Many cigar smokers enjoy a stogie with a nice bottle of wine or a full glass of whiskey. Others enjoy pairing a stick with a strong beer or setting a cigar up with a sweet girl named "Brandy." Then there are those who simply think cigars and coffee are the ideal combo: move over Wheaties, there's a new breakfast of champions.
This may seem odd, coffee and cigars are so different. Yet, this is often the case when it comes to consumption. From eggs and ham to French fries and chocolate malts, from wine and cheese to peanut butter and jelly, the world is full of very different things that enhance each other.
Though it may seem to be a recent trend, the coffee and cigar match up has been brewing for years.
It is no coincidence that history saw tobacco and coffee gaining popularity at the same time: people knew from the start that cigars were good with a cup of Joe. However, seeing how we have already detailed the history of the tobacco seed (hi, Christopher Columbus), this article will talk about the history of the other. Coffee, this mug's for you.
Your Cup Runneth Over
Throughout the ages, coffee has been good to the last drop, the best part of waking up, and filled to the brim. For many of us, coffee is conducive to our morning functioning: we can't leave home without it in our system. This aside, most of us don't really know that much about coffee, other than how we take it. Not only is coffee rich in flavor and aroma, but it is also rich in past. From the cafes of centuries of yore to present-day Starbucks, where exactly has coffee bean, er, been?
Grinding Out a New Drink
The history of coffee goes all the way back to the 9th century, perhaps even further. No one is completely certain how it was discovered, making the way for several legends. The most well-known legend involves an Ethiopian goat herder named Kaldi who spotted goats eating coffee berries in the highlands of Ethiopia. He noticed that after the goats ate the berries they possessed more spunk and alertness. Kaldi followed the goats lead and ingested the berries himself: he immediately felt more energetic.
From Ethiopia, coffee was distributed to Yemen, Egypt, Turkey and Persia. Despite its dispersal — and the opening of the first coffee house in 1457 Constantinople — coffee was not well received, at least not at first. By 1511, the rulers of the court in Mecca deemed it forbidden, believing that its stimulating effects were sinful. Coffee, however, had a great amount of fans and just 13 years later, the ban was removed by Ottoman Turkish Sultan Selim I.
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