Whether for the pleasure of sharing it or simply to start the day with a burst of energy, many of us drink a steaming cup of coffee at least once a day. This dark beverage, which more than any other is a constant companion in people’s lives across the globe, is prepared and enjoyed in different ways: in Italy, espresso reigns supreme, whilst in the UK and France, filter coffee is the preferred choice. It matters little which brewing method is used; what counts is doing it properly, with a full understanding of its beneficial properties and organoleptic qualities.
Coffee has an ancient and long-standing history, though, alas, one that is poorly documented. Described in many ways, from ‘wine of Arabia’ to ‘the devil’s drink’, coffee is, without a doubt, the most loved and widely consumed beverage in the world.

COFFEE: BETWEEN HISTORY AND LEGEND

There are many legends surrounding the discovery of the coffee plant, and this is undoubtedly due to the lack of documented information on the subject. Among the many, the most widespread tells the story of a shepherd in Abyssinia, now Ethiopia, who could not understand why his goats could not sleep at night. Apparently, the shepherd soon realised that the reason was linked to the stimulating effects of a fruit, resembling cherries in appearance, which the goats were fond of and which was none other than the fruit of the coffee plant

Legends aside, there are still various conflicting theories regarding the origin of the coffee plant. Many maintain that the first plants were found in Caffa, Ethiopia, and that, around 1300, it was the Ethiopians themselves who brought coffee to Yemen, where the plant, finding fertile soil, thrived, spreading as far as the eastern coast of the Red Sea and reaching the cities of Mecca and Medina in Arabia.

The spread of coffee was encouraged both by Islam, which prohibited wine as a drink in favour of coffee, and by the Ottomans who, fleeing after the failed siege of Vienna in 1683, left large sacks full of coffee beans in the city. Not to be forgotten is the Boston Tea Party of 1773, when the American colonists, in protest against British imperialism, attacked merchant ships in Boston harbour by throwing crates of tea into the sea, a historic event that encouraged the spread of coffee culture.

Coffee arrived in Italy, in Venice, around 1570, thanks to the Venetian Republic’s trade links with the East. Here, the beans of the Coffea arabica were sold by apothecaries as a medicine, and the price was rather high.

Before long, coffee became a consumer good accessible to everyone, initially amongst the nobility and intellectuals, and only later amongst the common people. The first coffee houses emerged, places where educated men would gather to converse late into the night whilst sipping coffee. Also known as ‘schools of wisdom’, the forerunners of today’s cafés soon became hubs for political dissent, and, fearing they might become hotbeds of insurrection, they were ordered to close. The consumption of coffee soon permeated social, political and religious spheres. The Church initially labelled coffee ‘the devil’s drink’ because it made people uninhibited and for its stimulating and aphrodisiac properties.