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Coffee: the story on HearLore | HearLore
Coffee
In the middle of the 15th century, a dark, bitter liquid began to circulate among Sufi communities in Yemen, serving as a tool to keep monks awake during long nights of prayer. This was not merely a drink; it was a revolutionary substance that would eventually reshape global trade, fuel revolutions, and alter the course of human history. Before this moment, the world knew nothing of the stimulating power hidden within the seeds of the Coffea plant. The earliest credible reports of coffee drinking do not appear until this specific time, marking the beverage as a relatively recent development in human civilization. While legends later claimed that a goatherd named Kaldi discovered the plant in the 9th century, historical evidence suggests this story is apocryphal, likely invented centuries later to explain the mysterious origins of the bean. The reality is far more grounded in the social and religious practices of the Rasulid sultanate of Yemen, where coffee seeds were first roasted and brewed in a manner strikingly similar to modern preparation. By the 16th century, the beverage had spread from the Red Sea to the rest of the Middle East and North Africa, carried by traders and Sufi devotees who recognized its unique ability to sustain alertness and community.
From Yemen To The World
The journey of coffee from a local Yemeni curiosity to a global commodity began with the port city of Mocha, which became the world's largest shipping port for coffee by the 17th century. Up to the end of that century, Yemen held a monopoly on the world's coffee supply, exporting beans to Jeddah and Cairo before they reached the rest of the Ottoman Empire. The first coffeehouse in the Ottoman Empire opened in 1555 in Tahtakale, Istanbul, establishing a new social institution that would eventually spread to Europe. By 1600, coffee had reached Italy, and Pope Clement VIII famously declared it a Christian beverage after initial calls to ban it as a Muslim drink. The Dutch East India Company was the first to import coffee on a large scale, eventually growing the crop in Java and Ceylon, with the first exports of Indonesian coffee to the Netherlands occurring in 1711. The beverage's spread to Europe was rapid; the first European coffeehouse outside the Ottoman Empire opened in Venice in 1647, and by the 18th century, coffee had reached the Americas. In the Caribbean, Frenchman Gabriel de Clieu took a coffee plant to Martinique in the 1720s, from which much of the world's cultivated arabica coffee is descended. By 1788, the French colony of Saint-Domingue, now Haiti, supplied half the world's coffee, a production boom built on the brutal labor of enslaved people that would eventually fuel the Haitian Revolution.
Coffee first appeared in the middle of the 15th century among Sufi communities in Yemen. Historical evidence suggests this specific time marks the earliest credible reports of coffee drinking, while legends about a 9th-century discovery by a goatherd named Kaldi are apocryphal.
Where did coffee originate and how did it spread to Europe?
Coffee originated in the Rasulid sultanate of Yemen where seeds were first roasted and brewed. The beverage spread to Europe with the first coffeehouse outside the Ottoman Empire opening in Venice in 1647, and it reached the Americas by the 18th century.
What are the two main species of coffee and where are they native to?
The two main species are C. arabica and C. canephora, known as robusta. Arabica is native to the southwestern highlands of Ethiopia and the Boma Plateau in Sudan, while robusta is native to western and central Subsaharan Africa.
How does the roasting process change the chemical composition of coffee beans?
Roasting begins when the temperature inside the bean reaches approximately 196 degrees Celsius and creates caramelization that breaks down starches into simple sugars. Aromatic oils and acids weaken during the process, and one specific oil called caffeol is created at about 200 degrees Celsius to provide aroma and flavor.
What are the primary environmental and economic challenges facing coffee production today?
Coffee production faces challenges including deforestation, pesticide pollution, and the use of about 140 liters of water to grow beans for one cup of coffee. The industry also struggles with economic volatility, poverty among farmers, and climate change threatening to reduce land suitable for growing Arabica coffee.
When did fair trade labeling begin and how much fair trade coffee was produced in 2004?
Fair trade labeling began in the late 1980s with the Max Havelaar Foundation's labeling program in the Netherlands. In 2004, 24,222 metric tons of the 7,050,000 produced worldwide were fair trade.
Coffee cultivation is restricted to a specific band of the globe known as the bean belt, stretching between the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. Within this zone, two main species dominate the market: C. arabica, native to the southwestern highlands of Ethiopia and the Boma Plateau in Sudan, and C. canephora, known as robusta, native to western and central Subsaharan Africa. Arabica is generally more highly regarded for its flavor, while robusta contains about 40 to 50 percent more caffeine and is less susceptible to disease. The global coffee industry is worth $495.50 billion as of 2023, with Brazil leading production by growing 31 percent of the world's total. In 2023, the world produced 11 million tonnes of green coffee beans, with Vietnam following as a secondary producer. Despite the massive scale of production, coffee farmers disproportionately live in poverty, and the industry has been criticized for its negative environmental impact, including the clearing of land and excessive water use. The economic volatility of coffee has led to market fluctuations that have historically forced Brazilian entrepreneurs to shift attention from gold to coffee, creating railroads and attracting hundreds of thousands of immigrants to São Paulo in the early 20th century. Today, over 100 million people in developing countries depend on coffee as their primary source of income, making it the economic backbone for countries like Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, and Ethiopia.
The Science Of The Roast
The transformation of green coffee beans into the beverage known today involves a complex chemical process known as roasting. The actual roasting begins when the temperature inside the bean reaches approximately 196 degrees Celsius, though different varieties roast at different rates. During this process, caramelization occurs as intense heat breaks down starches, changing them to simple sugars that begin to brown, which darkens the color of the bean. Sucrose is rapidly lost during roasting and may disappear entirely in darker roasts, while aromatic oils and acids weaken, changing the flavor. One of these oils, caffeol, is created at about 200 degrees Celsius and is largely responsible for coffee's aroma and flavor. The difference in caffeine content between a light roast and a dark roast is only about 0.1 percent, yet the flavor profile changes dramatically. The degree of roast affects coffee flavor and body, with darker roasts generally being bolder and lighter roasts having a more complex flavor from aromatic oils and acids otherwise destroyed by longer roasting times. Coffee beans must be ground and brewed to create a beverage, with the criteria for choosing a method including flavor and economy. Brewing coffee by boiling is the earliest method, exemplified by Turkish coffee, while modern methods include drip brewers, percolators, and espresso machines that force hot pressurized water through finely-ground coffee.
Pests, Pesticides, And The Environment
The cultivation of coffee faces significant biological challenges, with over 900 species of insect recorded as pests worldwide. The most damaging insect pest is the 2-millimeter-long coffee borer beetle, which destroys up to 50 percent or more of the coffee berries on plantations in most coffee-producing countries. The adult female beetle nibbles a single tiny hole in a coffee berry and lays 35 to 50 eggs inside, where the offspring grow and emerge to disperse, repeating the cycle. Mass spraying of insecticides has often proven disastrous, as predators of the pests are more sensitive than the pests themselves. Instead, integrated pest management has been developed, using techniques such as targeted treatment of pest outbreaks and managing crop environment away from conditions favoring pests. The shift from shade-grown coffee to sun cultivation in the 1970s has caused environmental problems such as deforestation, pesticide pollution, and habitat destruction. Originally, coffee was grown in the shade of trees that provided a habitat for many animals and insects, but many farmers switched to sun cultivation to increase yields, requiring the clearing of trees and increased use of fertilizer and pesticides. Coffee production uses a large volume of water, with about 140 liters of water needed to grow the beans for one cup of coffee, and climate change may significantly impact coffee yields during the 21st century.
The Economics Of A Global Commodity
Coffee is bought and sold as green coffee beans by roasters, investors, and price speculators as a tradable commodity in commodity markets and exchange-traded funds. Coffee futures contracts for Grade 3 washed arabicas are traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange under ticker symbol KC, with contract deliveries occurring every year in March, May, July, September, and December. Dating to the 1970s, coffee has been incorrectly described by many as the world's second most legally traded commodity, when in fact it was the second most valuable commodity exported by developing countries from 1970 to circa 2000. The concept of fair trade labeling, which guarantees coffee growers a negotiated preharvest price, began in the late 1980s with the Max Havelaar Foundation's labeling program in the Netherlands. In 2004, 24,222 metric tons of the 7,050,000 produced worldwide were fair trade, an increase from 0.34 percent to 0.51 percent in 2005. However, studies have shown that fair trade coffee produces a mixed impact on the communities that grow it, with many skeptical about its ability to improve the bargaining power of those who are not part of the system. The market volatility and price fluctuations have historically forced governments to keep strong price subsidies during production periods, and the four years between planting a coffee and the first harvest extend seasonal variations in the price of coffee.
Culture, Controversy, And The Coffee Break
Coffee has been a subject of religious and political controversy throughout its history. The permissibility of coffee was debated in the Islamic world during the early 16th century, variously being permitted or prohibited until it was ultimately accepted by the 1550s. King Charles II of England briefly outlawed coffeehouses to quell perceived rebellion, and King Frederick the Great banned it in Prussia, concerned about the price of importing coffee without production colonies. Sweden prohibited coffee in the 18th century for the same reasons. In the United States, coffee is sometimes called a cup of Joe, with the origin of this phrase in dispute; a common story is that in World War I the US Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels banned alcohol on navy ships, meaning the strongest drink available aboard the ship was black coffee. The coffee break in the United States originated in the late 19th century in Stoughton, Wisconsin, with the wives of Norwegian immigrants, and the term subsequently became common through a Pan-American Coffee Bureau ad campaign of 1952. The first coffeehouse in Constantinople was opened in 1475 by traders arriving from Damascus and Aleppo, and today, the term barista refers to a person who makes coffee beverages, often a coffeehouse employee.
The Future Of The Bean
The future of coffee faces significant challenges as climate change threatens to reduce the land suitable for growing Arabica coffee, with countries like Nicaragua and Ethiopia potentially losing more than half of their farming land. As of 2016, at least 34 percent of global coffee production was compliant with voluntary sustainability standards such as Fairtrade, UTZ, and 4C. The industry is also seeing a rise in specialty coffee, which has driven a desire for more traceable coffee, with businesses offering coffees that may come from a single origin or a single lot from a single farm. Some coffee is sold through internet auction, leading to increased price transparency since the final price paid is usually published. New innovations include functional coffee blended with ingredients claimed to improve health, such as mushrooms, and the development of synthetic coffee products that are highly similar on the molecular level to real coffee. Despite these challenges, coffee remains a vital cash crop for many developing countries, and the global coffee industry continues to evolve, balancing the needs of farmers, consumers, and the environment.