How Java Became the World’s Most-Consumed Beverage
On September 29, the United States and Canada will pay homage to the humble coffee bean. Two days later, people around the world will celebrate International Coffee Day. How did this unassuming berry come to be the source of the most popular beverage in the world? Popular legend says it all started with a young goatherd named Kaldi in the forests in Ethiopia nearly six centuries ago (though others date the origin of the beverage back another 500 years). According to this tale, Kaldi observed that when his flock ate the berries of a certain bush, they refused to sleep at night. The goatherd told local monks about it and they brewed a drink with the berries, which helped them stay awake during long hours of meditation.
Over the next century, the coffee plant grew in popularity and became a staple crop throughout the Arabian Peninsula. By the late 1500s, coffee houses were common throughout Egypt, Syria and the Turkish Empire. Not surprisingly, as trade expanded between Europe and the Arab world, coffee eventually came to Europe, but not without controversy.
The Bitter Invention of Satan
When word of the strange dark brew and its properties first made it to Europe, the church viewed it with great suspicion, banning its use by the faithful. The popularity of coffee was such, though, that adherents petitioned Pope Clement VIII to determine whether it was a sinful concoction. The Pope concluded that he couldn’t rule on the controversy without trying the elixir. He liked it and gave it the papal stamp of approval.
America Throws Tea Overboard in Favor of Coffee
Before the American Revolution, the colonists’ beverage of choice was almost unanimously tea. When the British imposed a heavy tax on the import of tea into the fledgling country, colonists responded by dumping the tea in the harbor and turning to coffee. The new demand for coffee beans led enterprising entrepreneurs to introduce the coffee plant throughout the Caribbean, now the home of some of the world’s finest coffee beans.
A Few Things You Didn’t Know about Coffee
- The bean is actually the pit or seed of a berry that grows on the bush
- The people of Finland drink more coffee, per capita, than any other country in the world (it may have something to do with those long, cold winters)
- Coffee drinkers, on average, live longer than people who abstain from caffeine—studies show that about three cups a day will lead to a longer life with less risk of heart disease, diabetes or Parkinson’s.
