| 850 - 1599 | 1600's | 1700's | 1800's | 1900's - Present |
• 1600
At this point, Arabia and Muslim Africa enjoyed a monopoly on coffee
production; In order to keep it that way, their laws forbid the export of
fertile beans. Fertile beans are those with the cherry still around the seed.
Before they were exported, coffee beans were boiled to make them infertile
by shedding the husk off to prevent clever smugglers from sneaking away
with the precious goods. But nothing is fool-proof...
After his pilgrimage to Mecca, an Asian Indian named Baba Budan
manages to leave the Muslim city with a few fertile coffee beans
concealed against his stomach. After returning to India, he secretly
cultivates the beans. The descendants of those well-traveled beans
are still producing coffee to this day! In fact, "Old Chik", as the
original beans are known, account for approximately a third of the
coffee India produces. No wonder Baba Budan was made a Saint
and there's a region of India named after him.
In Venice, the Church notices the increasing popularity of coffee. The
local clergy believe it to be satanic, a product of Ottoman infidels. So
Pope Clement VIII decides to inspect the dark beverage himself. The
aroma was so pleasant and inviting, the Pope succumbs to temptation
and tried the "devil's concoction." After tasting it, he proclaims, "Why,
this Satan's drink is so delicious that it would be a pity to let the Infidels
have exclusive use of it. We shall fool Satan by baptizing it and making
it a truly Christian beverage" and thank God he did! The wisdom of the
Church triumphs again! Pass the donation plate; I'll throw in a buck.
• 1607
Captain John Smith, a British world adventurer, who was one of
the founders of the first English settlement Colony in Jamestown,
Virginia, brings awareness of coffee to the newly discovered
Americas. If fact, there's mention of the Turkish drink known as
coffa in his bestselling book of the day "Travels and Adventure."
Perhaps it is a good cup of coffee that drives him to such amazing
discoveries, dangerous adventures and into trouble too. Not only
was the rabble-rouser nearly executed just as he arrived in the New
World by his fellow Englishmen, he got into a tussle with the
Natives as well.
Legend has it, while up-river, searching for food; he crossed the
line and was captured by the Powhatan Tribe. Just before his
execution, the Chief's beautiful 14 year-old daughter, Princess
Pocahontas intervened. To spare him, she threw herself on top
of the cocky Captain, willing to take a beating by clubs to protect
him. The Chief relented to his daughter's compassion and
apparently her "school-girl" crush. Smith was freed. After the
Captain had a "quickie" with Pocahontas -- "a quickie cup of
coffee that is," the handsome Captain set-off. With a tip of his
hat, a thank you and a wink, he left the blushing Princess
Pocahontas behind. Rumor has it that these two had several
rendezvous' over the next several years. Although some say that
she was in it for love, I think she was in it for the coffee.
• 1616
Successful cloth merchant and trader, Pieter Van Dan Broeck, was one of the first
Dutchmen to taste coffee. Whilst in the service of the Dutch East India Company, he
visited Mocha in Yemen and drank "something hot and black."
Since it was illegal to take a precious coffee plant or its fertile
seeds / beans out of the Arab lands, Pieter set out to smuggle one
back to the Netherlands. Unfortunately for the Dutch, and
fortunate for the Yemenis, the cultivation in Holland fails
miserably. Thwarted in Antwerp by the fickle little plant, that
preferred the warmer temperatures of the equatorial zones, the
Dutch soon discovered they couldn't grow this plant away from
its origins as they had hoped. Not to be dissuaded, being the
good businessmen they were, they set their sights on expanding
from their near monopoly of the spice trade into coffee. They
could see its potential and bided their time as they waited for the
demand for coffee to take hold in Europe.
visited Mocha in Yemen and drank "something hot and black."
Since it was illegal to take a precious coffee plant or its fertile
seeds / beans out of the Arab lands, Pieter set out to smuggle one
back to the Netherlands. Unfortunately for the Dutch, and
fortunate for the Yemenis, the cultivation in Holland fails
miserably. Thwarted in Antwerp by the fickle little plant, that
preferred the warmer temperatures of the equatorial zones, the
Dutch soon discovered they couldn't grow this plant away from
its origins as they had hoped. Not to be dissuaded, being the
good businessmen they were, they set their sights on expanding
from their near monopoly of the spice trade into coffee. They
could see its potential and bided their time as they waited for the
demand for coffee to take hold in Europe.
• 1637
A Greek student at Oxford University brews the very
first cup of coffee in England. With his newfound
get-up-and-go drink, Nathaniel Conopios could stay
up all night throwing dishes and dancing, as well as
cramming for those tricky tests, however Oxford's
porcelain was more precious to them, than he was.
He was summarily expelled. Back to Greece for poor
Nathaniel, yet coffee was here to stay. It played an
on-going role at energized Oxford University.
Scientific breakthroughs are soon to come.
• 1645
Seventy-five years after the beverage was first introduced in Venice, the
first coffee house opens, catering to the travelers and trade between the
Venetians and the Ottomans.
• 1650
Back to Oxford. The first coffee house in all of England
opens near the University where eager students drive the
drink's popularity. A few years later, those caffeinated young
men establish the Oxford Coffee Club. None of these
brainiacs were summarily expelled; instead the college all-
nighter was born! -- And with it the creation of innovative
theories and ideas shared not only by students, but also by
leading scientists like Sir Robert Boyle. Years later the club
would become the Royal Society, England's world-renowned
scientific think-tank. This building is now known as "The Grand Cafe." A plaque on the
wall commemorates this and the Cafe is now a trendy cocktail bar.
• 1652
The first coffeehouse opens in London. Elsewhere,
in jolly old England, coffee houses spread rapidly
and are madly popular. These "penny universities"
are filled with lively discussions among a mix of
social classes, from students to tradesmen to the
elite. All were welcome... except women. Men will
pay the price for this later as women protest and
seek legal sanctions. Is this the predecessor of the
Women's Movement for Equality?
• 1658
The Dutch and the Dutch East India Company (a mega-corporation that sells stock and is
empowered to fight wars) are on the move; they drive the Portuguese from Ceylon, (today
known as Sri Lanka), securing it for the monopoly over cinnamon. These lucky Dutchy's
reap an extra spoil from their invasion; they take over the cultivation of the small coffee
crops, which were first introduced by the Arabs. The Portuguese are no innocents either;
they had conquered the Arabs one hundred and fifty years prior and stole these same
coffee plantations from them. Thieves among thieves, I say!
• 1668
A little known factoid: Coffee overtakes beer as New York City's favorite breakfast
beverage - and it goes much better with eggs.
Over in London, public drunkenness is a problem and
coffee houses replace taverns as the place of choice for
meetings. Not wanting to see their profits shrink, tavern
owners retaliate; they attack the Arabic origins of coffee
claiming it was not suitable for well-mannered Christian
men, whereas Monks' have brewed beer for centuries.
Proprietor Edward Lloyd opens a coffee house in
London. Lloyd mingles with his customers and
creates a list of their ships, the cargo they're carrying
and the schedules they keep. Underwriters then use
the list to sell insurance to those in need. Merchants
track their ships and shipments. In time, Lloyd's of
London becomes the world's
best-known insurance company.
Oh, and incidentally... around this same time, the custom of tipping is born in English coffeehouses. Customers place coins in a box labeled: "To Insure Prompt Service." T-I-P-S.
London becomes the world's
best-known insurance company.
Oh, and incidentally... around this same time, the custom of tipping is born in English coffeehouses. Customers place coins in a box labeled: "To Insure Prompt Service." T-I-P-S.
• 1669
Soliman Aga, the Turkish Ambassador to Paris, introduces coffee to the
Court of Louis the XIV. The grand dames fluttering their fans, go wild over
this aromatic, steaming beverage. Magnifique! In a short time, all of Paris
is talking about coffee.
• 1672
An Armenian, Pascal, first sells coffee to the
Parisian public from a tent at the St. Germain
spring fair. To increase sales, guided by his
entrepreneurial spirit, Pascal sends out his
Turkish waiter boys throughout the streets of
Paris, merrily yelling "Café! Café!" With
pitcher and cups in hand, they pour and sell
the steaming beverage door-to-door.
Coffee in Paris undergoes a bit of a class war. The first evolution
of coffee shops appeal mostly to the lower classes; the Paris elite
avoid them. But soon more lavish shops open with elegant,
expensive décor. Tea and chocolates are offered in addition to
coffee. Before long, the well-heeled men and fashionable women
of Paris are in attendance as Coffee is "en vogue."
• 1675
In London, coffee was at the center in a war between the sexes. Women,
you see, are barred from most male gatherings. So if their men weren't
at work or the pub, they were spending time at coffeehouses -
everywhere and anywhere but home. In fact, women surmised that
coffee encouraged their men to drink more liquor. Hell hath no fury! So
women circulate a petition entitled, "The Women's Petition against
Coffee," which stated that coffee made their men impotent and was
creating a "very sensible decay of that true Old English vigor." -- Coffee
creates lazy, flaccid lovers?? I say Poppycock!
The men of England shoot back, as men are apt to do, with "The
Men's Answer to the Women's Petition against Coffee" claiming
quite bluntly that coffee made their erections "more vigorous," the
Ejaculation more full." Good show, old boys! If you'd like to read
this battle in full with all of its old world charm click here.
Around this same time, though thoroughly
unrelated to the lascivious claims of the warring
sexes, King Charles II orders England's coffee
houses closed. Charles, it seems, is afraid of a war
of a different kind: revolt. Coffee houses breed the
kind of talk and ideas that might run counter to his
royal rule. Protests are so severe Charles' coffee
ban lasts only eleven days.
• 1683
Here's a story of intrigue and heroism, in which
a man on a secret mission and coffee were
never the same thereafter. In 1683 the
unstoppable Turkish Army of 300,000 laid
siege and surrounded the Austrian city of
Vienna for the second time. The grand city of
culture was at the point of surrendering to the
Ottoman Empire once and for all, even though
help from an army of 33,000 Austrians were
nearby. Odds did not favor the Viennese.
A man named Franz Georg Kolschitzky, a young Pole, who had lived
in Istanbul for ten years and spoke Turkish, offered up his service to
the beleaguered Viennese. Dressed in disguise, in the uniform of the
Turkish Army, he clandestinely slipped through the enemy's lines.
He gathered vital and strategic information. With this, the Prince of
Lorraine and the Austrians attacked. The Turks fled, running so
fast, they left their 25,000 tents, 10,000 Oxen, 5000 camels, and a
tremendous bounty of Gold behind for the victors, yet to Franz, the
true treasure abandoned was - 500 sacks of green coffee beans. The
spoils were distributed; but no one wanted these odd little beans or
knew what to do with them - except Franz, that is.
Franz is a hero! He is awarded Austrian
nationality and granted permission to open
the first Viennese coffee house... He names it
the Blue Bottle. He made the coffee as he had
learned in Istanbul. Most Viennese did not
take to this strange new beverage. He
brilliantly decides to filter the coffee, add a
spoonful of cream and honey. Yummy!
Business takes off and he is known to this day
as the Patron Saint to coffee houses in all of
Vienna. Next time you order a Viennese
Coffee, you now know it was all due to one
heroic young man versus 300,000 invaders
and his reward of 500 sacks of beans.
• 1686
The Italian Francesco Procopio dei Coltelli opens the Café Procope in Paris,
known as the first literary coffee shop in the
City of Lights. Patrons include Voltaire, whose
table is still there, and the young lieutenant
Napoleon Bonaparte, who once left his hat
behind to settle his bill. Although
Napoleon's hat is long gone, Café Procope is the
oldest café in Paris and still open today. It's located on the
left bank at 13 rue de l'Ancienne Comédie.
• 1696
It's a big year for the clever Dutch. They finally broke the Muslims' world monopoly on
coffee. Some say the Dutch stole the seedlings, while others claim they were legally
exported. Adrian Van Ommen, the Dutch Governor of Malabar in India sends Arabian
coffee seedlings to his friend, the Dutch Governor on the island of Batavia (now Jarkata,
Indonesia).
After several natural disasters, more seedlings were planted
and by 1704 the first coffee was harvested and eventually
establishes "Java" coffee as a household name. The decedents
of these plants would be given as precious gifts to European
Kings. Later thefts from these Royal Gardens would lead to the
eventual spread of coffee cultivation throughout the world from
the Caribbean to South America.
• 1698
Something is brewing in London within Johnathan's Coffee House in Change Alley. John
Castaing begins to issue a list of stock and commodity prices. It is the earliest evidence of
organized trading in marketable securities in London. Men gather not only for their
morning fix, they trade information and end-up dealing in commodities. Alas, the London
Stock Exchange is born, one of the world's oldest!
