Coffee History, Culture, and Social Significance

The Legend and Origins of Coffee

As the story goes, Kaldi, a goat herder in Ethiopia around the year 850, noticed that his goats were acting strangely. They were dashing around the fields and seemed to have far more energy than usual. This behavior continued for some time, and the goat herder began to suspect that the animals had eaten something to produce this effect, so he decided to watch them closely. After a while, he noticed that the goats ate some red berries from a small shrub and became energized, so he ate the berries himself. He soon found himself dancing around the bushes with his goats. He shared his findings with a local monk, and coffee was discovered (Weinberg & Bealer, 2002).

In truth, coffee probably does originate in Ethiopia, but the documented history of coffee most likely begins around 1400 CE, when coffee found its way to the Arabian Peninsula. The Arabs were the first people to cultivate it. Perhaps the earliest written reference to coffee appears around the middle of the 15th century, in the Sufi monasteries in the southern part of Arabia (Weinberg & Bealer, 2002). Writings from Abd al-Qadir al-Jaziri, who composed a treatise on the history of coffee in 1587, reported that a man named Sheikh Jamal-al-Din al-Dhabhani was the first person to use coffee (Ukers, 1935). It is believed that coffee became popular in Arabia partly because alcohol was forbidden to Muslims, and Arabic people enjoyed the effects that drinking coffee produced (Weinberg & Bealer, 2002). Coffee was reputed to drive away fatigue and invigorate the body. As it turns out, the effects of caffeine are well suited to Muslim daily life: strict Muslims pray five times a day, and drinking coffee helps one remain alert.

From Arabia to the World: Coffee's Global Spread

Arabia also had the very first coffeehouses, as demand for coffee grew quickly in the Muslim world. From Arabia, the use of coffee spread to Egypt and North Africa, reaching the rest of the Middle East, Persia, and Turkey by the 16th century (Ukers, 1935). The Sufis' and Muslims' use of coffee spread northward toward Cairo and Baghdad. The first known exportation of coffee was from Ethiopia to Yemen, where Yemeni traders began to cultivate it. The first known coffeehouse appears to have been established in Constantinople in 1554; however, due to coffee's stimulating effects, some Muslims attempted to ban it in Egypt and Turkey (Ukers, 1935). Coffee was also reportedly banned in Ethiopia by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, though by the 1800s these restrictions were relaxed and coffee drinking was permitted.

The first European to mention coffee was the German physician and botanist Leonhard Rauwolf, in his botanical description of the plant and its use by people in the Middle East (Ukers, 1935). Coffee was introduced to Europeans through trade with the Middle East. A strong commercial relationship between Venice, Italy, and Muslim traders in the East brought coffee into Venice, where it became popular. After some controversy about whether Catholics could consume coffee without violating Church teachings, Pope Clement VIII ruled that coffee was acceptable in 1600. The first European coffeehouse appears to have opened around 1645 (Weinberg & Bealer, 2002). Coffee also made its way to Britain by way of the British East India Company in the 16th century (Weinberg & Bealer, 2002). Through their extensive explorations, the British helped establish coffee as a popular drink in the New World. Other Europeans — including the Dutch, Spanish, and Italians — also spread coffee consumption through their own explorations.

The American colonists' drink of choice was tea until after the Boston Tea Party, when coffee became the most popular beverage in the New World (Weinberg & Bealer, 2002). Today it is estimated that over 400 billion cups of coffee are consumed on a daily basis worldwide, and coffee is second only to oil as the most traded commodity in the world (Weinberg & Bealer, 2002).

Coffee and Tea: A Comparison of Kindred Beverages

Many people compare coffee to tea, and tea is perhaps coffee's closest relative. Both are aromatic beverages commonly prepared by passing hot water over parts of a plant — in the case of tea, over crushed leaves or roots, and in the case of coffee, over ground fruit or beans. Tea has an even older history than coffee, originating in China around the 10th century BCE (Rose, 2010). Tea also became very popular in Europe and Britain and found its way to the New World through British explorers. Both beverages have been associated with healthful effects and increases in vitality (Shen, 2012).

There are a number of different types of coffee beans, just as there are many types of tea. There are six major varieties of tea but many more varieties of coffee. Both beverages serve important social functions; however, coffee's role in social life is more extensive worldwide. Caffeine appears to be the primary active ingredient in both coffee and tea, although there are a number of herbal teas and other blends that do not naturally contain caffeine. Other caffeinated drinks include sodas; however, the target markets generally differ for coffee and soda products. Coffee is typically marketed toward a more sophisticated, mature audience than soda drinks. Coffee also appears to be more closely tied to social activities than either tea or soda.

References

Manning, P. (2012). Semiotics of drink and drinking. London: Continuum Books.

Rose, S. (2010). For all the tea in China: How England stole the world's favorite drink and changed history. New York: Penguin Books.

Ukers, W. H. (1935). All about coffee. New York: Tea and Coffee Trade Journal Co.

Shen, L. (2012). Beneficial effects of coffee consumption go beyond antioxidation. Nutrition, 28, 1194–1195.

Weinberg, B. A., & Bealer, B. K. (2002). The world of caffeine: The science and culture of the world's most popular drug. New York: Routledge.