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Blog Post
International Coffee Day
James Marinos • Aug 26, 2022
International Coffee Day: The history of coffee
As International Coffee Day approaches on the 1st of October, we couldn't be more excited to kick off the annual celebrations! We also have a bunch of exiting stories, recipes and collaborations to share with you too as we move into the Autumn and Winter.
However, to understand the full scope of why we are looking forward to celebrating International Coffee Day (and all things coffee), we thought we would take a look back in time at the history of one of the worlds most revered drinks... Coffee!
What is International Coffee Day?
For those of you who aren't familiar with International Coffee Day - Held on the 1st of October each year since 2015 - It is an annual event used to celebrate coffee, with events, tastings and awareness campaigns taking place around the world. It is also used to promote both Fairtrade and ethically grown coffee, raising awareness and support for coffee growers around the world.
Where Did Coffee Originate?
Long before we had International Coffee Day, the very first records show that originally coffee was discovered in Ethiopia. It's no coincidence that this is also how at Kokebi Coffee we get our name, with Kokebi meaning "Star" in Amharic, the language of Ethiopia.
After a slow discovery in Africa, coffee went west into Europe to be discovered and coveted by the newer civilizations as well as east into Asia where it was planted and harvested.
How Was Coffee Discovered?
Goats... Yes indeed, the story goes that a goat herder by the name of Kaldi first discovered coffee after he noticed that after his goats ate the berries, they became energetic that they were described as 'Dancing'.
This was reported to his local monastery, where the monks decided that they would attempt to try the berries and found that it kept them alert through the long hours of evening prayer. The monk shared his discovery and knowledge of the berries began to spread.
While this story is indeed charming, it cannot be verified, although what is absolutely certain is that coffee does originate from Ethiopia.
Where next?
The Middle East, to be exact Mocha, also known as al-Mukha. Sound familiar? Due to coffee’s growing popularity and the shipment of coffee from the port city, Mocha became synonymous with coffee and indeed you will now be able to buy a 'Mocha' from almost any coffee retailer as a result.
Coffee cultivation and trade spread from Ethiopia right across the Arabian Peninsula, and by the 1500s, coffee was being grown in Arabia and by the 1600's it was being consumed right across the Middle East from Persia to Egypt, Syria and Turkey becoming known as the 'wine of Araby'.
When did Europe start drinking coffee?
By the late 1600's, coffee had finally arrived in Europe, but not without a degree of suspicion from some. No, really. It is documented that when Venetian clergy condemned it as the “bitter invention of Satan”, Pope Clement VIII was asked to intervene.
After his holiness tasted the beverage himself, he found the drink so satisfying that he gave it papal approval.
Despite this hiccup in the popularity of Coffee in Europe, coffee houses were quickly becoming centres of social activity and communication in the major cities of England, Austria, France, Germany and Holland.
In England “penny universities” sprang up, where people could pay a penny to enter and once inside access coffee, the company of others, newspapers, literature and the latest news and gossip. In Oxford, England, this shop would later be known as the Oxford Coffee Club which eventually grew to become The Royal Society!
When did coffee come to The Americas?
Coffee was brought to the 'New World' by the British in the mid 1700's, but it wasn’t until the Boston Tea Party in 1773 that America’s coffee culture was changed forever.
The target was the Tea Act of May 10, 1773, which allowed the British East India Company to sell tea from China in American colonies without paying taxes apart from those imposed by the Townshend Acts which generated a mass switch from tea to coffee amongst the colonists. This was one of the events that led up to theThe American Revolutionary War.
The demand for coffee flourished, and after the Dutch had secured coffee seedlings towards the end of the 1600s, coffee cultivation expanded outside of Arabia for the first time. Travellers and traders carried seeds to new lands, and coffee trees were planted across the globe.
Growing into a modern coffee Empire
In the early 18th century, the Mayor of Amsterdam gifted King Louis XIV of France a young coffee plant in 1714. Although the Dutch could not cultivate coffee trees in Holland, they could keep them alive in greenhouses. This plant was protected in the Royal Botanical Gardens of Paris and would change the coffee farming world forever.
A captain in the French Navy, Gabriel Mathieu de Clieu was stationed in Martinique but happened to be visiting Paris. It’s unclear whether he ended up stealing clippings from King Louie’s coffee tree or if King Louie himself gave order for de Clieu to establish a coffee plantation in Martinique.
Regardless, de Clieu took his clippings and set sail for the Caribbean, which happened to have the ideal coffee growing conditions. Upon arriving on the island, he planted it among other plants to keep it safe.
Within 3 years coffee plantations spread throughout Martinique, St. Dominique and Guadalupe. These would be the plants that would eventually populate the rest of the Caribbean and Central and South America.
In 1730, the English Governor of Jamaica, Sir Nicholas Lawes brought plants of coffee to his island. Within a short time, coffee was growing deep into the Blue Mountains, an exceptional growing area for coffee.
Modern Day Coffee
By the 1900's, coffee had become a global phenomenon and was being shipped and consumed almost everywhere around the world. Innovation in coffee roasting, packaging and brewing have changed the beverage dramatically, but over the last 100 years, some key industry milestones include:
- 1900: Hills Bros. starts to pack roast coffee in vacuum tins which marks the moment of the decline of the local roasting shops and coffee mills.
- 1901: Japanese-American chemist Satori Kato of Chicago invents the first soluble instant coffee.
- 1903: “Sanka” was invented by the researchers of the German coffee importer Ludwig Roselius.
- 1906: The first mass-produced instant coffee was invented by George Constant Washington, an English chemist living in Guatemala.
- 1920: As the Prohibition starts in the United States, coffee sales rise.
- 1938: Nestle company invented freeze-dried coffee as a method for Brazil to keep their coffee surpluses. From that Nestle invents Nescafe.
- 1940: The US imports 70 percent of the world coffee crop.
- 1942: During W.W.II, American soldiers get instant Maxwell House coffee in their ration kits while at the home front uncontrolled hoarding coerced government to ration coffee.
- 1946: In Italy, Achilles Gaggia perfects his espresso machine.
- 1971: Starbucks opens its first store in Seattle's Pike Place public market.
Present and International Coffee Day
Here in present day the popularity of coffee has grown exponentially, however it has also presented a new set of issues which as an industry need to work on collectively, which is why International Coffee Day is so important to us! As a proud independent we have been able to lead in areas that some larger companies simply can't as quickly.
This includes being more selective about the farms we work with to produce our Fairtrade, Organic and Single Origin coffees, whilst working with cooperatives around the world to ensure all our producers are all paid a fair wage. We also work to mitigate the effects of climate change, recycling our energy from our roastery to heat our facility and cut energy use.
So join us this International Coffee Day by raising a glass of this historic and revered beverage and securing its future!
Share with a coffee lover in your in your life on social using the links below.
Beans stay fresher for longer, and so your coffee should taste better, too. As soon as green coffee beans are roasted, they start to release CO2, which affects the taste. They will oxidise and slowly start to go 'stale' and have a flat taste after a while. When coffee is ground, there is a higher surface area which is exposed to oxygen and that will cause them to lose their freshness faster, so it's best to keep coffee beans whole as close to brewing as possible. Treat your coffee beans similarly to potatoes: store them in a dark, dry place. It's best they are kept in a container or the bag they come in to stop oxygen and moisture getting in.
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