13 Things You Didn’t Know About Coffee
The beverage that came in much after tea and took the world by storm: coffee; it has had a chequered history. Drink it hot or cold, it has delighted us for centuries now as espresso, cappuccino, caffe latte, mocha, Caffe Americano, Irish coffee, long black or iced coffee; but coffee was not easily accepted in earlier times. Listed below are some things about coffee you were not aware about, continue reading to find out.
1. Early invention and popularity
There’s a story about a goatherd in Ethiopia, who first discovered coffee in the 9th century. However, it has been established that in the middle of the 15th century, this brew had many takers in Yemen’s sufi shrines.
2. Coffee for religious ceremonies!
Almost 1,100 years ago, coffee was brought into Arabia by traders; the Arabians made wine out of the pulp of fermented coffee berries, which were used by them in religious ceremonies!
3. Political gatherings got coffee banned!
Mecca had got coffee houses before, but political gatherings in those cafes led to the imams banning those and coffee for Muslims. The ban lasted from 1512-1524. Europe, too, saw rebellious political activities, leading Charles II to outlaw cafes in January 1676, though the ban could not be implemented because of the uproar that followed it.
4. Europe’s first cafe
Venice, which had the Middle East and North Africa as its trading partners, received coffee, from where it spread to other places in Europe. A coffee house in Italy was Europe’s first cafe in 1645.
5. ‘Muslim drink’ or ‘Christian beverage’
Coffee was generally considered to be a “Muslim drink” and did not have many takers; it took Pope Clement VIII’s proclamation of coffee being a “Christian beverage” in 1600 that made it popular. The Orthodox Christians in Ethiopia had similar feelings about coffee and banned its consumption till about 1899; but in the present times it has become a national drink in that country.
