The origin of coffee
The exact date on which coffee was discovered is unknown, although some scholars place its origin in Ethiopia. More specifically in the Arabian Peninsula, near the Red Sea, around the year 575 AD, a place where it still grows wild today. However, its cultivation was sporadic until the 15th and 16th centuries, when extensive plantations were established in the Arab region of Yemen (Arabian Peninsula).
The Arabs were the first to discover the virtues and economic and social possibilities of coffee, and they knew how to keep the cultivation and production process as a great secret.
The spread of coffee through the Arabian Peninsula first and then through other regions of the world was not an easy task. The Arabs put all possible impediments to prevent coffee from leaving the Arabian Peninsula. Even the seeds (coffee beans) intended for export were roasted or soaked in hot water. All with the aim of eliminating its germination capacity. Control was so strict that foreigners were prohibited from visiting the plantations. Although according to legend, a Hindu pilgrim, on his way to Mecca, managed to steal under his clothes - without being detected - seven seeds capable of germinating. And these he planted around his house in the mountains of MYSORE, India. This happened around the year 1600, indicating that the Arabs were in control of the coffee market for about 100 years.
The expansion of coffee throughout Europe after its origin
In the same way, the first coffee to reach Europe was stolen by a Dutch merchant in 1616. Although it was not until 1645 when coffee began to be the favorite drink in Europe. It finally arrived in Italy in that year, thanks to a Venetian merchant. Subsequently, five years later he arrived in England. Until it finally spread to the rest of Europe.
At the beginning of the 18th century, the French managed to take a live cutting of the coffee tree to the island of Martinique. Fifty years later, and thanks to the love put into that only coffee plant that managed to survive the trip from Europe, it had multiplied to more than eighteen million, only on the island of Martinique. Later, throughout the 18th century, the coffee tree continued with the colonization of the New World.
