The Legend of Coffee
Over the centuries numerous legends have accumulated about the discovery of coffee. Possibly the earliest references to the use of coffee are to be seen in the Old Testament.
Although cultivation may have begun as early as the 6th century C.E., the first written mention of coffee as such by Razes 10th century Arabian physician.
The most well story of the discovery of the coffee plant is concerned with a goatherd tending his flock in the hills around a monastery on the banks of the Red Sea. He noticed that his goats, after chewing berries from bushes growing there started prancing excitedly.
A monk from monastery observed these behavior, took some of the berries, roasted them, and brewed them.
When served, the brew kept his people more alert during the long prayers at night. And this saw the birth of the world’s most stimulating beverage.
The word coffee is derived from the Arabic word ‘quahweh’, which is a poetic term for “wine.” Since wine is forbidden to devout Muslims, the name was change to coffee.
The wild coffee plant is indigenous to Ethiopia, from which it spread to Arabia and nearby countries.
The transport of coffee from countries near Arabia to other parts of the world was limited; the raw beans were not allowed out of the country without steeping in boiling water or heating to destroy their germinating power.
Strangers were not allowed to visit the plantations; it was Baba Budan, a pilgrim from India, who smuggled out a few seeds capable of germination. He planted the seeds in western Ghats of Coorg in South India around 1600 C.E.
The cultivation was expanded during British rule. In Brazil, coffee entered through a Brazilian officer who, while on a visit to French Guyana in 1727, received a plant hidden in a bouquet of flowers as a token of affection from Governor’s wife.
The coffee pant belongs to the Rubiaceae family, which has over 70 species of coffee. But only seven of them have significant economic importance.
The commercially cultivated species are Arabica (Coffea arabica) and robusta (Coffea canephora).
Coffea liberica, another species was devastated during the 1940s by an epidemic of tracheamycosis due to infection by Fusarium xylaroides and the commercial growth of this species has effectively ceased since then.
Coffea robusta, which is noted for its resistance to disease contains more caffeine than Coffea arabica and is thus more economical in the manufacture of instant coffee.
Coffee is one of the most important agricultural products trade worldwide. It is grown and exported by over 70 developing countries in the tropical and subtropical belt, but industrialized countries import and consume most of it.
Of these 70, 51 countries including Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala, India and Mexico are responsible for more than 88% of world output and are exporting members of the International Coffee Agreement.
The Legend of Coffee
