Stories and Legends
There are numerous legends about discovery of coffee. One of them says that archangel Gabriel woke prophet Mohammed with a cup of coffee. The drink was so invigorating that it did not only woke the prophet up, but also gave him strength to beat 40 people with only one hit. The most widespread legend says that it were goats that made coffee plant popular. The story took place in Kaffa province in Southwest Ethiopia. Some goats ate silky leaves and red berries of the short trees that had such a stimulating effect on them, that the goatherd could not calm them down for a long time.
He was surprised with such an effect of the plant and decided to try the berries himself, and they turned out to be tasteless. However, the goatherd noticed that the berries of the unknown tree made him feel invigorated for a long time. Monks from the monastery nearby heard about this phenomenon and after numerous attempts they discovered that if roasted, ground and brewed, the beans made a drink that allowed them to stay awake for long hours for praying. The drink obviously got very popular for this particular property in other monasteries as well.
Apparently these are only legends, but most modern researchers concur that the coffee plant originates from Ethiopia, where one can still find it growing wild. From Ethiopia coffee came to Yemen where its geographic and agro-industrial spreading began. People started roasting coffee beans coincidentally: when burning coffee plants, they found roasted coffee beans in ash, they chewed the beans or made a refreshing drink from them. After invention of roasting and development of preparation methods of the coffee as a beverage the drink won the hearts of the Yemenites and became a part of their everyday life as an object of national pride, and the method of preparing coffee drink itself became a national ceremony. For two centuries Yemen was the only country that provided the whole world market with coffee. That is the turning point when coffee started to spread all over the world. This was also largely facilitated by favorable geographical location of the country: Yemen was on the crossroads of the major trade routes leading from East Africa and Southeast Asia to Middle East and Europe. Drinking coffee spread to holy cities of Mecca and Medina where it was used for staying awake during long praying hours as well. At the same time citizens of these cities liked the new beverage so much that they started drinking it not only for religious purposes. It is important to note that alcoholic beverages were always forbidden to Muslims and when coffee appeared in the region it got incredibly popular and became a national tradition. The word “qahwah ” originates from the Arabic word meaning “infusion”. The Turks have changed it slightly into “kahve” and soon it became the European caffe, cafe or coffee.
Сoffee in Europe
In Europe coffee was firstly mentioned by Antonio Menavino, in his treatise on the Turkish beverages in 1548.
Italy. The first cup of coffee was prepared for Europeans in Rome 1626 by Della Valle, who was an ambassador of the Pope and, living in Iran (Persia), became addicted to everyday coffee drinking, and therefore could prepare it himself in the skilful manner. Gradually, coffee houses were opened all around Mediterranean ports. In Venice in 1615, then in Rome in 1626. Opponents of the coffee urged the Pope, hoping for his prohibition. However, the Pope liked drunk and blessed it. Soon, first coffee houses were opened in Venice and then spread over whole Italy.
England. Maritime trade brought coffee into England. Significantly, that at first introduction of coffee into European cuisine was accompanied by opinion of coffee beneficial effect on people mental processes (now this effect is proved). In the view of this, coffee houses became popular in university cities. In particular, coffee house was opened in Oxford in 1637. But in XVIII century Englishmen shifted their focus to tea.
France turned to coffee later. The way it’s told, firstly coffee was prepared by the efforts of the ambassadorial cook -Armenian to the French Royal Court at a reception in Turkish embassy. Louis XVI ordered to include coffee into the Louvre menu. Fashion for coffee quickly spread throughout the country. Although coffee was expensive, nevertheless, it gradually began to infiltrate into other layers of society. Coffee houses began to open. And, just like in Turkey, coffee attracted visitors to the coffee houses not only by the aroma, but also through the opportunity to talk, argue, and discuss the city news.
Germany. Coffee appeared in Germany in the same way as in many European countries in the XVII century. The first cafe was opened in 1673 in Bremen. The drink quickly spread, starting from the ports and then throughout the whole Germany. The coffee house culture in Germany developed quickly as well; the cafes became the usual meeting place with a cup of coffee and biscuits. There were written a lot of book-writings about the approval of coffee in Germany. In addition, to coffee was devoted a lot of musical compositions, the most famous of them is “Coffee cantata” by Johann Sebastian Bach.
In Austria, coffee appeared as a trophy. In 1683, after the second siege of Vienna by the Turks, which ended in failure, the inhabitants of the city found bags of coffee left by the Turks. There was found a man who has been in Istanbul and taught the Vienna people to make a coffee drink. Residents of Vienna are great fans to give their authorship to all the innovations (Viennese waltz, Viennese chair, Viennese bun) – immediately invented a new recipe for making coffee – Coffee a la Vienne. Coffee in small porcelain cups (by the way, one says that they were invented in Vienna) began to be served by a cream.
The appearance of coffee in Ukraine
The first mention of coffee in Ukraine dates back to 1672 – just then the Turks founded the first coffee house in Kamenetz-Podolsky. Lviv really acquired this drink in the XVIII century. The city got coffee not only from the East (in particular from Turkey), but also from the West, from Vienna, where the Galician Yuri Kulchytsky in 1683 opened a cafe ‘Under the blue flask’. Consequently, the cafe of a famous Galician created a fashion for coffee throughout Europe.
In the XIX century, Lviv seemed to be crazy about coffee. It was taken: being half-awake and with an empty stomach, home and away, before and after meal. Rich society drank only Brazilian or Arabian natural product, meanwhile poor people mixed coffee with chicory. There were also gourmets: for them, the coffee beans of a particularly strong and pleasant aroma were saved.
In some cities of the country associations for the coffee distribution have appeared. They lead an antagonistic struggle against similar associations of tea. Interest in the drink has grown so much that coffee has become a serious competitor to tea.