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Prior to 1000
A.D.
Members of the Galla tribe in
Ethiopia notice that they get an energy boost when they eat a certain
type of berry, ground up and mixed with animal fat.
c. 1000 A.D.
Arab traders bring coffee back to
their homeland and cultivate the plant for the first time on plantations.
They also boil the beans, creating a drink they call qahwa (literally
"that which prevents sleep").
1453
Coffee is introduced to
Constantinople by the Ottoman Turks. The world's first coffee shop, Kiva
Han, opens there in 1475. Turkish law makes it legal for a woman to
divorce her husband if he fails to provide her with a daily quota of
coffee.
1511
Khair Beg, the corrupt governor
of Mecca, tries to ban coffee for fear that its influence might foster
opposition to his rule. The sultan sends word that coffee is sacred and
has the governor executed.
1587
Sheikh Abd-al-Kadir writes,
" No one can understand the truth until he drinks of coffee's
frothy goodness."
c.1600
Coffee, introduced to the West by
Italian traders, grabs attention in high places. In Italy, Pope Clement
VIII is urged by his advisers to consider the favorite drink of the
Ottoman Empire part of the infidel threat. One sip, however, and he
decides to baptize it instead, making it an acceptable Christian
beverage.
 1607
Captain John Smith helps to found
the colony of Virginia at Jamestown; it is believed that he introduced
coffee to North America.
1645
First coffeehouse opens in Italy.
1652
First coffeehouse in England.
Coffeehouses multiply and become such popular forums for learned - and
not so learned - discussions that they are dubbed " penny
universities" (a penny being the price of a cup of coffee).
1668
 Coffee
replaces beer as New York City's favorite breakfast drink.
1668
Edward Lloyd's coffeehouse opens
in England and is frequented by merchants and maritime insurance agents.
Eventually it becomes Lloyd's of London, the best known insurance
company in the world.
1672
First coffeehouse opens in Paris
1675
England's King Charles tried
to suppress coffeehouses, supposedly because men were neglecting their
families to discuss business and politics over coffee. His proclamation
is revoked after public outcry.
1685
The Turkish army surrounds
Vienna. Franz Georg Kolschitsky, a Viennese who had lived in Turkey,
slips through enemy lines to lead relief forces to the city. The fleeing
Turks leave behind sacks of "dry black fodder" that
Kolschitsky recognizes as coffee. He claims it as his reward and opens
central Europe's first coffee house. He also establishes the habit of
refining the brew by filtering out its grounds, sweetening it, and
adding a dash of milk.
1690
With a coffee plant smuggled out
of the Arab port of Mocha, the Dutch become the first to transport and
cultivate coffee commercially, in Ceylon - and in their East Indian
colony of Java, source of the brew's nickname.
1713
The Dutch unwittingly provide
Louis XIV of France with a coffee bush whose descendants will produce
the entire western coffee industry when in 1723 French naval officer
Gabriel Mathieu deClieu steals a seedling and transports it to
Martinique. Within 50 years an official survey records 19 million coffee
trees on Martinique. Eventually 90 percent of the world's coffee spreads
from this plant.
1721
First coffeehouse opens in Berlin.
1727
The Brazilian coffee industry
gets its start when Lieutenant Colonel Francisco de Melo Palheta is sent
by his government to arbitrate a border dispute between the French and
Dutch colonies in Guiana.
Not only does he settle the dispute, he also strikes up a secret
liaison with the wife of French Guiana's governor. Although France
guarded its new world coffee plantations to prevent cultivation from
spreading, the lady said goodbye to Palheta with a bouquet in which she
hid cuttings and fertile seeds of coffee.
1732
Johann Sebastian Bach composes
his Kaffee Kantate. Partly an ode to coffee and partly a stab at the
movement in Germany to prevent women from drinking coffee (it was
thought to make them sterile), the cantata includes the aria, "Ah!
How sweet coffee tastes! Lovelier than a thousand kisses, sweeter far
than muscatel wine! I must have my coffee...."
1773
The Boston Tea Party makes
drinking coffee a patriotic duty in America.
1775
Prussia's Frederick the Great
tries to block imports of green coffee, as Prussia's wealth is drained.
Public outcry changes his mind.
1886
Former wholesale grocer Joel
Cheek names his popular coffee blend Maxwell House after the hotel in
Nashville, Tennessee, where it is served.
Early 1900s
In Germany, afternoon coffee
becomes a standard occasion. The derogatory term Kaffeeklatsch is coined
to describe women's gossip at these affairs. It has since broadened to
mean relaxed conversation in general.
 1900
Hills Bros. begins packing roast
coffee in vacuum tins, spelling the end to the ubiquitous local roasting
shops and coffee mills.
1901
The first soluble instant coffee
is invented by Japanese-American chemist Satori Kato of Chicago.
1903
German coffee importer Ludwig
Roselius turns a batch of ruined coffee beans over to researchers, who
perfect the process of removing caffeine from the beans without
destroying the flavor. He markets it under the brand name "Sanka"
(a contraction of the French sans caffeine). Sanka is introduced to the
United States in 1923.
1906
George Constant Washington, an
English chemist living in Guatemala, notices a powdery condensation
forming on the spout of his silver coffee carafe. After experimentation,
he creates the first mass-produced instant coffee (his brand is called
Red E Coffee), which is followed by dozens of other brands.
1920
Prohibition goes into effect in
the United States. Coffee sales boom.
1938
Having been asked by Brazil to
help find a solution to their coffee surpluses, Nestle develops Nescafe
and introduces it in Switzerland.
1940
The US Imports 70 percent of the
world coffee crop.
1942
During WWII, American soldiers
are issued Maxwell House coffee in their ration kits. Back home,
widespread hoarding leads to coffee rationing.
 1948
In Italy, Achille Gaggia perfects his espresso machine. Cappuccino is
named for the resemblance of its color to the robes of the monks of the
Capuchin order.
1951
Consumer Reports tests instant
coffees.
1961
Carnation introduces Coffeemate
nondairy creamer, a powder composed of corn syrup solids, vegetable fat,
sodium caseinate, and various additives.
1971
Starbucks opens its first store
in Pike Place public market, creating a frenzy over fresh-roasted whole
bean coffee.
1970
Claudio Manzo started in a small shop in
Pescara, Italy.
Excerpted from Utne Reader,
No.66, Nov./Dec. 1994; pages 58-65.
Images courtesy of arttoday.com.
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