It's Coffeetime---

The history of coffee:

According to the legend, coffee was discovered in Ethiopia, where it grew wild. Some shepherds discovered that their flocks didn't sleep during the night after eating coffee.

Another legend gives us the name for coffee or "mocha". An Arabian was banished to the desert with his followers to die of starvation. In desperation, Omar had his friends boil and eat the fruit from an unknown plant. Not only did the broth save the exiles, but their survival was taken as a religious sign by the residents of the nearest town, Mocha. The plant and its beverage were named Mocha to honor this event.

In the 9th century in the Muslim world, coffee began use as a medicine, was liked for taste and became a pleasurable drink.
During the 14th century some coffee trees were transplanted to Arabia. They named it Kaweh.

One early use for coffee would have little appeal today. The Galla tribe from Ethiopia used coffee, but not as a drink. They would wrap the beans in animal fat as their only source of nutrition while on raiding parties. The Turks were the first country to adopt it as a drink, often adding spices such as clove, cinnamon, cardamom and anise to the brew.

By 1500 it was already in Turkey and then in Italy. In 1720 Gabriel Mathieu de Chieu, a French Marine Official, brought to Martinica three coffee trees from Paris. Only one of these trees survived the trip. From this surviving tree, coffee growing started in the New World.

Coffee shops began to open in the late 1600's in country's capital cities then in the larger cities and from then on into the beginnings of domestic use.

Some interesting coffee facts

Coffee Trivia

When shopping for perfume, take some coffee with you in your bag and have a good sniff in between smelling each perfume to refresh your nose!
Sprinkle spent coffee grounds around the base of your garden plants and it will stop snails and slugs from munching them!
A mixture of coffee grounds and sugar, fed to a pot plant and watered regularly, will revive houseplants that have turned yellow in winter.
Some of the worlds most powerful business, including Lloyds of London and the New York Stock Exchange, started life as a coffee houses.

In December 2001 Brazil produced a scented postage stamp to promote its coffee - the smell should last between 3 and 5 years.

Vincent Van Gogh was a big frequenter of the café society and famously said “I have tried to show the café as a place where one can go mad.”
Pope Clement VIII loved coffee and authorised its use.
Revolutions have been planned in coffee houses, namely the French and the American Revolutions.
At the end of the 16th century records show there were at least 500 cafes in Istanbul alone. The first European cafes were opened by immigrants from Asia around 1650.
A coffee tree has a lifespan of about 50 to 70 years.
The coffee cherries turn from yellow to orange and then bright red, 6 - 8 months after flowering.
When it is in bloom, the coffee tree is covered with 30,000 white flowers which begin to develop into fruit after 24 - 36 hours.
A coffee tree can flower eight times in any one year - depending on rainfall.
There are 900 different flavours of arabica. Complex and very volatile, they deteriorate if exposed to air and light.
The aromas in coffee develop at the 10th minute of roasting.
Coffee increases in volume during roasting by 18.60%.

Coffee is...

The second most widely used product in the world after oil.
It was worth 6 million tonnes per year in the mid 90's.
It is worth €30 billion per year to the producing countries.
It is a living to more than 100 million people.
It is consumed at the rate of 1400 million cups per day.
The world's second most popular drink after water.

Where did the word 'coffee' originate?

Kaffa? A province in Ethiopia where it was first discovered.
Kaaba? The holy building in Mecca.
Kavus Kai? A Persian king who was able to defy gravity and levitate by drinking coffee.
Kahwe? Meaning roasted in Turkish.
Cahouah? A hunger curing drink in Arabic.
Cohuet? Meaning strength or vigour in Arabic.

What the dictionary has to say about the word "Coffee":

cof·fee

Any of various tropical African shrubs or trees of the genus Coffea, especially C. arabica, widely cultivated in the tropics for their seeds that are dried, roasted, and ground to prepare a stimulating aromatic drink.

The beanlike seeds of this plant, enclosed within a pulpy fruit.

The beverage prepared from the seeds of this plant.

A moderate brown to dark brown or dark grayish brown.

An informal social gathering at which coffee and other refreshments are served.

Types of coffee

Turkish Coffee: Derived from the Arabica bean, Turkish coffee is a very fine, powder-like grind. An aromatic spice called cardamom is sometimes added to the coffee while it is being ground. One can also boil whole seeds with the coffee and let them float to the top when served. Turkish coffee has six levels of sweetness ranging from very sweet to black. Since sugar is not added to the coffee after it is served, spoons are not needed. As the coffee begins to heat, it begins to foam. A rule of the Turkish coffee ceremony dictates that if the foam is absent from the face of the coffee, the host loses face. Turkish coffee is served hot from a special coffee pot called a cezve. Tradition states that after the guest has consumed the coffee and the cup is turned upside down on the saucer and allowed to cool, the hostess then performs a fortune reading from the coffee grounds remaining in the cup. Rich in tradition and flavor, Turkish coffee remains a favorite today.

Cappuccino Coffee: Cappuccino is a strong coffee with frothy cream, topped with a pinch of powdered chocolate. The pale brown color of the coffee is reminiscent of the robes worn by Capuchin monks. A traditional cappuccino is served in a special white cup, similar to a teacup. The correct proportions are: 1/3 of just made espresso coffee, 2/3 of froth. The froth is prepared as follows: Fill a small jug to 1/3 of its capacity with fresh milk. Immerse the frothing arm found on all electric espresso machines to just below the surface of the milk. Turn on the steam and gradually lower the jug, allowing the milk to froth up while still keeping the froth arm just below the surface. Add a half of the froth into the espresso coffee. Sprinkle a bit of unsweetened cocoa powder or dark grated chocolate. Add the rest of the froth. Top off with a dash of cocoa or grated chocolate.

Espresso Coffee: Espresso is a black strong coffee prepared in Italian way by forcing live steam through dark-roast coffee beans. Coffee is placed into an espresso machine designed just for this purpose and hot water is forced through the coffee at very high pressure - extracting all the flavor possible. Brewing espresso has certainly been made easier, over the years, with the advancement of more automated machines. Preparing, however, the "perfect" cup of espresso is still a real art. A 1 to 1 1/2 ounce shot of espresso should brew in 19-23 seconds. The espresso should flow out of the machine at a slow, but steady dribble. If your espresso has been perfectly brewed, the surface will be covered with a thick, foamy, golden brown crema. If the crema is good, then sugar in your espresso will float on the surface for a couple seconds. Espresso coffee, despite being a sublime experience on its own, is the foundation for a wide variety of specialty coffee drinks such as the Cappuccino.

Coffee and Health

Health Benefits of Coffee--
Coffee has been a medical whipping boy for so long that it may come as a surprise that recent research suggests that drinking moderate amounts of coffee (two to four cups per day) provides a wide range of health benefits. Most of these benefits have been identified through statistical studies that track a large group of subjects over the course of years and match incidence of various diseases with individual habits, like drinking coffee, meanwhile controlling for other variables that may influence that relationship. According to a spate of such recent studies moderate coffee drinking may lower the risk of colon cancer by about 25%, gallstones by 45%, cirrhosis of the liver by 80%, and Parkinson's disease by 50% to as much as 80%. Other benefits include 25% reduction in onset of attacks among asthma sufferers and, at least among a large group of female nurses tracked over many years, fewer suicides.

In addition, some studies have indicated that coffee contains four times the amount of cancer-fighting anti-oxidants as green tea.

Of course, most of these studies do not take into account how the coffee is brewed, how fresh the beans, and so on. Perhaps as these studies are refined we may discover, for example, that drinking coffee that has been freshly roasted and brewed is more beneficial than downing coffee that is terminally stale or badly brewed. Certainly there is considerably more going on chemically in fresh coffee than in stale. And we may learn how much beneficial effects of coffee drinking are provoked by caffeine and how much by other, less understood, chemical components of coffee. But one thing is certain, if I were a nurse taking part in the study noted earlier, and if I were drinking cheap office service coffee, I would be much, much more prone to suicide than if I were drinking, say, a freshly roasted and brewed Ethiopia Yirgacheffe.