Welcome to Coffee lexicon
A lot of interesting facts about coffee, also called “The Black Gold”
coffee grinder
For special coffee enjoyment, we recommend grinding the coffee beans directly before brewing.
How coffee conquered Europe
Coffee was first mentioned in the 9th century in the Kaffa region in southwest Ethiopia. From there it came to Arabia through slave traders in the 14th century. Through the cultivation of coffee, Arabia had a monopoly, whose trade center was the port city of Mocha (also known as Mocha), which is today Al Mukha in Yemen.
However, it was not roasted until the middle of the 15th century. The first coffee houses were built in Mecca around 1511. In the following years coffee conquered Cairo, Syria and Asia until coffee was offered for the first time in Istanbul in 1554.
Murad III, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1574 to 1595, issued a ban on coffee towards the end of the 16th century.
Coffee consumption was a thorn in the side of theologians. The popular drink did not conform to the rules of the Koran, which forbade intoxicating substances. Thoughts were exchanged and discussed through the meetings of the people in coffee houses. Coffee shops were given the name “schools of knowledge”, which was not welcomed.
In 1633, Murad IV, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1623 to 1640, banned coffee. He had all coffee houses pulled down and persecuted all coffee drinkers. This resulted in a large number of deaths. Coffee house owners sometimes disguised them as barber shops.
Various legends have grown up around the first discovery of coffee. One of them says that in Yemen a goatherd observed his herd, who behaved in a noticeably wild manner after eating red berries from a wild coffee plant. Then he tried the beans himself and after the stimulating effect had also set in on him, he danced with his goats.
After monks found out about this, they investigated the site and discovered some dark green plants with berry-like fruits. Then they made a drink from the berries. The monks needed this drink to stay awake during strenuous ceremonies and prayers.
Another legend says that when the shepherd consumed the berries, he spat them in disgust in fire. There they burned and released the typical smell of roasted beans, which the shepherd in his village had reported. Curious, some residents tried this out.
The drink was finally recognized in the course of the reform policy of the Tanzimat from 1839.
Coffee is first mentioned in Europe in 1582 by a German doctor who enjoyed his first coffee in Italy in 1573. On the “spice route”, merchant fleets brought along tea, perfume, dyes and substances as well as coffee, which was exchanged for the first time in Arabia. Soon after, European traders brought coffee with them from their travels. After it was realized that imports of coffee were nowhere near enough to cover consumption, the Dutch began to grow coffee in their Indonesian colonies. Meanwhile, the French cultivated coffee on the American continent.
For the first time in Germany, coffee was served in Bremen in 1673. In 1677 a coffee house opened in Hamburg. This was followed by Regensburg in 1686 and Leipzig in 1694. Coffee made its way into Berlin in 1721.
Today, coffee is – after oil – the most traded commodity in the world!
