Humans came up with the idea of grinding coffee beans and brewing a drink with the powder they gained a long time ago. Nevertheless, the popularity of coffee started to grow only in the 20th century, and that’s a phenomenon worth studying.
Just like each bean comes through the long and distant way to become a part of your favorite coffee cup, the industry faced its challenges and had certain factors to make it famous. So, the next time you’ll argue with your friends about the Turkish coffee vs espresso grind comparison, you should keep in mind they both became known because of a combination of accidents and direct, conscious efforts of certain people.
A Way to Fame: Coffee History
Compared to wine and tea, coffee is a relatively young drink. According to different info sources, people from Ethiopia learned to use coffee beans to brew that brown drink from 600 to over 2000 years ago. In turn, wine and tea have been known for 8000 years so far. A curious fact, though: in some languages, words “coffee” and “wine” have the same spelling.
As it was just mentioned, historians think ancient people started growing the first coffee trees in Ethiopia. They took coffee beans with them while moving to Yemen in the 4th century AD. From Yemen, coffee began its way through all the Asian lands, as the country was an ancient trading center. The well-known port of Mocha played its huge role in the process. One of the coffee sorts has its name after the city till present days.
Coffee reached Turkey in the 16th century. Merchants were frequently busy with roasting coffee beans right on market squares of the Empire. Turks treated coffee as a very expensive, elite drink back then.
In 1654, the first coffee shop appeared in Istanbul, the capital city of Turkey. It became known among the citizens quickly, so likely places began to show up all over the Empire. Still, the story didn’t run easily.
Ottoman officials were completely hostile about coffee. They even tried to prohibit trading it with the most severe punishments (straight to the death sentence) applied. Still, such a practice caused massive protests and riots, so the sultan had to call it back as a result.
They brewed Turkish coffee on low fire in small containers. Nowadays, we know them as cezves. Coffee was served in little, tiny cups back then, so traditions and rules known today started a while ago.
The “official” history says coffee reached Italy from Arabic countries. From there, merchants carried it to other places in Europe and America. In the 20th century, the industry of coffee-making made its final evolutionary step so far to become worldwide.
What Makes Coffee So Popular?
In 2021, main coffee exporters (Brazil, Indonesia, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, etc.) have that industry among their leading sources of funds for state economies. People buy coffee all over the planet. But what are the reasons for coffee’s popularity nowadays?
Energy and Good Mood
Drinking a cup of coffee in the morning will bring you that great, crazy portion of life energy. Millions of people use morning coffee to get rid of sleepiness entirely before leaving to work. They also may want to drink another cup during dinner to add some “fuel” to their brain and body once more.
Fashion
Coffee became a usual attribute of office jobs with their interviews, conferences, presentations, and mental works. Using your mind to work with a computer is tiring, just like any other effort. So, during the 20th and 21st centuries, many companies and organizations got used to schedule official “coffee breaks” for their staff members.
Still, the fashion for coffee is there not only for office workers. Sports admirers and even professional players drink coffee moderately but regularly, too. The point is that coffee can increase one’s metabolism by 10 to 20 percent. Additionally, it can add energy and “fix” bad moods without making you take in too many calories, which is very important for those who train their bodies regularly regardless of their purpose.
Ads
A right and timely ad can make people buy anything. Coffee companies spend solid budgets to keep the population of this drink at the highest level possible, and their efforts bring results.
Despite the fact that there are many “artificial” drinks only pretending to be coffee, more and more admirers switch to real beans of different sorts. Numerous coffee drinkers prefer to have the opportunity to brew it at home from fresh ground beans. If that is your case, choose among the best coffee makers under 100 right away. Modern machines can cook nice coffee for you automatically, so all that is left for you is to enjoy your favorite drink.
Photo by Kevin Menajang from Pexels
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