We all know coffee is really important for many people these days. Either for waking up in the morning or just as a drink while talking to friends, coffee plays a part in our daily life. But… do you know where does it come from? How was it discovered? Who were the firsts to consume it?
There are some variations of the story, but in general (and this is according mostly to what I read from the International Coffee Organization) it is said that coffee has its origins in Kaffa, an Ethiopian province in Africa. It was eaten by slaves, who started spreading out its use. The Arabs, to prevent its cultivation from expanding to other places, prohibited its exportation, but nevertheless Europeans later found a way to transport live coffee plants to their continent. (ico.org)
At first, coffee drinking was spread through the Arabs especially in places where people would get together to play games, dance, or have any kind of social or business discussions. (Sounds similar to what we do nowadays?) This lead to problems concerning political activities in these places so these coffeehouses were tried to be suppressed, but they still kept existing. By then, two other drinks were also earning importance: hot chocolate and tea. Coffee was then brought to America, having a high acceptance as well. (ico.org)
Nowadays, we can see that many different countries cultivate coffee, leading it to become an important and valuable product. I’ve heard it is actually the second most used product in the entire world, after oil. And something that shows its great popularity is the fact that we can get coffee almost anywhere, and there are so many different ways of having it.
Anyway, this doesn’t necessarily mean everyone likes it or is in favor of its use. Actually there are several points to argue against it, as well as really interesting benefits it has. Those topics will be explained and discussed later on in this blog. :)
You can read more about the story of coffee at:
http://www.ico.org/coffee_story.asp
Works cited:
"The Story Of Coffee."International Coffee Organization. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Aug. 2011. http://www.ico.org/coffee_story.asp
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ReplyDeleteWell, I think that this blog entry about how coffee started to be used globally is very interesting because it can be seen how it starts to be used in Africa and then how other countries start to adopt that kind of drink. Nowadays, it can be said that coffee has a very interesting role in our daily life: it is used as a method to eradicate somnolence because it contains a huge amount of caffeine (which is a stimulant, a drug and that can be even a disadvantage). In my personal opinion, I think that the number of coffee shops is constantly increasing (for example, Starbucks Coffee Company) because the habit of drinking coffee is also increasing and the reason is that now, the human being wants to be active for longer periods in order to achieve everything that he or she wants to do in a normal day.
ReplyDeleteI need to admit that coffee is a very delicious drink but, unfortunately, I can’t drink it anymore because it is bad for my stomach (I have gastritis) so, leaving it very hard for me (*sniff sniff*) but, well… everything in our life has advantages and disadvantages. I think that it is really cool your idea of showing the “good” and the “bad” aspects of coffee because that demonstrates that you are in an objective posture. Another advantage of talking about that in your next entry is that the readers of your blog are going to learn more about this kind of drink, helping them to choose if it is good to drink it or not. Now, I just want you to know that I really liked your blog and I even think that it is going to be very successful… Congrats! (: