The Introduction of Coffee to Aden: A Cultural and Economic Revolution

In the 15th century, coffee consumption found its way to the city of Aden, largely due to the efforts of Mufti Gemaleddin Abou Abdallah. While traveling through Persia, he encountered a beverage known as 'infusion,' an early form of coffee, and was fascinated by its invigorating effects. Recognizing its potential to enhance mental clarity and sustain focus during extended periods of prayer and study, he saw coffee as a valuable aid for religious and intellectual pursuits.

Upon returning to Aden, Abou Abdallah actively promoted coffee consumption within his community. He emphasized its benefits for alertness, endurance, and overall well-being. As interest in the beverage grew, coffeehouses—known as “qahveh khaneh”—began to appear throughout the city. These establishments quickly became cultural and intellectual hubs, where scholars, traders, and common citizens engaged in discussions ranging from theology to commerce. The coffeehouses not only facilitated social interaction but also encouraged the exchange of ideas, making them precursors to the modern café culture.

Aden’s strategic location as a major port in the Arabian Peninsula played a crucial role in the expansion of coffee trade. As coffee gained popularity, traders from the city facilitated its spread to other regions, including the Ottoman Empire, North Africa, and eventually Europe. By the 16th century, coffee had reached Istanbul, where it was embraced by the elite and the common populace alike. The beverage’s stimulating properties made it an essential part of daily life, influencing both work and social customs.

The spread of coffee consumption in Aden marked the beginning of a cultural and economic revolution. The beverage transcended social boundaries, uniting people from various walks of life and establishing coffeehouses as centers of discussion and entertainment. Moreover, coffee cultivation and trade became key economic drivers, particularly in regions such as Yemen, where coffee production flourished.

Mufti Gemaleddin Abou Abdallah’s efforts to introduce coffee to Aden laid the groundwork for the global coffee culture we experience today. His advocacy helped popularize a drink that would become an integral part of societies worldwide. Today, coffee remains a symbol of social connection, intellectual exchange, and cultural tradition, continuing to shape daily life across continents.
The Introduction of Coffee to Aden: A Cultural and Economic Revolution

Global Journey of Coffee: From Ethiopian Origins to Worldwide Cultivation

Coffee, one of the world's most beloved beverages, has its origins in Ethiopia, a country renowned for its rich cultural heritage and biodiversity. The coffee plant, Coffea arabica, is indigenous to the highlands of Ethiopia, where it thrived in the wild before being cultivated by humans. From Ethiopia, coffee began its journey across borders, initially spreading to the neighboring countries bordering the Red Sea. The Arabian Peninsula, including Yemen, played a pivotal role in the early trade of coffee, where it became an integral part of the local culture and was exported to other parts of the world through the port of Mocha.

The spread of coffee continued eastward to India and Sri Lanka, facilitated by traders and travelers who recognized its value both as a commodity and a beverage. However, it was during the era of European colonial expansion that coffee truly became a global phenomenon. European colonizers introduced coffee to their overseas territories, including Indonesia, Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, the Philippines, and Mexico. These regions offered the ideal altitude and climate conditions for coffee cultivation, allowing the crop to flourish.

Today, Brazil stands as the largest coffee producer globally, contributing approximately 45% of the world's coffee supply. The country's vast plantations, particularly in regions like Minas Gerais and São Paulo, are responsible for producing a diverse range of coffee beans that cater to different tastes and markets. Colombia follows as the second-largest producer, with about 25% of global production, renowned for its high-quality Arabica beans. Mexico, though a smaller producer, still contributes 6% of the world’s coffee, with production concentrated in states like Chiapas and Veracruz. The remaining coffee production is distributed among numerous other countries in Central America, the northern part of South America, and Africa, each contributing unique flavors and characteristics to the global coffee market.

The coffee tree itself is a remarkable plant, bearing clusters of small, red, cherry-like fruits that each contain two seeds, commonly known as coffee beans. These fleshy berries are harvested almost continuously throughout the year, depending on the region's climate. After harvesting, the processing of coffee cherries varies based on local traditions and available resources. In some regions, the whole fruits are sundried, a method that enhances the sweetness and complexity of the beans. In others, the cherries undergo a short period of fermentation, which helps in removing the pulp from the seeds. Afterward, the greenish-yellow seeds are cleaned and sundried, eventually becoming the green coffee beans traded globally. These beans, when roasted and brewed, produce the rich, aromatic beverage enjoyed by millions worldwide.
Global Journey of Coffee: From Ethiopian Origins to Worldwide Cultivation

The Journey of Coffee: From Discovery to Global Domination

Coffee, the ubiquitous beverage enjoyed by millions around the world, has a history as rich and complex as its flavor profile. Its origin story traces back to the highlands of Ethiopia, where, according to legend, a goat herder named Kaldi discovered its stimulating effects when he noticed his goats became energized after eating the berries from a certain tree. This serendipitous encounter marked the beginning of coffee's journey through history.

In the early days, around 1100 AD, coffee was primarily harvested in the region that is present-day Ethiopia. It was recognized not only for its invigorating properties but also as a delicacy consumed in various forms by early civilizations. Its cultural significance was notable, as evidenced by Turkish law in the 16th century allowing a woman to divorce her husband if he failed to provide her with enough coffee.

The establishment of the first coffee shop in Constantinople in 1475 marked a significant milestone, heralding the rise of coffee culture. These coffee houses quickly became hubs of social activity, intellectual discourse, and business dealings. As coffee's popularity surged, it spread across Europe, with coffee houses flourishing in cities like London, Paris, and Vienna during the 17th and 18th centuries.

The evolution of coffee making technologies further propelled its ascent. The 19th century saw the introduction of the espresso machine, revolutionizing the process of brewing coffee and paving the way for the creation of iconic espresso-based beverages. The early 20th century witnessed the invention of the drip coffee machine, offering a simpler and more convenient way to brew coffee at home. Subsequent innovations, such as the automatic espresso maker in the 1930s, continued to enhance the coffee-drinking experience.

By the late 20th century, coffee had firmly established its global dominance. Its popularity soared, with coffee consumption becoming an integral part of daily life for millions worldwide. From bustling coffee shops in urban centers to the comforting aroma of freshly brewed coffee in homes across the globe, its influence was undeniable.

In conclusion, the history of coffee is a testament to its remarkable journey from discovery to global domination. From its humble origins in Ethiopia to its ubiquitous presence in modern society, coffee continues to evolve and exert its influence on cultures, economies, and daily rituals around the world. As we savor each sip of our favorite brew, we are reminded of coffee's enduring legacy and the countless stories woven into its rich tapestry of history.
The Journey of Coffee: From Discovery to Global Domination

Espresso in history

Espresso coffee is made using pressure to force water through the coffee. It was the great advance in coffee technology.

Espresso was basically originated in Italy in the 20th century. The word ‘espresso’ means ‘fast’ in Italian. In 1884 in the city Turin, Angelo Moriondo is said to have patented the first espresso machine. It was designed however, to produce bulk brews, and not the single servings.

In 1901, Luigi Bezzera invented a machine that could force water through a series of filters at high pressure. He even got the machine patented.

Its invention has been traced to the Italian railway station in Milan, where those about to board a train wanted a quickly made cup of coffee and some espresso makers contend that the term ‘espresso’ may be associated with ‘express trains’ of those stations.

The first espresso machine installed in an American restaurant was at Regio’s, in New York City in 1927.

Then in 1938, a fellow named Cremonesi designed a piston that forced hot water through the coffee, making the old style espresso machine that required boilers and high pressure steam obsolete.

In the 1980s, in America the specialty coffees made their appearance and the espresso culture began to move ‘up market’. From initially serving the down market expatriate Italians to the indigenous more up market customer.
Espresso in history 

The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf

Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf was first formed in 1963 in Los Angeles, California. It was founded by Herbert B. Hyman, who was known as the founding father of gourmet coffee in California.

Tea Leaf opening their first store in Los Angeles, California. The store was the oldest and largest brand of coffee and tea retailer in United States. The company had expanded to ten stores in California in 1970.

The business did so well in Singapore and Malaysia that the company was purchased from the Hymans by Singaporean brothers Victor Sassoon and Sunny Sassoon in 1996.

In 2019, Jollibee Foods Corporation purchased The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf for $350 million.
The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf

History of caffeine

Caffeine is a simple purine base compound and it is a moderately soluble about 2 g/100 mL in water at room temperature. It tastes bitter, white, odorless substance with melting point 235-238 °C. Coffee and tea have owed stimulant properties to caffeine, a simple trimethyl purine derivative.

“The Canon of Medicine”, written in 1025 by the Persian physician Avicenna, is the first text mentioning coffee as a medication. At the time, coffee was used to “clean the skin, dry up the humidities that are under it, and give a better odor to the body”.

In 1819, the German chemist Friedrich Ferdinand Runge (1795-1865) first time isolated pure caffeine in laboratory; he also called it as "Kaffebase" that exists in coffee. According to Runge, he did this at the request of Johann Wolf-Gang von Goethe, a German writer and statesman who had gifted Runge with a case of coffee beans.

In 1821, caffeine was isolated both by the French chemist Pierre Jean Robiquet and by further another pair of French chemists, Pierre-Joseph Pelletier and Joseph Bienaimé Caventou, according to a journal article by Jöns Jacob Berzelius. Further experiments were done according to Berzelius.

Berzelius stated that the French chemists had made their discoveries independently of any knowledge of Runge's work or of each other’s work. Berzelius states ‘caffeine is a substance in coffee’, which simultaneously, in 1821, was discovered by Robiquet and by Pelletier and Caventou, by whom however nothing was made known about it in print.

Robiquet was one among the first to isolate and outlined the properties of pure caffeine whereas Pelletier was the first to execute an elemental analysis.

In 1827, M Oudry isolated "theine" from tea, but it was later proved by Mulder and Carl Jobst that theine was the same as caffeine.

In 1895, German chemist Hermann Emil Fischer (1852-1919) first synthesized caffeine from its chemical components and that was a total synthesis. Then two years later, he as well derived the structural formula of the compound. The study of caffeine was also his first major effort, published when he was 29 30 years of age. Using oxidation with moist chlorine, he found that caffeine had a similar heterocyclic skeleton as uric acid. He then found that it was a trimethylxanthine, but he struggled for some time to clarify the structure of xanthine. However, it was only when Fischer turned to a synthetic approach to structure that he finally correctly realized that the xanthine structure proposed by Ludwig Medicus (1847-1915) prior to Fischer was the correct one.

Fischer was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1902.
History of caffeine

Coffee in brief description

The genus Coffea belongs to the family Rubiaceae. This family comprises many genera including Gardenia, lxora, Cinchona (quinine) and Rubia. The use of coffee as a refreshing beverage dates back at least 700 years although the first coffee house did not appear in London and Paris until about 1650. Its use as a food and as medicinal stimulant is lost in history.

Coffee originated in Arabia where the first roasted coffee beans were brewed around A.D. 1000. By the thirteenth century, Muslims drank coffee religiously and wherever the Islam went, coffee went too: North Africa, the eastern Mediterranean and India.

An important milestone in 1727 was the planting of coffee in Brazil, which is now the world’s dominant producer (at the beginning of the 1900s, Brazil produced 97% of the world’s coffee). In 1893, the coffee from Brazil was introduced into Kenya and Tanzania, not far from its place of origin in Ethiopia, 600 years prior, ending its transcontinental journey.

The roasting of coffee beans to give the aroma and flavor, which is universally recognized and appreciated, started during the 13th century and the quality of the aromatic profile is still a matter of expertise in carrying out this process.

Coffee is a large evergreen shrub of which Coffea Arabica, L. and C. robusta, L. are the most important commercial species existing in many varieties. Coffea arabica is a valued species and has been grown and selected for several centuries. It currently represents three-quarters of the world coffee production. Coffea arabica originates from Arabia, and thrives in land that is rich in minerals.

Several other species are encountered but these are of less importance; the flavor of these beans is generally considered to be less coarse, bitter and much less acceptable than that of C. arabica.
Coffee in brief description

History of Coffee Mocha

The term “mocha” originally referred to coffee that was grown in the Arabian Peninsula and shipped from the Yemeni port of Mocha (Al-Makha). Coffee from Al-Makha began to be referred to simply as Mocha coffee. Until Aden and Hodeida eclipsed it in the 19th century, Al-Makha was the principal port for Yemen's capital Sana'a.

When chocolate first appeared from Western Hemisphere, they found it reminiscent of, or confused it with, the wild and fruity flavors of Yemeni coffee.

In the early 1600's the Dutch were the first Europeans to open a company in the port city of Mocha in Yemen. As sixteenth century sailing ships carried goods from the Arabian Peninsula across the Mediterranean the Italian port of Venice became coffee’s gateway to European markets.

Merchants in Venice and Turin opened the earliest coffee houses, and when Spanish drinking chocolate was first introduced to Turin, it was mixed with coffee and cream into a stimulating novelty called bavareisa.

In Italy, confectioners from the “Sweet Piemonte” region develop the art of combining these culinary treasures, culminating with bicerin (meaning small glass). Outside Italy, caffé latte has become the basis for a drink of one third espresso and two thirds steamed milk.

The ubiquitous caffé mocha, a latte with the addition of chocolate powder or chocolate syrup, only hints at the possibilities of more complex combinations.

Caffé mocha is made by mixing chocolate (either sweetened, ground chocolate or chocolate syrup) with espresso. Steamed milk is then added to the mixture.
History of Coffee Mocha

Coffea Arabica in history

Dutch were the only Europeans who managed to grow the coffee bush. Dutch imported the first coffee plant into Holland from Mocha in 1616. Coffee trees were cultivated in Ceylon in 1658 and in Java in 1696.

The Coffea Arabica seedlings were sent by the Dutch governor of Malabar to the Dutch governor of Batavia in 1696. The first seedlings failed due to flooding in Batavia so a second shipment of seedlings was sent in 1699.

The plant grew in Java and in 1711 the first plants were sent from Java to a hothouse in Amsterdam by the Dutch East India Company. In 1713, the Dutch sent a coffee bush as a royal gift to King Louis XIV. After a day of feasting his eyes on the exotic gift, the king put the tree in the hand of Professor Antoine de Jussieu and ordered that every effort be made to cajole this royal gift grow well.

The first description of a coffee plant was in 1592 by Prospero Alpini. The first scientific reference to coffee was made by Antoine de Jussieu to the Royal Academy of Sciences of France in 1713 under the designation Jasminum arabicanum laurifolia. But it was Carl von Linne, a Swedish botanist, who established botanical classification in 1753. Linnaeus classified the coffee plant into a new genus, the Coffea, with just one known species: Coffea Arabica.
Coffea Arabica in history 

History of coffee roasting

Home roasting persisted in Mediterranean countries like Italy until well after World War II, and many drinkers in the Middle East and the horn of Africa still roast their own coffee as part of leisurely ritual combining roasting, brewing and dinking in one long sitting.

According to the legend, Muslim Sheikh Omar who was exiled to an infertile region of Arabia in about 1260 and according to one version of his legend discovered the benefits of roasted coffee while trying to avoid starvation by making a soup of coffee seeds. Finding them bitter, he roasted them before boiling them.

According to coffee expert Ian Bersten, he speculates that Syria is the likely location of the first truly roasted coffee, since Syrians, particularly in the city of Damascus, had developed the technology necessary to produce metal cookware.

At the early point in coffee history, probably before 1600, a somewhat different approach to coffee roasting and cuisine developed in Turkey, Syria and Egypt. The beans were brought to a very dark, almost black color, ground to a very fine powder, using either a millstone or a grinder with metal burns, and boiled and served with sugar.

Although Europeans traditionally imported the highest quality beams, American drank the most coffee per capita. Industrial coffee roasting began in the 1860s.

In the mid-nineteenth century, cylindrical, round and boxy coffee roasters came on the market in large numbers equipped with methods of agitating the beans to assure an even roast. In 1849, the inventor Thomas R. Wood of Cincinnati, Ohio, patented a hinged globe mounted on a three-legged frame with a bail for rotating beans as they heated on a hearth or stove.

The first successful commercial coffee roaster was invented in 1864 by Jabez Burns, who came to New York from London in 1845 and found employment with coffee and spice merchants. Burns devised a screw-like device to keep the beans moving as they roasted.

Continuous roasters are now frequently used by large-volume roasters. Reflectance-color meters are now used almost universally to characterize roast completeness and character.
History of coffee roasting

Early writings about coffee

The first known reference to coffee in Arabic writings came from an Islamic physician, Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariya El Razi  also known as ‘Rhazes’ (852-932), who wrote a now lost medical textbook circa 900 AD.

In his medical textbook, AL-Haiwi (The Continent), Rhazes describes the nature and effects of a plant named ‘bunn’ and a beverage named ‘buncham,’ and what he says about the beverage’s effects is at least consistent with a reference to coffee.

The oldest extant accounts of coffee roasting date to the writings of the famous Islamic physician Ibn Sina, traditionally referred to in English-language texts by his Latinized name ‘Avicenna’. Avicenna’s praises of coffee were published in Arabic circa 1000 AD and translated into Latin circa 1200 AD.

Ibn Sina wrote of a average that ‘fortified the members, cleanses the skin and dries up the humidities that under it, and gives an excellent smell to all the body’.

And along with the coffee bean itself came the institution of the coffeehouse, which had become an important meeting place and source of news in the Arab World, William Biddulph, an English traveler, had noted in 1609 that ‘their Coffee houses are more common than Ale-houses in England…. If there be any news it is talked of there’.

Leonhard Rauwolf a German physician botanist, also traveler and he was the first European to write a description of coffee, which he saw prepared by the Turks in Aleppo in 1573.
Early writings about coffee 

Nespresso

Nespresso is an espresso coffee-making machine consisting of a coffee capsule and a machine. The coffee capsule is hermetically sealed in aluminum and contains 5 grams (about one teaspoon) of roasted, ground coffee.

The product has been first developed for a niche market: coffee in offices where the price elasticity of demand is rather low, convenience seemed to be more important than price.

The coffee capsule is placed in the handle, which is then inserted into the machine. The act of inserting the handle pierces the coffee capsule at the top.

At the press of a button, pressurized hot water is passed through the capsule. Nespresso was founded in 1986 as a wholly owned, but autonomous, subsidiary of the Nestle Group with headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland.

The Nespresso machines were designed internally by Nestle and a Swiss design company and manufactured under license by Turmix for European markets. Sobal, a Swiss based distributor, purchased the machines from Turmix and the coffee capsules from Nestle Coffee Specialties and then sold it two t0gether as the Nespresso System.

Nespresso SA has two business divisions: Nespresso and Nespresso Business Solution. For its business-to-consumer (B2C) business, Nespresso offers a range of six machine models with various functions at different price points.

Nestle controls the market for distributing the consumable component of product, the little capsule filled with coffee that is used in a Nespresso machine to make a beverage.
Nespresso

Douwe Egberts – The history

A Dutch coffee roasting company, Douwe Egberts was founded in 1753 by Egbert Douwes and his wife, Akke Thysses. They began selling coffee, tea and tobacco in their small shop, De Witte Os (The White Ox), in Joure, a small village in the Netherlands.

Originally, Egbert Douwes only sold his product locally. However his son, Douwe Egberts, who entered the business around 1780, built up national reputation by supplying coffee and tea to shop owners throughout the country, spreading the fame of the Douwe Egberts brand. The shop grew onto a coffee-roasting house and a tea and tobacco-trading company.

The village of Joure was soon too small for the company’s activities and it started new production in Utrecht in 1919.

Gradually the company grew to become the Dutch market leader for coffee. By the 1950s, the company was responsible for over 50 percent of coffee exported from the Netherlands.

Douwe Egberts internationalized in 1927 opening production and distribution activities in Germany. As of 1948 Douwe Egberts expanded into Belgium, Denmark, France and Spain.

In 1978, the company was taken over by Sara Lee Corporation. In 2012, Douwe Egberts again went to the stock market under its own, slightly embellished, name as DE Master Blenders 1753.
Douwe Egberts – The history

Arbuckle coffee

In 1859 John Arbuckle, a Pittsburgh grocer entered the wholesale grocery business, McDonald and Arbuckle, begun by his brother Charles, his uncle Duncan McDonald, and his friend William Roseburg.

McDonald and Roseburg retired from the firm a few years later leaving the business on the hands of the two yourthfull John and Charles assumed charge. Under the firm name Arbuckles & OC., soon made their firm one of the important wholesale grocery houses in Pennsylvania.

In 1864, John Arbuckle, then twenty one, bought a coffee roaster. He sold his coffee in little packages that were widely mocked by competitors due to their resemblance to peanut bags.

By 1868 John Arbuckle’s formula for a tasty roasted coffee and his keen business expertise had revolutionized the coffee industry.

A good cup of coffee meant daily roasting until 1868, when Arbuckle perfected a glutinous mixture made of Irish moss, gelatin, isinglass, white sugar and eggs for preserving the freshness of roast coffee.

Early in the seventies, the great business opportunities of New York City had attracted the two brothers and a branch was established in New York in charge of john Arbuckle, the main business in Pittsburg being left in the charge of his brother Charles.

Arbuckles’ was so successful that in the 1880s the company established branches in Kansas City and Chicago as well as ports in Brazil and Mexico.

In 1937 the General Foods Corporation acquired a number of Arbuckle Brothers brand names, including Yuban.
Arbuckle coffee

History of coffee decaffeination

From its earliest history, there were health concerns regarding coffee and its effects. Decaffeinated coffee was first developed commercially in Europe 1900.

Decaffeination with chemical solvents such as methylenchloride or acetyl acetate was first successfully applied by Roselius in ’Kaffee HAG’. Dr. Ludwig Roselius’ original process for decaffeinating coffee was patented in Germany in 1905.

Before the First World War Roselius extended his business to the United States and built a coffee extraction plant at New Brunswick, New Jersey.

In USA the patent issued to Meyer, Roselius and Wimmer in 1908. The process as described in a 1908 patent consists of first, moisturizing green coffee to at least 20% to facilitated transport of caffeine through the cell wall and then contacting the moistened beans with solvents.

Until the 1980s, synthetic organic solvents commonly were used in the United States to extract the caffeine. 

The so called ‘water decaffeination’ process was developed as an alternative by General Foods around 1941 and was patented in 1943.

In the early 1980s, coffee was implicated as a possible cause of birth defects, benign breast lumps, pancreatic cancer and heart disease. Sales of decaffeinated coffee rose dramatically.

Until the mid-90s, decaffeinated coffee was considered to be flavorless, bitter and a poor substitute for regular coffee. As the process of decaffeination has improved, so has its market share with nearly 30 percent of the specialty and gourmet coffees being decaffeinated.
History of coffee decaffeination

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 

History of coffeehouses in Vienna, Austria

Coffeehouses have served as hangouts for artists and intellectuals throughout Europe whenever they existed.

Mohammed IV mobilized an army of 300,000 men and sent it forth under his vizier, Kara Mustapha, to destroy and conquer Europe.  Reaching Vienna July 7, 1683, the army quickly invested the city and cut it off from the world.

The enemy was repulsed in 12 September 1683, and legend has it that 500 sacks of coffee beans were left behind by the fleeing Turks.

Geor Franz Koltschitzky a native of Poland, also formerly an interpreter in the Turkish army, entered Austrian history by successfully passing through the Turkish line, in disguise, in Mid-August 1683 to deliver messages about conditions in Vienna to Charles V, Duke of Lorraine, who was heading up a relief army prepared to come to the city’s rescue.

He won himself undying fame with coffee his principle reward.

After the siege of 1683, Koltschitzky brewed and sold coffee at the house in the Domgasse, quite near St, Stephen’s Square.

At first the Viennese resisted wholesale consumption of the brew because of its bitterness, but when Koltschitzky discovered by chance that the addition of sugar made the taste more palatable, trade became brisk.

On January 17, 1685, Johannes Diodato obtained the first permit in Vienna to open a coffeehouse, although he probably had operated it earlier without benefit of the legal protection from competition that the license afforded.

He finally secured a royal monopoly from Leopold I on the sale of coffee in the city for twenty years.
History of coffeehouses in Vienna, Austria

Irish coffee

Then story goes that Irish coffee was created in the 1942 in the Shannon airport in Ireland, where it was a restorative drink served to weary passenger.

It was Joe Sheridan, the restaurant chef to top off hot coffee with a shot of Irish whiskey, all the better to warm a group of transatlantic passengers grounded by bad weather.

Today Irish coffee is as popular as ever. Irish coffee is one of the all-time great winter drinks, especially after dinner or for bunch.

The classic Irish coffee glass is an 80 ounces stemmed glass in the shape of a tulip that makes it nearly impossible to ruin the drink.

The coffee should be hot, fresh and strong. The cream should be thickened but still pourable, so that it will sit nicely on top of the hot coffee, allowing the drink to layer, such that the components come together only in the drinker’s mouth.

The original Irish coffee was a concoction of a bit of whiskey, a generous splash of black coffee and whipped cream.
Irish coffee

History of coffee in Europe

European travelers and botanists discussed coffee in their travelogues and treatises long before it was consumed anywhere bin the West.

Because coffee was probably brought up through the port of Venice, many historians believe the first European coffeehouse was established in Venice in about 1645.

Shortly after coffee reached Rome, it was threatened with religious fanaticism. It is related that certain priests appealed to Pope Clement VIII (1535-1605) to have its use forbidden among Christians, denouncing it as an invention of Satan.

The first recorded British coffeehouse was in Oxford. It was opened in 1650. Students and faculty patronized Jacob of the Angel, where their admission and a cup of coffee cost a penny. By early 18th century London had thousands of coffeehouses and by 1739 they outnumbered taverns.

Coffee houses multiply and become such popular forums for learned and not so learned. Only a decade after 166o did coffee take off as an item of luxury consumption; coffeehouses and cafes, the very heart of the emerging public sphere, sprouted up in cities and provincial towns throughout Europe.

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.
History of coffee in Europe 

The first coffee house in Turkey

The drink was first common in Yemen. Tradition has it that the very first known coffee shop was established in Constantinople around the year of 1475.

It was named Kiv Han, and immediately became a popular meeting place. In 1554 two coffee houses open there and people came pouring in to socialize, listen to the music, play games and of course drink.

Some often called these places in Turkey the ‘school of the wise’, because they could learn so much by just visiting the coffee house and listening to conversations.

The Constantinople coffee house was a place for powerful elders, where younger men might be granted patronage and learn the political strategies of their mentors.

Turkish coffee was served strong, black and unfiltered. At that time a Turkish woman could divorce her husband if he could not give her enough coffee.

From there, the habit spread to Constantinople’s frequent trading partner, Venice, from where it disseminated to England and Germany.

In 1683 Turkish invaders brought their favorite drink with them when they swept into Vienna and the rest was history.

By the end of the Ottoman Empire, during the period of modernization, the older coffeehouse began to seem old-fashioned, ‘stagnant, sullied place’ where the older men played cards, while European-style café’s attracted those seeking the cachet of modernity.
The first coffee house in Turkey