially among the Greeks and intellectuals, could not be dampened, and the coffee ban was eventually repealed by the Ottoman Sultan Selim I.

A similar ban was imposed in Cairo in 1532, and coffee shops and coffeehouses were destroyed.

However, in 1554, the world's first coffee shop, Cafe Kiva Han, opened in Istanbul.

Coffee spread from the Islamic world to Europe

The triggering event was when the Ottoman Empire invaded Vienna, Austria.

Franz Kolschitzky, a civil servant staying in Turkey during the war, discovered black berries and brought them in. In 1683 he opened a coffee shop.

It is said that the way coffee is added with milk or sweetened as it is now started in Austria.

Coffee began to become very popular in Europe later in the 17th century.

Dutch merchants were the first to start importing coffee in large quantities to Europe.

The Dutch are also very successful in building coffee plantations on the island of Java.

Leonard Lauwolf, a German physician who traveled the Middle East for ten years, discovered coffee in 1538.

"The ink-black drink is useful for treating a variety of ailments, especially those related to the stomach. Consumers of this drink one in the morning from a porcelain cup. It is made from water and the fruit of a bush called bunja.