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...