A Brief History of Tea and Coffee
Tea and coffee are both drinks which inspire passion. More than just simple beverages, tea and coffee are part of a cultural phenomenon filled with social meaning and ritual. They both have fairly long, extensive histories?here?s a short look at them.
Legend has it that coffee was first discovered in Ethiopia; the local shepherds realized that their herds, after munching on the stuff growing wild all around them, couldn?t sleep at night. Another tale tells of a man who was banished to the desert; this man called Omar, found only the coffee plant and in a bout of desperation, boiled it. The plant saved his life and the residents of a neighboring town, called Mocha, took it as a miracle.
According to researchers, coffee made its first appearance as a beverage in 1000 AD. Sufi monks, in Yemen, in the south of Arabia, supposedly made and drank coffee in their monasteries. Coffee was first brought to Yemen and Egypt through Ethiopia. The Arabians are the ones that get credit for making coffee, roasting it and brewing it, as we know it today. Coffee spread from the Middle East to the North of Africa by the middle of the fifteenth century. It made its way to Europe first through Italy; from there it went to Indonesia and soon enough it arrived in the Americas.
Arabians apparently rendered their coffee export beans infertile by parboiling them so that no coffee would grow elsewhere. However one intrepid Indian man by the name of Baba Budan smuggled out fertile seeds by strapping them to his belly. These beans reached Europe via Venice and flourished there.
The Dutch began importing coffee in significant amounts, defying the Arab prohibition in 1616. They then took their crop to Java and Ceylon. Exports of Indonesian coffee to the Netherlands took place around 1711.
Today, coffee is drunk the world over. Brewing the perfect cup has become something of an art form. It?s not just water and beans, but rather, temperature, water quality, roast and care.
Tea has an equally colorful and varied history. It all starts back in old China. Some 5,ooo years ago, according to ancient tales, the wise emperor Shen Nung happened upon tea somewhat by accident. Shen Nung, being a wise emperor, required that all water be boiled before drinking. As the story goes, on a journey in a distant land, Shen Nung and his court were resting and water was to be boiled by the servants. Some dried leaves from a bush fell into the boiling water, rendering it brown. The emperor, a curious man, tasted the beverage and found it to be refreshing. Thus tea was born.
Tea was big in ancient China. Lu Yu wrote a comprehensive book on tea in the year 800 AD describing cultivation methods, tea drinking practices and rituals. The book became very popular.
The Japanese weren?t introduced to the beverage until the priest Yeisei brought it back to his homeland from China some years later. After that tea was big in Japan.
Europe came to know tea by way of a Portuguese priest who brought the drink back by way of the East in 1560. Since then tea has become very popular.
Damian Papworth loves his Krups 4 cup coffee maker. You can peruse his review on the One Cup Coffee Makers website.
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