A Brief History of Coffee...

Many consider coffee to be the "precious drink" because of its taste and aroma. However, not many of us, coffee lovers, are aware of its origin and history. Surprisingly, this noble drink was accidentally discovered by not so noble Ethiopian goat herder in 9th century. One day he was searching for his lost herd and when he found it he noticed that his goats are  more excited than ever. Later, he discovered that it was because they had been eating coffee. Therefore, Ethiopia is believed to be the mother land of coffee. From there it spread to Egypt and Yemen and in 16th century to the rest of the Middle East, Persia, Turkey, and northern Africa. The next regions that adapted coffee were Balkans, Europe, Indonesia and America.

 Etymology of the word "coffee"

Ethiopian bunn or bunna -> Arabic qahwa ->Turkish kahve -> Dutch koffie ->English coffee (1598)

Coffee in Europe

Because of  British East India Company and the Dutch East India Company, coffee became available in England in the 16th century. The first coffee house in Britain was opened in St. Michael's Alley in Cornhill. Its founder was Pasqua Rosée, the former servant to a trader of Turkish goods, who among others imported coffee. His Queen's Lane Coffee House, established in 1654, is still functioning today. 

Queen's Lane Coffee House

By 1675, there were already more than 3000 coffee houses in Britain. The early cafes were used for deep discussion of beliefs during the enlightenment, mostly concerning religious and political issues of that time. As a result, Charles II made an attempt to crush coffee houses in 1675. In fact, many businesses grew out of these specialized coffee houses. One of the most recognizable until this day is Lloyd's of London, which came into existence at the Edward Lloyd's Coffee House.

Coffee in America

In the mid-1600's, coffee was brought to  New York (then called New Amsterdam). Although coffee houses began to flourish in the New World, tea continued to be the favourite drink to majority of Americans. It changed in 1773, when the colonists decided to revolt against the heavy tax on tea imposed by King George. The peak of this revolt was marked by the destruction of tea at Boston Harbour, which is nowadays refereed to as the Boston Tea Party.  This event changed the American drinking preference and ushered the Coffee Culture in America...

There are no two cups of tea alike...

 

Since my opening text was about the history of tea I will develop the topic a bit further.  As we already know, the major tea-growing regions are eastern and southern China, northern Myanmar, and the Assam state of India. Other countries growing marketable amounts of tea are: Argentina, Brazil, Georgia, Indonesia, Japan, Kenya, Sri Lanka (Ceylon), Taiwan (Formosa) and Turkey. Variety of countries means variety of species.  What is more we do not differentiate only between regions, but also the way of processing and preparing tea.  Today, let us however concentrate particularly at the types of tea. It can be divided into a few basic categories: black, green, red, white, oolong, and puerh. 

Black tea is produced through the process of withering, preceded by the process of oxidation, during which water evaporates from leaves enabling them to absorb more oxygen from the air. As an effect of those processes leaves become dark brown or black. This kind of tea has the highest caffeine content among all teas (50-65% of coffee).

Green tea is also produced through the process of  withering.  The difference is that it must happen slightly after tea is picked. Then the  process is stopped very quickly by rapidly heating  (firing) the leaves. Because green teas are brewed at lower temperatures and for less time than black, they have less caffeine (10-30% of coffee). Greens have also more subtle flavors with many undertones and accents.

White tea is processed using the youngest shoots of the tea plant, with no oxidation. That is why it is the most delicate of all teas. To extract its subtlety, complexity, and natural sweetness,  white tea is breved with a very low temperature and a short steeping time.

Oolong tea (also known as wulong tea) is produced through the process of partial oxidation. This tea has a caffeine content between that of green tea and black tea. The flavor of oolong tea is also somewhere in between green and black tea. It has its own extremely fragrant and intriguing tones. Oolongs (wulongs) are often compared to the taste and aroma of fresh flowers or fresh fruit.

Puerh is an aged black tea from China appreciated for its healing properties and earthy flavor.  The process of its production is a closely guarded state secret in China. Its taste is very strong with an incredibly deep and rich flavour, and no bitterness.

Red tea (Rooibos) is technically not a tea but a tisane because it is not prepared from the leaves of  a tea bush. Instead, it is the oxidized and dried leaves of the South African plant. Lack of caffeine and  lots of antioxidants make the herbal tea really attractive. Moreover,  it is also rich in minerals like iron, calcium, sodium, potassium, magnesium, and zinc, which promote the hair growth.