Coffee Written by EED Admin Thursday, 23 December 2010 15:56 - Last Updated Tuesday, 08 March 2011 14:55 Kaffa Region in Ethiopia is the birthplace of coffee, hence the similarity in name Kaffa - Coffee. Coffee is called 'Bunna' (boo-na) in Ethiopia, but as the plant spread out in the area as far as the Arabian peninsula across the Red Sea people referred to it as Kaffa or Coffee for the region it came from. The reason for its early spread was as an edible product mostly for the caffeine. Kaffa province is found south west of the capital Addis Ababa, the regions capital city is Jimma. The region is an ideal agricultural area growing apart from coffee, maize, teff (Ethiopia's staple food) and many other cash crops. The region is also very diverse with large Ethiopian muslim population and a mix of different Ethiopian ethnic groups, the Oromo being the largest one. The area was on a trade route to Sudan and other parts of Africa and also on trade and pilgrimage route to Arabian Peninsula which perhaps explains the spread of coffee in that direction. A detailed story of Kaffa area is below, taken from the Ethiopia's national airline Ethiopian Airlines in flight magazine known as "Selamata". 1 / 6 Coffee Written by EED Admin Thursday, 23 December 2010 15:56 - Last Updated Tuesday, 08 March 2011 14:55 The story of coffee has its beginnings in Ethiopia , the original home of the coffee plant, coffee arabica, which still grows wild in the forest of the highlands. While nobody is sure exactly how coffee was originally discovered as a beverage, it is believed that its cultivation and use began as early as the 9th century. Some authorities claim that it was cultivated in the Yemen earlier, around AD 575. The only thing that seems certain is that it originated in Ethiopia , from where it traveled to the Yemen about 600 years ago, and from Arabia it began its journey around the world. Among the many legends that have developed concerning the origin of coffee, one of the most popular account is that of Kaldi, an Abyssinian goatherd, who lived around AD 850. One day he observed his goats behaving in abnormally exuberant manner, skipping, rearing on their hindlegs and bleating loudly. He noticed they were eating the bright red berries that grew on the green bushes nearby. Kaldi tried a few himself, ad soon felt a novel sense of elation. He filled his pockets with the berries and ran home to announce his discovery to his wife. They are heaven-sent, she declared. You must take them to the Monks in the monastery. Kaldi presented the chief Monk with a handful of berries and related his discovery of their miraculous effect. Devils work! exclaimed the monk, and hurled the berries in the fire. Within minutes the monastery filled with the heavenly aroma of roasting beans, and the other monks gathered to investigate. The beans were raked from the fire and crushed to extinguish the embers. The Monk ordered the grains to be placed in the ewer and covered with hot water to preserve their goodness. That night the monks sat up drinking the rich and fragrant brew, and from that day vowed they would drink it daily to keep them awake during their long, nocturnal devotions. While the legends attempt to condense the discovery of coffee and its development as a beverage into one story, it is believed that the monks of Ethiopia , may have chewed on the berries as a stimulant for centuries before it was brewed as a hot drink. Another account suggests that coffee was brought to Arabia from Ethiopia , by Sudanese slaves who chewed the berries en route to help them survive the journey. There is some evidence that coffee was ground and mixed with butter, and consumed like chocolate for sustenance, a method reportedly used by the Galla (correct: Oromo) tribe of Ethiopia , which lends some credence to the story of the Sudanese slaves. The practice of mixing ground coffee beans with ghee (clarified butter) persists to this day in some parts of Kaffa and Sidamo, two of the principle coffee producing regions of Ethiopia ,. And in Kaffa, from which its name derives, the drink is brewed today with the addition of melted ghee which gives it a distinctive, buttery flavour. From the beginning, coffees invigorating powers have understandably linked it with religion, and each tradition claims its own story of origins. Islamic legend ascribes the discovery of coffee to devout Sheikh Omar, who found the coffee growing wild while living as a recluse in Mocha, one famous coffee producing place in Yemen. 2 / 6 Coffee Written by EED Admin Thursday, 23 December 2010 15:56 - Last Updated Tuesday, 08 March 2011 14:55 He is said to have boiled some berries, and discovered the stimulating effect of the resulting brew, which he administered to the locals who were stricken with a mysterious ailment and thereby cured them. There are numerous versions of this story concerning the Sheikh Omar, which relate how he cured the King of Mochas daughter with coffee, and another where wondrous bird leads him to a tree full of coffee berries. Arabic scientific documents dating from around AD 900 refer to a beverage drunk in Ethiopia , Known as buna, and the similarities in the words suggests that this could be one of the earliest references to Ethiopian , coffee in its brewed form. It is recorded that in 1454 the Mufti of Aden visited Ethiopia , and saw his own countrymen drinking coffee there. He was reportedly impressed with the drink which cured him of some affliction, and his approval made it soon popular among the dervishes of the Yemen who used it in religious ceremonies, and introduced it to Mecca. It was in Mecca that the first coffee houses are said to have been established. Known as Kaveh Kanes, they were originally religious meeting places, but soon became social meeting places for gossip, singing and story-telling. With the spread of coffee as a popular beverage it soon became a subject for heated debate among devout Muslims. The Arabic word for coffee, kahwah, is also one of several words for wine. In the process of stripping the cherry husk, the pulp of the bean was fermented to make a potent liquor. The Quran forbade the use of wine or intoxicating beverages, but those Muslims in favour of coffee argued that it was not an intoxicant but a stimulant. The dispute over coffee came to a head in 1511 in Mecca. The governor of Mecca, Beg, saw some people drinking coffee in a mosque as they prepared a night-long prayer vigil. Furious he drove them from the mosque and ordered all coffee houses to be closed. A heated debate ensued, with coffee being condemned as an unhealthy brew by two unscrupulous Persian doctors, the Hakimani brothers, who were known to produce whatever testimony suited the highest bidder. The doctors wanted it banned, for it was a popular cure among the melancholic patients who other-wise would have paid the doctors to cure them. The mufti of Mecca spoke in defense of coffee. The issue was only resolved when the Sultan of Cairo intervened and reprimanded the Khair Beg for banning a drink that was widely enjoyed in Cairo without consulting his superior. In 1512, when Khair Beg was accused of embezzlement, the Sultan had him put to death. Coffee survived in Mecca. The picture of Arabic coffee houses as dens of iniquity and frivolity was exaggerated by religious zealots. In reality the Middle Eastern was the forerunner of the European Cafe society and the coffee houses of London which became famous London clubs. They were enlightened meeting places for intellectuals, where news and gossip exchanged and clients regularly entertained by traditional story-tellers. 3 / 6 Coffee Written by EED Admin Thursday, 23 December 2010 15:56 - Last Updated Tuesday, 08 March 2011 14:55 From the Arabian Peninsula coffee traveled to the East. The Arabs are credited with first bringing coffee to Sri Lanka (Ceylon) as early as 1505. It is said that fertile coffee beans, the berries with their husks unbroken, were first introduced into South-West India by one Baba Budan on his return from a pilgrimage to Mecca in the 17th century. By 1517 coffee had reached Constantinople, following the conquest of Egypt by Salim I, and it was established in Damascus by 1530. Coffee houses were opened in Constantinople in 1554, and their advent provoked religiously inspired riots that temporarily closed them. But they survived their critics, and their luxurious interiors became a regular rendezvous for those engaged in radical political thought and dissent. From time to time coffee continued to be banned, the target of religious zealots, and at one time second offenders were sewn into leather bags and thrown into the Bosphorus. But coffee was profitable and finally achieved respectability when it became subject to tax. Venetian traders had introduced coffee to Europe by 1615, a few years later than tea which had appeared in 1610. Again its introduction aroused controversy in Italy when some clerics, like the mullahs of Mecca, suggested it should be excommunicated as it was the Devils work. However, Pope Clement VIII (1592- 1605) enjoyed it so much that he declared that coffee should be baptized to make it a true Christian drink. The first coffee house opened in Venice in 1683. The famous Venice's Cafe Florian in the Piazza San Marco, established in 1720, is the oldest surviving coffee house in Europe.