CoffeeForums Coffee Facts

The Beginning of coffee is lost in time. Several legends and myths are the only source of information that is available to know how coffee originated. One myth is about an Ethiopian goat-herder named Kaldi. One day while he was in the meadows hearind his goats he noticed that some of the goats were unusually lively after eating some berries. It is said that he found similar effect on him after had too had tried the berries now known as Coffee beans.

15th Century to the 17th Century, coffee was traded world wide with Mocha, a Red sea Port in Yemen being one of the largest market places for coffee.

With Yemen trading coffee to European and coffee traders initially imported it to Venice in Italy. Venice was a major European port at the time. Slowly coffee was traded across Europe and then to England, where coffee houses became very popular.

In the beginning, coffee beans that were sold were Infertile. Infertile beans could not be grown back plants, but in the 17th century the Dutch managed to obtain some live coffee plants or coffee beans. From these the Dutch were able to grow new plants in greenhouses. Then they spread them to their colonies in Indonesia (Then known as Java), which were able to cultivate them successfully enough to become the main suppliers of coffee for Europe.

Later some of the plants from these plantations were traded with the French, who in turn were able to grow them in their colonies in Martinique and French Guiana, from which later on were spread to Brazil.

The very first coffee plantation in Brazil was founded in 1727, from then Brazil would become the biggest coffee producer in the world during the 19th and 20th centuries, even with rising competition from other countries like Colombia, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Indonesia and Vietnam. These countries are also known for their well developed coffee industry.

Coffee was introduced to North America back in the late 17th century, with imports from Europe. Some of the main ports that coffee was traded were New York, Boston and some other East Coast ports. From these ports, coffee spread across the country. Today Coffee has become one of the largely consumed daily beverages in the world.

The common method of roasting coffee was to simply stir-fry green coffee beans in an iron pan over a fire till brown. This is a similar practice that is done in the Middle-East.