“Coffee, the favorite drink of the civilized world.”

Thomas Jefferson

Good morning, wake up, it’s time to enjoy that first great cup of coffee for the day!

Let me ask you a question: where did coffee come from besides your coffee maker or the local grocery store?

Well, according to most historians, it came from a goat herder names Kaldi in Ethiopia. Kaldi was a goat herder around 800 A.D. Personally, I think it was the goats. The goats discovered berries that grew on trees which made them energized and excited. Kaldi tried the berries himself, and he also felt alert and energized.

Kaldi took some of the berries to a Sufi monk, and of course the monk explained that the berries were the work of the devil, and threw the berries on a fire. The aroma the berries released “was heavenly.” Taking the berries, the monk or monks, placed the berries in a jug and poured hot water on the berries to preserve them. Being true to the human side of the monks they drank the new concoction. So what did that concoction do for the monks? It kept them awake for their nightly prayers.  Hence, the first cups of coffee were born.

Is any of the above true? Well, according to some historians, most historians find it a great story, but sorry, it is not true.

The truth may lie with the nomadic tribe of the Ororno-Galla people of northern Kenya and Ethiopia. Or was it in Yemen? A Yemenite Sufi mystic took a trip through Ethiopia and encountered some very animated birds that had been eating fruit from a plant “the coffee of plant today”.  Yemeni traders brought coffee plants to their homeland and grew them there.

So now that we have put you to sleep, get up and make yourself a cup of coffee, and Tilly and I will get to the good stuff.

Now for the fun stuff: “COFFEE HOUSES.”

What is a coffeehouse? In the beginning they were meeting places which became very popular. Drinking coffee, having conversations, but also playing games such as chess and listening to music, and naturally a bit of gossip. They were also called “Schools of the Wise.”

The first coffee house appeared in Constantinople in 1475, Istanbul today.

Those traveling to visit Mecca referred to this as “wine of Araby”, which, unsurprisingly spread such places around the Middle East.

The first coffeehouse to appear outside of the Ottoman Empire was in 1632 in Livorno, opened by a Jewish merchant and later in Venice. It wasn’t until the 19^th and 20^th centuries that coffeehouses spread throughout the rest of Europe. Coffeehouses were still used as meeting points for artists, writers, and of course, politicians.

Are you a cappuccino fan? Personally I find it icky poo. Any way you can thank Vienna for that.

Tilly: No, you can’t.  The ‘cappuccino’ as it is called today (originally cappucin, a la the colour of Capuchin monks’ robes and meaning ‘hood’), first appeared in Northern Italy, but was made in Viennese style until the addition of steamed milk became the norm in the 20th century.It was devised to keep coffee hot when bought by those on their way to work – the barista steamed milk to a froth and topped the espresso, keeping it hot. The hot milk lark in the coffee came later, as did café latte.

Now, for Tilly’s home. From 1650 to 1651, it was established by “Jacob the Jew” on High Street in Oxford. Figured it would be in a college town. Right,Tilly.

Tilly: Yes, and coffee houses quickly spread to London and elsewhere. They became synonymous with intellectual pursuits, and called “penny universities” because of enlightening conversations.

Coffeehouses soon spread to London, where they were ideal meeting places, open to all men indifferent to their social status. So just what was discussed? Yep, politics.

Which leads us to America. The first coffeehouse was opened in October of 1676 in Boston, MA, by John Sparry. You know Boston, MA, Tilly. They had a great -“TEA PARTY”- there. In fact, the planning of that tea party was- wait for it – at one of the many coffeehouses.

A bit of trivia for ya. Considered the oldest coffee shop in modern America was opened in 1927 in Greenwich Village in Manhattan in New York City. It was also the first to serve cappuccino. The Caffe was one of the first also to use the espresso machine. So if visiting New York City, enjoy the coffee, art, history, and unquestionably  the politics at this historic site.

Let’s go back in time for a minute. Do you like coffee prepared with flavors such as nutmeg, cloves, and whatever else those famous drive-through high-priced coffee houses have today? Well you can thank the ancient Egyptians.

Below is a take on the recipe:

Ingredients:

1200 grams / 2 lb 10 ¼ ounce of finely ground coffee

50 grams / ½ cup plus 1 tbsp. of ground cardamom

25 grams / 3 tbsp. plus 2 tsp. of ground nutmeg

12 grams / 2 tbsp. of ground cloves

5 grams / ¼ oz. (1.5 tsp.)  of crushed mastic**

Sugar

Water

Mix the coffee with the spices and leave the mixture for a few days in a closed container.

 We calculate a teaspoon from our blend for each cup of coffee.

In a saucepan, boil as much water as we will use with as much sugar as we want, depending on how sweet we want our coffee.

Once the sugar is dissolved, withdraw it (it should not have the texture of syrup; we just want thin sugar water).

In a large pot, put the coffee and water and stir.

Boil on low heat.

Serve in low, small glasses as soon as it is ready.

Tip: Store in an airtight container for a few days before making so the coffee and spices can do their magic.

** This is a resin from a tree grown in the Eastern Mediterranean. Which is still grown and used today in quite a few dishes.

One thing to remember is that Egyptian coffee can be rather strong.

One last piece of history concerning coffee.

“In 1791, Sweden’s King Gustav III made twin brothers choose: death by execution or life drinking coffee vs. tea. The doctors monitoring them died first. The king was assassinated in 1792. The tea drinker lived to 83, but the coffee drinker outlived them all.”

Above from: https://www.facebook.com/fbhistorypage

Their home page: https://missedhistory.com/

A last bit of trivia about coffee for you.

1. Coffee was important in Turkish culture. Under 15^th-century law, a woman had the freedom to divorce her husband if he did not provide her with enough coffee.
2. Tilly: Hallelujah! What a sensible law
3. Tilly, teaching you Brits how to make coffee: Ministry of Food WW2 Great Britain
4. Tilly: Nowhere near as difficult as teaching Americans how to make tea. Which I do not like, by the way. The legacy of visiting Irish relatives as a child and being compelled to drink gallons of the stuff. I still hear the waves of it lapping in my ears and remember the sensation of fearing my teeth would float out.

Coffee for Breakfast

There are ample supplies of coffee in the country. Why not try it for breakfast? The rules for making it are simple.

Warm your earthenware jug and allow 2 heaped teaspoonful’s for each cup. Be sure the kettle is boiling fast. Take the jug to the kettle and pour on the exact amount of water required. Stir, cover, allow to stand for 2 minutes, give another stir in a downward spiral to settle the grounds, and leave for two more minutes before pouring into cups.

Do you listen to the useful food hints wireless every morning at 8:15?

3. Coffee is a fruit.

Despite it being called a ‘bean’, coffee is actually a fruit. The ‘beans’ grow on a bush and are found in the centre of a berry, known as a coffee cherry.

Tilly: I knew that.

4. This may surprise you, the infamous composer Beethoven loved coffee! He was apparently quite obsessive about it, using precisely 60 beans per cup, and would spend time counting out each and every bean.

Tilly: No wonder he wrote such wonderful music. “Without my morning coffee, I’m just like a dried-up piece of roast goat.” – Johann Sebastian Bach.

5. Finland consumes the most coffee in the world.

While Brazil may grow the most, Finland drinks the most coffee! On average they drink 12kg per person per year which works out to an impressive 1,680 cups on average each year.

6. Coffee helped Brazil go to the Olympics.

In 1932, the Brazilian government didn’t have enough money to send their athletes to the Olympics, so they funded the trip by selling coffee. They loaded up a ship with coffee beans, hoping to sell it to California on their way.

7. Coffee wasn’t always for drinking.

Before coffee was discovered to be a delicious beverage, it was actually a food. East African tribes would grind the berries and mix them with animal fat to eat.

Tilly: Well, we still eat stuff with coffee in it. Cakes, biscuits, chocolate, ice cream, Italian lamb roast with coffee. Delicious.

8. Decaf doesn’t mean no caffeine.

For a coffee to be classified as decaf, it needs to have less than 0.3% caffeine.

The decaffeination process helps to create our favorite fizzy drinks.

Once caffeine has been removed (for decaf coffee), the caffeine will usually be sold to fizzy drink or pharmaceutical companies.

Tilly: I want the hit! Leave my caffeine alone. “Coffee is a liquid hug for your brain.” – Unknown

9. The most expensive coffee in the world costs $600 per pound.

Kopi Luwak is the most expensive coffee in the world, and as of 2019, it cost $600 per pound. Native to Indonesia, the coffee is roasted after being eaten, digested, and expelled by the palm civet. It’s said that they only eat the very best, sweetest, and freshest coffee cherries, and when ingested, they’re naturally fermented, giving them a distinctive flavor. Would you try a cup of Kopi Luwak?

Tilly: Have tried it. I can’t say that I found it particularly memorable – maybe it was thought of where it had been … Very partial to Blue Mountain, a Kenyan coffie, also expensive but rather more affordable than civet poo.

10. Tilly: Britain loves coffee.

While Britons are known around the world for adoring their tea, it may surprise you to learn that the UK alone drinks around 95 million cups of coffee per day!

Tilly: It may surprise you to learn that not all Brits like tea. But they usually dislike American-made tea …

“Coffee is the common man’s gold, and like gold, it brings to every person the feeling of luxury and nobility.”

 Sheik-Abd-al-Kadir

Olive and Tilly