Rican Beans

Coffee! Don’t you love the smell, the taste, the ambience it generates, the warmth and comfort it creates? Not to mention that little buzz you get when you take a sip!

Coffee has been renowned for all these things for centuries. Someone said that the history of coffee is the history of man, but perhaps they were being a little prosaic.

The actual discovery of coffee is shrouded in mystery. The first reports allegedly come from Ethiopia in the 9^th century when a goat herder of Kali noticed how lively his goats became after chewing red berries from a shrub. However, the story is probably a myth.

Make Mine A Mocha

But it is believed that 12^th century Arabs made ‘qahwa’ from plants, and migrants from the Sudan to the Yemen and Arabia took coffee with them through the great port of Mocha which has become a byword for quality coffee.

The first coffee shop was opened in Constantinople (now Istanbul) in the late 1400s and the next century saw many other coffee houses opening, too.

Europe and the New World were introduced to coffee in the 1600s and coffee houses opened throughout Europe, principally in Italy and England in the mid 1600s. Edward Lloyd opened a coffee house in London in 1688 which eventually became Lloyd’s of London, the world-famous insurance company.

One story has it that the word ‘tips’ was derived from a sign in an English coffee house declaring ‘To Insure Prompt Service’ which was placed near a tin cup by the door. Customers dropping a coin into the tin could expect a better seat and service. However, the term is more likely derived from the old English word ‘tip’ meaning to give.

Perfect Cup Of Coffee

An enormous amount of human endeavour has gone into to the production of the perfect cup of coffee.

In 1882 the first espresso machine was made in France. In 1933 Dr Ernest Illy invented the first automatic espresso machine. However, the one most like the one we’d most recognise today was invented in Italy in 1946 and the first pump-driven espresso machine was built in 1960.

The coffee percolator was invented in 1865.

Coffee filters were invented in Germany in 1908 by housewife Melitta Bentz who wanted to prevent the bitterness caused by overbrewing.

Instant coffee was developed in 1901 by a Japanese American chemist and in 1906 and English chemist devised the first mass-produced instant coffee. Nescafé instant coffee appeared in 1938 as the Nestlé company helped the Brazilian government get rid of its surplus coffee.

Coffee and coffee houses were given a renewed lease of life in the 1970s when ‘latte’ culture started to spread across America and, eventually, the world. It helped ensure that you can get a good cup of coffee – and a wide variety of coffees, too – in every city, town in America and throughout the world.

Coffee – Not Just For Drinking

We love coffee so much, that many associated products have spun up, not least of which are the plethora of machines designed to make the perfect cup. And let’s not forget the humble coffee cup and mug.

Many foods now offer a coffee flavour including energy and nutrition bars and chocolate. There are coffee scents and fragrances, oils and candles. There are also many coffee-coloured and coffee-inspired patterns and fabrics, and a market in coffee posters and photographs.

Coffee Is Healthy

Research has indicated that drinking a cup or two of coffee each day can reduce your risk of several diseases and disabilities including Parkinson’s, diabetes, colon cancer and even prevent headaches and cavities! Although the doctors admit that ‘further research’ in necessary, they do concur that coffee is more beneficial for you than harmful. As if we didn’t know that already!

Here’s to you and your morning latte!