Origins of Coffee

Coffee originated in the Ethiopian highlands and was first cultivated commercially in Yemen, specifically around the port city of Mocha (Al-Makha) on the Red Sea. From Yemen, coffee was exported through the Red Sea to Mecca, Medina, and Cairo. The Yemeni port of Mocha became the primary coffee trading hub from the 1400s to the 1600s, giving its name to the famous coffee style. Yemeni traders closely guarded their monopoly, boiling or lightly roasting beans before export to prevent germination. Despite these efforts, coffee plants were eventually smuggled out, first to India (Baba Budan, ~1600), then to Europe's botanical gardens, and eventually to colonies worldwide.

Coffee's early political influence was significant. Rulers and religious authorities repeatedly attempted to ban coffee because coffeehouses became centers of political discussion and dissent. The 1511 ban in Mecca was specifically motivated by the governor's fear that coffeehouses were venues for political criticism. Ottoman sultans periodically banned coffeehouses for similar reasons. The political dimension of coffee continued: coffeehouses in 17th-century England were called 'penny universities' for their role in disseminating political ideas, and King Charles II attempted to ban them in 1675, fearing sedition.

Coffee's religious influence was profound and controversial. In the Islamic world, coffee was debated for its permissibility under Islamic law (whether it was an intoxicant like alcohol). Conservative clerics argued it should be banned; Sufi mystics embraced it for enabling nighttime worship. The 1511 ban in Mecca was based partly on religious grounds. The Sultan's 1524 decree settled the debate, declaring coffee permissible. In Christianity, coffee was similarly debated. Pope Clement VIII (1592-1605) was asked to ban coffee as a 'Muslim drink,' but he famously baptized it instead, declaring it too delicious to be left to non-believers.

Coffee's economic influence began with Yemen's monopoly in the 1400s-1600s. The port of Mocha became one of the wealthiest trading hubs in the world. Yemen guarded its monopoly by preventing the export of viable seeds. Despite this, coffee plants were smuggled out: Baba Budan smuggled seven seeds to India (~1600), and the Dutch obtained plants for their botanical gardens in Amsterdam (~1616). These plants became the source of coffee cultivation in Java, the Caribbean, and South America. Coffee became the second most traded commodity in the world after oil.

• •The word 'coffee' comes from the Arabic 'qahwa,' which originally meant wine and later came to mean the coffee beverage.
• •Yemeni coffee traders guarded their monopoly for over 200 years by boiling or lightly roasting beans before export to prevent germination.
• •The port city of Mocha in Yemen gave its name to the chocolate-coffee drink, though original Mocha coffee had no chocolate.
• •The Kaldi legend was first written down in 1671 by Antoine Faustus Nairon, over 800 years after the events supposedly occurred.
• •Coffee is the world's second most traded commodity after oil.
• •Ethiopia is the only country where coffee grows wild; everywhere else, it was introduced by humans.

• •Chapter 1: The History of Coffee

• •Pendergrast, M. (2010). 'Uncommon Grounds: The History of Coffee and How It Transformed Our World.' Basic Books.
• •Weinberg, B.A. & Bealer, B.K. (2001). 'The World of Caffeine: The Science and Culture of the World's Most Popular Drug.' Routledge.
• •Al-Jaziri, A. (1587). 'Umdat al-safwa fi hill al-qahwa.'
• •Nairon, A.F. (1671). 'De Saluberrima Potione Cahue.'