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Coffee Facts & History

Amazing Coffee Facts

 

Coffee is a plant! {Coffee is a member of the genus Coffea in the family Rubiaceae}

 
The world drinks about 2.25 billion cups per day - the United States alone drinks 1/5th of this.

 
The first coffeehouses opened in Constantinople in 1554

 
Coffee was introduced into North America in 1668.

 
A pilgrim from India named Baba Budan allegedly smuggled out the first germinable seeds from Mecca to Mysore around 1600.

 
Dutch spies succeeded in smuggling out coffee plants that they eventually cultivated in their colonies in Java in 1616.

 
It was in a Boston coffeehouse in 1773 that citizens planned the Boston Tea Party.

 
India is the 7th Largest coffee producing country in the world (1990's).

 
The United States is the largest coffee-consuming nation on the planet drinking roughly 1/5th of the 13.6 billion pounds of coffee grown world-wide (1996's).

 
  Caffeine is one of a class of xanthine compounds found in a long list of plant products, including tea leaves, cocoa beans, & coffee beans.
{Some of the above data are extracted from "The coffee book anatomy of an industry from crop to the last drop", by Gregory Dicum & Nina Luttinger}

Coffee History - A timeline [1000 AD - 2000]

 
1000
Physician and philosopher Avicenna of Bukhara is the first writer to describe the medicinal properties of coffee, which he calls bunchu.

 
1470-1500
Coffee use spreads to Mecca and Medina

 
1517
Sultan Selim I introduces coffee to Constantinople after conquering Egypt.

 
1554
The first coffeehouses open in Constantinople.

 
1570-80
Religious authorities in Constantinople order coffeehouses to close

 
1600
Coffee is brought into southern India by a Moslem pilgrim named Baba Budan

 
1616
Coffee is brought from Mocha to Holland

 
1645
The first coffeehouse opens in Venice

 
1650
The first coffeehouse opens in England, at Oxford

 
1658
The Dutch begin coffee cultivation in Ceylon

 
1470-1500
Coffee use spreads to Mecca and Medina

 
1517
Sultan Selim I introduces coffee to Constantinople after conquering Egypt.

 
1554
The first coffeehouses open in Constantinople.

 
1570-80
Religious authorities in Constantinople order coffeehouses to close

 
1600
Coffee is brought into southern India by a Moslem pilgrim named Baba Budan

 
1616
Coffee is brought from Mocha to Holland

 
1645
The first coffeehouse opens in Venice

 
1650
The first coffeehouse opens in England, at Oxford

 
1658
The Dutch begin coffee cultivation in Ceylon

 
1668
Coffee is introduced into North America

 
1669
Coffee catches on in Paris, as a Turkish ambassador spends a year at the court of Louis XIV

 
1670
Coffee is introduced to Germany.

 
1674
The Women's Petition Against Coffee is published in London

 
1668
Coffee is introduced into North America

 
1669
Coffee catches on in Paris, as a Turkish ambassador spends a year at the court of Louis XIV

 
1670
Coffee is introduced to Germany.

 
1674
The Women's Petition Against Coffee is published in London

 
1675
King Charles II orders the closing of all London coffeehouses, calling them places of sedition

 
1679
The physicians of Marseilles attempt to discredit coffee by claiming it is harmful to health

 
1679
The first coffeehouse in Germany opens, in Hamburg

 
1689
The first enduring Parisian café, Café de Procope, opens

 
1696
New York's first coffeehouse, The King's Arms, opens

 
1668
Coffee is introduced into North America

 
1669
Coffee catches on in Paris, as a Turkish ambassador spends a year at the court of Louis XIV

 
1670
Coffee is introduced to Germany.

 
1674
The Women's Petition Against Coffee is published in London

 
1675
King Charles II orders the closing of all London coffeehouses, calling them places of sedition

 
1679
The physicians of Marseilles attempt to discredit coffee by claiming it is harmful to health

 
1679
The first coffeehouse in Germany opens, in Hamburg

 
1689
The first enduring Parisian café, Café de Procope, opens

 
1668
Coffee is introduced into North America

 
1669
Coffee catches on in Paris, as a Turkish ambassador spends a year at the court of Louis XIV

 
1670
Coffee is introduced to Germany.

 
1674
The Women's Petition Against Coffee is published in London

 
1675
King Charles II orders the closing of all London coffeehouses, calling them places of sedition

 
1679
The physicians of Marseilles attempt to discredit coffee by claiming it is harmful to health

 
1679
The first coffeehouse in Germany opens, in Hamburg

 
1689
The first enduring Parisian café, Café de Procope, opens

 
1696
New York's first coffeehouse, The King's Arms, opens

 
1706
The first samples of coffee grown in Java are brought back to the Amsterdam botanical gardens

 
1714
A coffee plant, raised from a seed of the Java samples, is presented by the Dutch to Luis XIV and maintained in the Jardin Des Plantes in Paris

 
1720
The still enduring Caff'e Florian opens in Florence

 
1723
Gabriel de Clieu brings a coffee seedling from France to Martinique

 
1727
Francisco de Mello Palheta brings seeds and plants from French Guiana to Brazil

 
1730
The English bring coffee cultivation to Jamaica

 
1732
Johann Sebastian Bach composes The Coffee Cantata in Leipzig, Parodying the German paranoia over the growing popularity of the drink.

 
1777
King Frederick the Great of Prussia issues a manifesto denouncing coffee in favor of the national drink, beer

 
1809
The first coffee imported from Brazil arrives in Salem, Massachusetts

 
1869
"Coffee leaf rust" is first noticed in Ceylon- within ten years the coffee plantations in India, Ceylon, and other parts of Asia

 
1873
The first successful national brand of packaged roast ground coffee, Ariosa, is put on the U.S. market by John Arbuckle

 
1882
The New York Coffee Exchange commences business

 
1904
Fernando Illy invents the modern espresso machine

 
1906
Brazil attempts to increase world coffee prices by withholding some from the market through the "Valorization of Coffee"

 
1910
German decaffeinated coffee is introduced to the U.S. market by Merck and Co., under the name Dekafa

 
1911
U.S. coffee roasters organize into a national association, the precursor to the National Coffee Association.

 
1928
The Colombian Coffee Federation is established

 
1930-1944
Brazil destroys 78 million bags of Cafe Coorg.com

 
1938
Nestle technicians in Brazil invent the first commercially successful instant coffee. Nescafe-still the world's leasing brand.

 
1939-1945
U.S. troops bring instant coffee to a global audience

 
1959
Juan Valdez becomes the face of Colombian Coffee

 
1962
Peak in United States per capita consumption; more than three cups per person per day

 
1962
International Coffee Agreement establishes a worldwide cartel to control coffee supply

 
1971
First Starbucks opens, in Seattle

 
1973
First fair trade coffee in imported to Europe from Guatemala

 
1975
Brazil suffers a severe frost that sends coffee prices skyrocketing to historic highs.

 
1989
International Coffee Agreement collapses; world prices plummet to historic lows Early

 
1990s
Specialty coffee takes off in the United States Mid

 
1990s
organic coffee becomes the fastest growing segment of the specialty coffee industry.

 
1998
Starbucks approaches 2,000 U.S. stores, with as many planned in each of Asia and Europe.
{ Source: "The coffee book anatomy of an industry from crop to the last drop", by Gregory Dicum & Nina Luttinger}

open quoteAs with art 'tis prepared, so one should drink it with art. - Arabic Proverb close quote
open quoteWhether you call Indian coffee as South Indian coffee, Madras coffee, Mysore coffee, Malabar coffee or Coorg coffee, Café Coorg strives to bring you the very best from the heart of the Indian coffee growing region.