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It is believed that
coffee roasting using traditional methods came about in
the fourteenth century. It came about with the use of
iron. However, bronze would have worked just as well. And,
as stated earlier, the connection was too quick between
roasting the beans and the development of iron roasting
bans. Coffee roasting was prevalent in Turkey in 1540's. It is thought that roasting began around Damascus because Damascus iron was easily able to handle the thermal characteristics which were required for roasting. Well, iron pan roasters anyway. The first iron roasters were more like frying pans with a lid. In many countries, the frying pan works great still today. Frying tends to sear the bean and doesn't give an even roast but it works well when there is nothing better. In fact, searing the bean retains much of the moisture and oils whereas roasting dries the bean out. Although consistency isn't one advantage with frying, searing the bean has definite advantages. Any way, coffee didn't become super popular over a large area until the Ottoman Sultan in Istanbul outlawed it in 1543 because it started to get more recognition than he wanted. Then it boomed. In 1554, the first coffee house was set up in Istanbul. The Ottoman empire, by its police power, had a big hand in spreading coffee throughout the European countries, Western Asia, and India. The extreme spread of coffee by outlawing it is proof that you can't legislate something people like. In the case of coffee, the taste needs to be acquired. Coffee is naturally bitter. One must learn to drink coffee. You would think once coffee was outlawed and due to its bitter taste, coffee would have disappeared in the 16th century. This event is a true classical example of the best way to promote something is outlaw it. Around the later 1600's, the standard coffee beverage took Europe by storm. Of course, the invasion of Europe the Turks between 1683 and 1699 had a lot to do with it. Once in Europe this new beverage fell under harsh criticism from the Catholic Church. Many felt the pope should ban coffee, calling it the drink of the devil. To their surprise, the pope, already a coffee drinker, blessed coffee declaring it a truly Christian beverage. Coffee houses spread quickly across Europe becoming centers for intellectual exchange. Many great minds of Europe used this beverage, and forum, as a springboard to heightened thought and creativity. In the 1700's, coffee found its way to the Americas by means of a French infantry captain who nurtured one small plant on its long journey across the Atlantic. This one plant, transplanted to the Caribbean Island of Martinique, became the predecessor of over 19 million trees on the island within 50 years. It was from this humble beginning that the coffee plant found its way to the rest of the tropical regions of South and Central America. Coffee was declared the national drink of the then colonized United States by the Continental Congress, in protest of the excessive tax on tea levied by the British crown. Espresso, a recent innovation in the way to prepare coffee, obtained its origin in 1822, with the innovation of the first crude espresso machine in France. The Italians perfected this wonderful machine and were the first to manufacture it. Espresso has become such an integral part of Italian life and culture, that there are presently over 200,000 espresso bars in Italy. After World War I, the coffee plant spread to just about everywhere coffee could grow. Due to the war, some countries got formed, other got eliminated, and others got broken up. World War II did the same thing. Many countries went through changes in coffee growing as disease, ignorance, and weather wiped out whole plantations' coffee plants. At times, some countries didn't have coffee growing for whole decades. As economics and intelligence change, coffee growing has been reintroduced in many of the countries which gave up growing. The coffee plant is not as protected as it use to be from the standpoint of hording. It is protected from the standpoint of damage however. So, coffee plants finally found their way into homes. Today, coffee is a giant global industry employing more than 20 million people. This commodity ranks second only to petroleum in terms of dollars traded worldwide. With over 400 billion cups consumed every year, coffee is the world's most popular beverage. If you can imagine, in Brazil alone, over 5 million people are employed in the cultivation and harvesting of over 3 billion coffee plants. Sales of premium specialty coffees in the United States have reached the multi billion dollar level, and are increasing significantly on an annual basis. Coffee in Brazil Francisco de Mello Palheta of Brazil in 1727 was sent to French Guinea to obtain seeds. Like the Arabians, the Dutch, the French didn't want their plants cultivated by other countries either. Legend has it, de Mello charmed the French governor's wife and she buried some seeds in a bouquet of flowers. So, again it was swiped and brought to Brazil and Mexico where coffee cultivation got going around 1729. The another story has it that a seed was imported into Surinam in 1719, and a seed from there or Cayenne reached Brazil in 1723. It wasn't until 1767 that the first coffee estate in Brazil is said to have been planted. Before long, coffee became Brazil's major product, generating wealth and stimulating the growth of all agricultural and industrial sectors, remaining until today one of the principal products of our export portfolio. Coffee also brought to Brazil a substantial economic, social, and political change. For climatic reasons, this change was minimal in the North and Northeast. However, in the southern states, especially Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Minas Gerais, Espírito Santo, and Paraná, coffee gave rise to a new civilization. In these regions, the influx of European and Asiatic manpower had profound effect, laying the foundations for cultural expansion and opening the way for development. Take a look at these links about coffee history The Americas |
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