Origin Of Coffee

 The True Story

One of the world's most loved beverages, coffee is a way of life. It has managed to dispel all doubts about the darker shades of its character, and today, the darker the shade, the more we love it...that's COFFEE.

Legend has it that around the eight century AD, an Ethiopian goatherd, Kaldi, discovered coffee, when his frolicking goats tried the taste of a deep red berry growing on the hillside. The animals became friskier and Kaldiwas tempted too, soon, he joined them.

The monks of the area tasted these bitter berries and that night they prayed with greater fervor than before! Soon the fame of the flavor spread and Africans of those times actually made bars out of this bean and animal fat balls.

There was also wine made out of this berry that was very popular. But it was not until the tenth century that the coffee berry found its way out of the African continent. It moved out through the route of Arabia where it was again zealously guarded for many centuries before the white man could get at it.

By 1000 AD, roasted beans were first brewed in Arabia, probably brought across the Red sea by wayfarers, and in less than three hundred years, coffee became an integral part of the Arabian culture. Over the course of time, wherever Islam traveled, coffee went too, and thus reached places like North Africa, South East Asia, India and the Eastern Mediterranean. By 1600 AD, it had conquered most of the palates of the Eastern world. The secret of this brew, however, remained a well-guarded secret, and in Arabian countries, the bean was actually made infertile by parching or boiling, so it could not be exported, thus preventing its spread to alien cultures and other countries.

It took Indian guile to smuggle the bean out of Arabia. Baba Budan, an Indian pilgrim smuggled some fertile beans in his waistband when he returned from Mecca around 1615, and the plant reached Asia. From here, there was no stopping the spread of the coffee plantations in the whole world. Baba's seeds bore fruit that was to colonize the globe!!!

By the middle of the sixteenth century, the Dutch were the first to grow a coffee plant in European soil, in 1616 to be precise. Eighty years later, they founded the first European owned Coffee estate, albeit back in Asia, on the island of Java, which is now a part of Indonesia. This was the year 1696. This made the Dutch the first coffee businessmen, but it would be a while before the rest of Europe could catch on.

In 1714, Louis XIV received a coffee plant for the royal Botanical Garden in Paris, the Jardin des Plantes. It was kept under royal security. Several years later, a young naval officer, Gabriel Mathieu de Clieu, who was in Paris on leave from Martinique, requested for a clipping of the plant but was denied permission. He had, however, made up his mind, so he stole into the garden by moonlight and took his object of desire, anyhow. He had to protect this plant with his life on his voyage back to Martinique, water it with precious rations, protect it from pirates and stormy seas, but he did it. The plant arrived safely in Martinique, and was planted there. It flowered, and bore good fruit in the fertile soil. Over the next 50 years, the plant spawned about 18 million trees; coffee had arrived in Latin America, at least in French Guinea.

In 1727, the idea of coffee as a rich cash crop tempted the King of Brazil. He wanted a share in the profits, but that meant someone would have to smuggle the seed into Brazil. Lt. Col. Francisco de Melo Palheta was the man identified for the job. He took off for French Guyana and was confronted with armed guard over fortress like plantations. He chose the less painful method, the way he took him through the Governor's wife's heart. His plan bore fruit...and seedlings. At a state banquet she presented him with a bouquet made of coffee seedlings...a job well done.

This sly token of affection fathered the world's greatest coffee empire, and Brazil soon topped the list of coffee consumers, it had become the brew of the common man.

Scientifically speaking, the word 'coffee" is derived from the Latin form of the genus Coffea, a member of the Rubiaceae family which includes more than 500 genera and 6,000 species of tropical trees and shrubs. Today, 70% of the world's coffee is produced from the plant Arabica, which is the strain cultivated in Brazil, hence it is also called Brazils. The other popular strain is Coffea canephora, which provides the robusta beans, usually grown in West and Central Africa, South East Asia and some parts of South America including Brazil.

In general, arabica beans tend to have less caffeine but milder flavor than robusta beans.

In its natural form, Caffeine is present in the leaves, seeds or fruits of more than sixty plant species worldwide. In addition, it is sometimes used as an additive to enhance flavor or, in the case of medications, to enhance effectiveness.

Coffee has been known to have various kinds of effects on human system. While there have been infinite number of researches on these effects, the latest evidences show that coffee or caffeine does not constitute a risk factor in cardiovascular diseases or even strokes, even for people who drink up to 4 cups a day.

As far as other parts of our system are concerned, studies have revealed that consuming up to 3 cups of caffeinated coffee in a day actually reduced the risk of gallstones by at least 40%. For those who drank 4 cups, the risk fell by 45%. Since gallstones are primarily made of cholesterol, the cut down may be explained by the fact that caffeine prevents cholesterol from crystallizing. In addition, consumption of coffee strongly helps to field off cirrhosis of liver, which happens to be the ninth leading cause of death in the US. Drinking 3-4 cups of coffee a day cuts down this risk by almost 80%.

Coffee has also shown a protective effect against colon cancer, by as much as 24%. The reason, say experts, could be the enhanced colic activity triggered by coffee, and anti-mutagenic components that are present in coffee inhibit the formation and growth of carcinoma. Colorectal cancer being the second largest cause of death in USA and Canada, this seems to be a great bit of information.

More mundane discomforts like heartburn and acidity also do not seem to find aggravation in coffee. Even for individuals with aesophagal reflux, consumption of this beverage did make a significant difference. Another condition that coffee can help control is asthma. The chemical theophylline is capable of reducing the incidence of asthma by almost 25%.

Apart from adding life to the years, it can also add years to your life. It has been observed that a serving of coffee contains up to four times as much anti-oxidant activity as a serving of green tea, has a large amount of anti-oxidant "polyphenols" in its roasted form. No additives such as creamers or milk can diminish this property. The effect of this chemical is that scientists today believe it may be possible to prevent, postpone or limit a number of degenerative diseases, including cardiovascular disease, cancer, cataracts, and diseases of the nervous system (simply by prescribing a regular intake of coffee...What a great idea).

Coffee is an excellent anti-depressant and an effective performance enhancer, improving one's memory and energy levels for both mental and physical activities.

Coffee, both caffeinated and decaffeinated, has been known to help prevent the formation of kidney stones, by increasing the flow of urine and decreasing its concentration.

Parkinson's, an incurable and debilitating disease affecting 1 million elderly Americans every year, is a horror story. Today, a number of studies have proved that regular coffee consumption over time may reduce the risk of Parkinson's Disease and the single component most likely to be to produce this effect is caffeine. Six studies have found that people who drank coffee on a regular basis were 50%- 80% less likely to develop Parkinson's disease than those who did not consume coffee.

The single biggest doubt in the minds of coffee lovers has always been its addiction factor. But now even that fear has been dispelled. There is, today, scientific evidence to show that coffee drinkers do not get addicted, or at least coffee is not responsible for their addiction. There is no record of any crime of passion committed as a result of caffeine withdrawal symptoms, no death by coffee...no evidence, absolutely. So go ahead, do what Kaldi did fifteen hundred years ago, drink from the berry of divine flavor!!!