History of coffee 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.
History of coffee in Arab world 

Arabs Monopoly of Coffee in 16th Century

Arabs Monopoly of Coffee in 16th Century
Up until the 16th century the Arabs tried so hard to maintain their monopoly of coffee production that travelers from other countries never even mentioned coffee in the accounts of their trips.

The crusaders made no mention of coffee upon their return to the Western world.

In 1555, Schems and Hekem, Syrians coming form Damascus and Aleppo, opened their first two public cafés in Istanbul in the quartier of Takhtacalah. Their clientele – poets, scholars and gamblers – ensured their success in such a short tine that Turks merchants quickly opened up several other shops.

In order to retain control of this monopoly, the Arabs only allowed exportation of coffee seeds in which sprout capability had been destroyed by boiling water and from which the covering parchment had been removed.

However, it was impossible to maintain absolute control over the comings and goings of great numbers of traveler, specifically during pilgrimage to the Mecca.

Thus, a Hindu pilgrim name Baba Budan succeeded in bringing back to Mysore seeds from the coffee tree. He planted them in front off his hut in Chicmaglur in the mountain of Mysore, a state in India which extends over part of the coast of Malabar and southern Deccan.

The first exportation took place in the 17th century but the exact date is unknown.
Arabs Monopoly of Coffee 16th Century

Coffee Consumption in History

Coffee Consumption in History
It seems that coffee was brought from Ethiopia to the Middle East around the year 575, and was cultivated in Yemen near the port of Mocha. Starting in the 8th century, the Arabs prepared coffee as an infusion, and the practice of drying and roasting the grains began only in the 14th century. In the 15th century, coffee consumption was introduced into Aden by Mufti Gemaleddin Abou Abdallah who during his trip to Persia heard about the wonderful effects of an infusion. His strength was restored and he reported that it “made him light-headed, brightened his spirits, and delayed the onset of sleep”.

The habit of drinking coffee spread form Aden to Mecca, Medina, Cairo and Alexandria, to Persia as well as Aleppo, Damascus, and Istanbul. Arab armies introduced the habit of drinking coffee into all the countries that they conquered: the Balkans, Spain and North Africa.

Up until the 16th century, the Arabs tried so hard to maintain their monopoly of coffee production that travelers from other countries never even mentioned coffee in the accounts of their trips. The crusaders made no mention of coffee upon their return to the western world.
In 1555, Schems and Hekem, Syrians coming from Damascus and Aleppo, opened the first two public cafes in Istanbul. Their client – pots, scholars, gamblers – ensured their success in such a sort times that Turks merchants quickly opened up several other shops.

However, it was impossible for Arabs to maintain absolute control over the comings and goings of great numbers of travelers, especially during pilgrimage to the Mecca. One of the pilgrims from India succeeded in bringing back to Mysore seeds from the coffee tree. He planted them in front of his hut in the mountains of Mysore in India. From here the seeds were the source of all of the coffee trees in this region.
Coffee Consumption in History

Coffee Facts

From its original African home, coffee propagation has spread in a girdle around the globe, taking over whole plains and mountainsides between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn.

Coffee is consumed for its unique aromatic taste and stimulating effects. The pleasant taste originates from the roasting process, where the bitter tasting and the characteristics volatile aroma components are formed. It is probably common knowledge that coffee was discovered in Ethiopia.

The red cherries which the sheep ate and become very active were taken home and tasted and what was known as the devils fruit become coffee as the world knows it today.

Another tale which has been around for some time involves an Arabian who use coffee beans to survive an exile and was discovered near the town of Mocha and thus we also refer to coffee as Mocha.

By early twentieth century, coffee had become a major consumer product, advertised widely throughout the United States. By the 1950s, coffee was the American middle class beverage of choice.

Coffee has an important place in the rational dietary of all the civilized peoples of earth. It has been acclaimed ‘the most grateful lubricant known to the human machine’ and ‘the most delightful toil with brain or brawn’.

Beginning as a medicinal drinks for the elite, coffee became the favored modern stimulant of the blue-collar worker during his break, the gossip starter in middle class kitchens, the romantic binder for wooing couples, and the sole, bitter companion of the lost soul.

Coffee provides a livelihood for some 125 million human beings. It is an incredibly labor intensive crops. 

Good coffee, carefully roasted and properly brewed, produces a natural beverage that, for tonic effect, can be surpassed by its rival, tea an cocoa. It is unique drink and could be regarded as healthy beverage choice. If taken as black coffee, it is virtually free if saturated fatty acid, sodium and sugar.
Coffee Facts