Coffee in 1600s
Sometimes in the early 1600s, a merchant of Venice wrote home, “The Turks have a drink of black color. I will bring some with me to the Italians.” When coffee arrived in Italy, soon it became a sensation. No less a personage than the Pope was reportedly enamored of the brew. When devout Catholics urged the Holy Father to ban the drink on the ground that it was a ritual beverage of Islam, the Pop refused. Instead he baptized the brew, thereby legitimizing it and “converting” it to an acceptable Christian beverage.
In July of 1669, ambassadors of Mohammad IV, Sultan of the far flung Byzantium Empire, traveled to Paris bearing gifts for the king. Along with silks and spices, the ambassadors carried several sacks of coffee beans, which were distributed among the king’s favorite courtiers Rich Parisians began making arrangement to import their own coffee beans. Soon, all across Europe, ships’ captains who sailed to port of call in Arabia were inundated orders for coffee beans.
Coffee was beginning to be more and more commonplace in the drawing rooms and salons of royalty, the aristocracy and the wealthy, but the common folk had yet to have a taste. That state of affairs ended in 1672, when an enterprising Armenian merchant who made his home in Paris offered coffee to the public for the first time by dispensing steaming cups of the brew at the fair of St. Germaine. The exotic beverage was an immediate hit with the man – and woman – on the street.
Around the same time, a lame street merchant named Candiot began offering coffee on the streets of Paris. By all accounts, he was scrupulously clean and neat and wore a spotless white apron that covered him from shoulder to shoes. With the help of his Arabian companion, Joseph, Candiot walked the street crying out the wonders of the brew. Between them, they carried a coffeepot, a vessel holding burning charcoal to heat the pot, a pitcher of water, and a basket of serving cups and utensils, Parisians, eager to sample the exotic drink made the venture a success.
In the late 1600s, Arabia lost its monopoly on coffee growing and exportation.
Coffee in 1600s
