Coffee history in Arab World

Soon after discovery of coffee in Ethiopia in the sixteenth century, this staple became popular in nearby Mecca where Muslim pilgrims began to buy it and take it home, effectively creating a market for coffee throughout the Arab world.

While coffee was first considered a medicine or religious aid, it soon enough became an everyday habit. Wealthy people had a coffee room in their homes reserved only for ceremonial imbibing.

The Arabs were the first, not only to cultivate coffee but also to begin its trade. By 15th century, coffee was being cultivated commercially in the Yemeni district of Arabia and by the 16th it was known in Persia, Egypt, Syria and Turkey.

In 1453, Coffee was introduced to Constantinople by Ottoman Turks. The world’s first coffee shop, Kiva Han, open there in 1475.

Coffee shop or coffeehouses allowed people to get together for conversation, entertainment, and business, inspiring agreements, poetry and irreverence in equal measure.

With the expansion of the Arab-Muslim empires, commercial activity in each of these domains flourished.

In the middle of the 16th, the coffee was already drunk in Egypt, Syria, Persia and Turkey, and coffee shop were to be found in the cities of Medina, Cairo, Baghdad, Alexandria, Damask and Istanbul.

Despite efforts from the Arabs to control coffee cultivation – by prohibiting the export of unroasted beans and seedlings – in the early eighteenth century the Dutch started its cultivation in their Asian and South American colonies, as did the French in the Caribbean.
Coffee history in Arab World 

History of Coffee

History of Coffee
Coffee in Africa
The most common story is that, in year 850, it was a shepherd, called Kaldi, who discovered the use of the coffee bean about four centuries ago, in a region of Abyssinia (Ethiopia).This shepherd noticed that some of his goats, which after eating cherry red berries from an evergreen bush became hyperactive. This happened several times and the shepherd decided to taste these strange berries for himself. Raw berries were hard to chew, so he took some to the village. The shepherd decided to roast them to make them edible. He tasted some roast beans and his sleepy eyes got wide open. All village people liked it as it kept awake during long prayers.

While experimenting with the beans, people crushed the roasted seeds into powder and poured boiling water to make a tasty drink. So, in this way the coffee grains were used to brew the delicious beverage consumed all over the world nowadays. And so coffee had been discovered. For centuries, the people of this land absorbed coffee into their culture and daily routine.

Another legend gives us the name for coffee or mocha. An Arabian was banished to the desert with his followers to die of starvation. In desperation, Omar had his friends boils and eat the fruit from unknown plant. No only did the both save exiles, but their survival was taken as a religious sign by residents of the nearest town, Mocha.

Coffee in Arab World
In 1453, Coffee was introduced to Constantinople by Ottoman Turks. The world’s first coffee shop, Kiva Han, open there in 1475.

The Arabs were the first, not only to cultivate coffee but also to begin its trade. By XV century, coffee was being grown in the Yemeni district of Arabia and by the XVI it was known in Persia, Egypt, Syria and Turkey. Coffee was cultivated in the Yemen area of Africa between 1250 and 1600 when extensive planting occurred.

In the middle of the 16th, the coffee was already drunk in Egypt, Syria, Persia and Turkey, and coffee shop were to be found in the cities of Medina, Cairo, Baghdad, Alexandria, Damas and Istanbul.

Coffee in Europe
In 1650, the first coffeehouse opened its doors in Oxford, England, its proprietor a Turkish Jew named Jacob. Coffee houses multiply and become such popular forums for learned and not so learned. In France, the first coffeehouse opened in 1672. By 1843, there were thousands of coffeehouses throughout Europe and the American colonies. Brazilian coffee industry gets started in 1727 from seedlings smuggled out from Paris.

Coffee in America
In America at this time, only small amounts of coffee beans were imported to the colonies for many years. Eventually, however, Dutch and French smugglers did introduce beans in great quantity, and coffeehouses opened in New York, Boston, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and elsewhere. In 1723, a coffee plant was introduced in the Americas for cultivation. Gabriel de Clieu, a French naval officer transport a seedling to Martinique. The Boston Tea Party makes drinking coffee a patriotic duty in America in 1773.
History of Coffee