A Brief History of Tea and Coffee

Coffee isn?t just a beverage. It?s an art form. The same goes for tea. Tea and coffee are both social beverages which have depth and history behind them. Here?s a look at the two drinks in all their caffeinated glory.

According to ancient legend, coffee was first discovered in Ethiopia, where it grew wild. Goat herders made the realization that their goats, after eating the coffee berries, couldn?t keep still and couldn?t sleep during the night. There?s another story about a dissident who was sent into the desert to die of starvation. The man, whose name was Omar, and his disciples happened upon the coffee plant and in despair, they ate it. It was the coffee plant that saved their lives. They made it to a nearby town called Mocha, where local residents saw 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.

In order to protect their investment, Arabians made their coffee beans infertile by boiling them before shipping them out. According to legend, an Indian man whose name was Baba Budan defied the Arabian measures by sneaking out fertile beans strapped to his stomach. Thus came coffee to Europe through ancient Venice and the beverage boomed.

By the year 1616 the Arab ban on exporting coffee was flouted by the Dutch who began to export and import coffee at their own behest. They grew coffee in the Dutch colonized areas of Java and Ceylon. By 1711, this new Indonesian coffee was being exported into the Netherlands.

Today, coffee is ubiquitous. You really can?t go anywhere without seeing it. The art of brewing the perfect cup is something that is prided by many.

Tea has a long and varied history too. It can be traced back to ancient China. The emperor Shen Nung is credited with discovering tea about 5,000 years ago. As a wise and learned man, the emperor passed an edict that all water should be boiled before it was drank. One day, while the emperor and his court were traveling, they stopped for some water. The servants set up the pot to boil it and some dried leaves from a bush fell into it, making tea. The emperor, always inquisitive, tasted the new concoction and was delighted. This was the birth of tea.

Tea became a staple in China. It became so entrenched in Chinese daily life that Lu Yu wrote a guide book about the beverage codifying cultivation methods and drinking traditions. The book became a classic amongst Chinese society.

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.

Tea was introduced to Europe in 1560 via the Portuguese Jesuit Jasper de Cruz. From there it spread like wild fire.

Damian Papworth adores the Krups 4 cup coffee maker. You can read the write up on the One Cup Coffee Makers site.