Top 13 Facts You Need To Know About the History of Coffee

How Your Favorite Coffee Drink Came to Be

Did you know that coffee has an unbelievable history? From stolen coffee seedlings to secret love trysts, coffee has a colorful and extensive history that dates all the way back to 100 A.D. Here are the top 13 facts you need to know about the history of coffee:

1. A shepherd discovered coffee in Ethiopia around 100 A.D. He observed his goats’ increase in energy from eating a specific type of red berries and was inspired to try the berries himself.

2. Arab traders brought the coffee plant home to their native country to cultivate on plantations.

3. During the Ottoman Empire, the Turks added clove, cardamom, cinnamon and anise to coffee in order to create a spicy, energizing drink.

4. The first coffee shop opened in Constantinople around 1475.

5. The French created a way to make coffee by submerging ground coffee in a linen bag in hot water and letting it steep. Before this method was created, coffee grinds were left in the cup.

6. A French naval officer stole a clipping from King Louis XIV’s beloved coffee plant that was gifted to him by the Dutch. He takes the stolen branch and sets off to the West Indies. Coffee is introduced to the Caribbean and South America, as a result.

7. A handsome Brazilian colonel seduces a French Guiana Governor’s wife in order to acquire coffee seedlings. It works. The wife presents the colonel with a bouquet of flowers secretly sprinkled with her fertile coffee seedlings. About 180 years after this, Brazil boast 97% of the world’s coffee harvest.

8. A man name Jabez Burns from New York invented the first coffee roaster machine that did not have to be moved away from the fire for discharging roasted coffee.

9. An Italian man named Luigi Bezzera patents the first commercial “espresso” machine in 1901.

10. An inventor named George Washington creates the first mass-produced “instant coffee.”

11. The first coffee filter was invented by a German housewife who created it using her son’s school blotting paper.

12. A modern generation of coffeehouses takes hold during the Jazz Age as people flock to coffeehouses for debate and intellectual conversations.

13. The first automatic drip home coffee maker was invented in the U.S.

By present day, coffee has established itself as the world’s most popular beverage.

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Sources: National Coffee Association, University of Oregon, GoCoffeeGo.com