Coffee: A Long Way From Ethiopia

	Coffee: A Long Way From Ethiopia
	Nils-Bertil Wallin YaleGlobal, 5 November 2002

Whether it is mocha java, a cuppa joe, or half-decaf, skim, no-whip latte, coffee seems to be everywhere - even in Beijing's Forbidden City. But this ubiquitous pick-me-up was not always so prevalent, nor was it always so popular. At varying times a carefully guarded secret, and at others a banned drink, this has not prevented the dark brew and its aroma from spreading from its place of origin in Ethiopia to the entire world.

The story has it that coffee was discovered by an attentive Ethiopian goatherd who noticed a frenzy that overcame his flock after eating the ripe berry. From Ethiopia coffee moved to Yemen where it was cultivated for centuries before arriving in Turkey in 1453. It was in Turkey that the seeds were roasted and then mashed and mixed with water, similar to our modern version.

The first Viennese coffeehouse was founded by Franz Kulczycki in 1683

Italian traders introduced coffee to Europe and in 1600 Pope Clement VIII blessed the bean because it helped to sober up the population whose fluid intake was mostly alcoholic beverages. By the beginning of the 18th century, coffee had sailed to India and Indonesia with the Dutch. And while the Ottoman Turks had failed to overrun Vienna, current home to 1,717 cafes, their coffee had conquered the city by the time the first coffee house opened in 1675.

As drinking the black beverage gained popularity, the plant itself remained scarce until the Dutch foolishly gave a coffee bush to Louis XIV. Europe's cooler climate prevented the coffee plant from thriving until nurtured in a greenhouse. (Some say coffee was the mother of the greenhouse invention.) However, it was not until French naval officer Gabriel Mathieu de Clieu brought a single plant to Martinique in 1723 that coffee production began to explode - within 50 years one plant had fostered 19 million trees on the island.

Coffee soon made its way to Brazil in 1727 hidden in a bouquet of flowers. It quickly spread through the rest of Latin America and then onto Hawaii by 1823. In 1893 coffee returned home to Africa where it settled in Kenya and Tanzania. After a millennium of traveling, coffee had finally circumnavigated the globe.

Today, Brazil is the largest producer of coffee, harvesting over 1 billion kilograms in 2001. Vietnam, which did not start growing coffee until 1914, is the third largest producer with 780 million kilograms in 2001. Two types of coffee are produced worldwide, arabica and robusta. Arabica, which takes its name from its origins in the Arabian peninsula, accounts for three-quarters of world production and is grown mainly in South America. Robusta, accounting for one quarter of world production, is found mainly in Africa, Asia, and Indonesia where its hardiness can withstand the climate better than arabica. Robusta also has a higher caffeine content.

After a mythical birth and a secretive adolescence, coffee has emerged a heroic world traveler. One need only glance at any business meeting, friendly encounter, or morning rush to recognize that coffee is the global invigorator.