In 1532, Egypt saw a similar ban as places that served coffee and warehouses filled with coffee beans were destroyed. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church also banned coffee around the 17th century, believing its consumption mirrored some sort of pagan ritual.
Coffee, as a word, is believed to have been derived from the Italian word caffe sometime around 1600. Filtered throughout the ages, the word caffe was produced using Turkish and Arabic words, words that translated to mean "the wine of the bean."
Europe of Bust
From the Middle East, coffee made its way to 17th century Europe where it quickly gained popularity. This momentum was spearheaded by the Dutch, who started to import coffee in large quantities and grow it in Java, an island they (at the time) possessed. Coffee was not only thought of as a stimulant, but it was also thought of as everything from a medicine to a luxury.
Coffee came to the American colonies from Europe. Here, it was received with less than open arms: the colonists preferred alcohol. This opinion, however, changed when the rest of the world changed: during the American Revolutionary War.
As Americans fought British forces, the demand for coffee skyrocketed. This demand was largely do to the reduction of available tea (compounded by the 90,000 pounds thrown in the Boston Harbor). Once Americans began to replace tea with coffee, they developed a liking.
The taste buds of America looked even more favorably upon coffee during the 19th century. This was catapulted by both the War of 1812, in which access to tea was cut off temporarily, and the Civil War, where coffee reached one of its highest demands.
As the Americans were perfecting their taste for the bean, the Brazilians were perfecting the bean itself. In 1727, Brazil built the first coffee plantation and, by the early 1800's, their coffee was quickly becoming some of the best in the world. They took it from being a stimulant, to being a drink for the mouths of the masses.
Today, in America and otherwise, coffee flows like water. Not only is it produced in a variety of regions, but it is a major economic staple for many countries, particularly third world countries, and has succeeded in going from being a drink to being the center of many social gatherings. In the US alone, over six billion gallons of coffee are consumed annually. This amounts to over 22 gallons a person, leaving drinkers both awake and in need of a bathroom.
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