Our tasting at Olympia Coffee Roasters. 11/17/15

Coffee is enjoyed one form or another in most places of the world. Many regions of the world have a different culture around coffee, and perhaps, a different tale of its discovery…

“Once upon a time there was a young shepherd called Kaldi, who found his goats unusually agitated after grazing on the red fruit of a shrub which was unknown to him. Coffee was thus said to have been discovered in this way in Ethiopia in the VIII Century. However, the legend does not say that, well before it was cultivated in over 50 tropical countries, Coffea shrubs arose in Lower Guinea, in Atlantic Central Africa.” -Story from the Institute of Research for Development, France

Another myth from The World Atlas of Coffee by James Hoffmann describes the first coffee planted in Brazil by Fransisco de Melo Palheta. The story goes that he seduced the governor’s wife and when he left, she had seeds hidden in a bouquet of flowers and given to him. Coffee remained unimportant in Brazil, passed from garden to garden until it worked south and traveled farm to farm as a crop.

Coffee houses, Cafes, whatever name they take, are culturally important and popular in many cultures. Historically, they were developed to engage in debate and conversation with others. Because caffeine keeps people alert, many discussions were passionate and revolved around intellectual topics. However, drinking coffee in coffee houses is said to be a recent activity, about 350 years in Northern Europe, and another century sooner in Ottoman Istanbul. Before that time, coffee was “unknown” in Europe. Not even Shakespeare or ancient Rome ever enjoyed a sip, let alone a tempting aroma.

Here are some lines from a poem that describes the general expected social behavior in coffee houses, published 1674, A Brief Description of the Excellent Vertues of that Sober and wholesome Drink, called Coffee, and its Incomparable Effects in Preventing or Curing Most Diseases incident to Humane Bodies:

 

First, Gentry, Tradesmen, all are welcome hither,

And may without Affront sit down Together:

Pre-eminence of Place, none here should Mind,

But take the next fit Seat that he can find:

Nor need any, if Finer Persons come,

Rise up for to assign to them his Room;

To limit men’s expense, we think not fair,

But let him forfeit Twelve-pence that shall Swear:

And so shall He, whose Complements extend

So far to drink in COFFEE to his friend;

To keep the House more Quiet, and from Blame,

We Banish hence Cards, Dice, and every game:

And Customers endeavour to their Powers,

For to observe still seasonable hours.

     Lastly let each Man what he calls for Pay,

     And so you’re welcome to come every day.