Coffee And Islam

Introduction:

Coffee was discovered by the Muslims sometimes around the 10th century. It was first used and cultivated in Yemen. Instead of eating the beans, the Yemenis boiled them creating the famous drink of Al-Qahwa. There is also consensus that the first users of coffee were the Sufis who used it as a stimulus to stay awake during late night Thikr (remembrance of God). Coffee spread to the rest of Muslims of Yemen and eventually to all the Muslim world through travellers, pilgrims and traders. It reached Makkah and Turkey sometime in the late 15th century and Cairo in the16th century

Coffee in Italy:
Historic sources indicate that coffee arrived in Europe through Italian links. The active trade between Venice and North Africa, Egypt and the East transported Muslim goods including coffee to this leading European port. After discovering the taste of coffee, Venetian merchants were convinced of its commercial potential and subsequently embarked on its importation since 1570. As with any new custom, the rich were the first to indulge in this beverage. At a later stage, coffee was sold in the markets of Venice; eventually becoming widely available for the general public. The first Coffeehouses of Venice opened in 1645. By 1763 Venice had no less than 218 coffee outlets. Eventually, coffee became the object of trade between Venice and Amalfi, Turin, Genoa, Milan, Florence and Rome, from where it was transmitted to the rest of Europe.

Coffee in England:
The first coffee-house that appeared in England has been put to 1650 when a businessman named Jacob opened a house at the Angel in the Parish of St. Peter, East Oxford. According to Darby the introduction of coffee was made through Turkish connections. He reported that a certain Turkish merchant named Pasqua Rosee first brought it. He was the first to sell coffee in a coffeehouse in George-yard, Lombard-Street and London. Later, in 1658 another coffeehouse under the name `Sultaness Head’ was opened in Cornhill. By 1700, there were about 500 coffeehouses in London.

Coffee in France:
Galland traced the first introduction of coffee into France back to 1644. This is the year when some French men from Marseilles brought back from Istanbul, not only some coffee, but also the proper vessels and apparatus for making and drinking it. In 1671, the first coffeehouse was opened in Marseilles in the Exchange District, spreading later to the rest of France.

Coffee in the rest of Europe:

After Italy, England and France, the rest of Europe followed suit and embraced this new beverage. In Germany, for example, after the defeat of the Turkish Army besieging Vienna in 1683, it left behind sacks of coffee beans. The European armies defending the city, which included German and Polish as well as many other European volunteers, claimed this bounty and took it to their home land. However, the first coffeehouse to appear in Berlin was dated back to around 1720.

The Dutch obtained the seeds from parts of Muslim south East Asia and managed to set up large plantations of coffee in their colony of Java in Indonesia. From Java, they directed a successful business, as they became importers and distributors of coffee beans in Europe.

Coffee in the Americas:
The introduction of coffee to the Americas is attributed to France through its colonisation of many parts of the continent, starting with the Martinique and the colonies of the West Indies where first French coffee plantations were founded.

From Turkish Coffee to Cappuccino and Croissant:
The consumption of Coffee in Europe was largely based on the traditional Muslim preparation of the drink. This consisted of boiling the mixture of coffee powder, sugar and water. However, since 1683 a new way of preparing and drinking coffee was invented. The Cappuccino coffee was inspired by a certain Marco d’Aviano, a priest from the Capuchin monastic order, who was fighting against the Turks at the Battle of Vienna in 1683. Following the victory of the Europeans, the Viennese made coffee from the abandoned sacks of Turkish coffee. Finding it too strong for their taste, they mixed it with cream and honey. This made the colour of coffee turn brown resembling the colour of the Capuchins’ robes.
he Viennese named it Cappuccino in honour of the Marco D’Aviano’s order. Since then Cappuccino have been drunk for its enjoyable taste as well as a symbolic celebration of the European victory against the Ottomans.

The Croissant
Another symbolic item associated with coffee is the famous Croissant cake, often taken at breakfast. Chew reported the legend behind the invention of this widely consumed pastry, which goes back to 1686. Hungarian bakers made a cake in the shape of a crescent, as an Islamic, to celebrate the defeat of the Ottoman army.

The Art Of Coffee

Once brewed, coffee may be presented in a variety of ways. Drip-brewed, percolated, or French-pressed/cafetière coffee may be served with a dairy product such as milk or cream, or dairy substitute (colloquially known as white coffee), or not (black coffee). It may be sweetened with sugar or artificial sweetener. When served cold, it is called iced coffee.

Espresso-based coffee has a wide variety of possible presentations. In its most basic form, espresso is served alone as a shot or with hot water added, known as Caffè Americano. Reversely, long black is made by pouring espresso in water, which retains the crema compared to Caffè Americano. Milk is added in various forms to espresso: steamed milk makes a caffè latte, equal parts steamed milk and milk froth make a cappuccino, and a dollop of hot foamed milk on top creates a caffè macchiato. The use of steamed milk to form patterns such as hearts or maple leaves is referred to as latte art.

Coffee can also be incorporated with alcohol in beverages—it is combined with whiskey in Irish coffee, and forms the base of alcoholic coffee liqueurs such as Kahlúa, and Tia Maria.

Benefits Of Coffee

Coffee Lowers Effects of Liver Damage
One great thing to look forward to in drinking your daily coffee is that it is providing your liver with necessary protection if you have had a few too many the night before. Coffee drinkers who also imbibe in alcohol have been known to have a lower risk of cirrhosis to the liver. Though you should do all things in moderation, like drinking, the benefit coffee provides is priceless!


Coffee Increases Happiness
There is a John Hopkins study out there showing that daily coffee drinking will add to your overall happiness because of the amounts of dopamine that are being pumped into your bloodstream. But remember to keep your dosage under two cups per day because that will otherwise put you at risk for higher anxiety. It is a delicate balance!


Lean on Your Antioxidants
What most coffee drinkers are loving is the amount of antioxidants that they can get just by drinking their delicious brew. Antioxidants are what you need to fight all of the free radicals that can cause cell damage spreading through your body. Coffee is not the highest in antioxidants, but it is the most consumed source out there.


Environmentally Friendly
There are huge chances that in the future we will all be running our cars with the cheaper option that is fuel made from coffee bean oils, so there you have better environmental protection, as well as a multitude of health benefits from cleaning up our earth. Who knew that the bean had so much to offer?


Boost Your Short Term Memory
Huh? If that sounds like you, then you need to remember to drink your daily java since it has been proven to give you the brain sharpening tools that you need in memory enhancement. Drinkers of coffee have been known to have shorter reaction times and faster short term memory functions, which means that drinking decaf will not pep you up mentally as much as you might like to be.


These health benefits are just the tips of the iceberg in discovering all that coffee has to offer you. The great thing about the brew that we all so love is that it will not only give you enjoyment with its rich and robust flavors every day, but the options within your cup to enhance your health and wellness are endless! Over the years, coffee has been underestimated for the superb and multifaceted drink that it is, and I, for one, and more than happy to know that it is finally getting the due credit that it deserves. Coffee has a rich tradition and ancestry throughout time, and a large part of that that is not to be underestimated is all of the power it can give us in our search for optimal health and wellness. So pour a cup, and drink to your health!

Coffee aids the ability to burn fat for fuel instead of its carbohydrates. Did you hear that? If you’re watching your weight, this means that your cup of Joe is going to help you to lose FAT faster! The reason carbohydrate restricted diets work so well is that your body burns the available carbs before burning fat. If you always have a nice little reserve of carbs, then it doesn’t get to the fat. Does coffee help you lose weight? I’d say so! Stay tuned for my soon to be best selling book “Losing Fat the Starbucks Way.” Perhaps I can become the Jerrod of Starbucks?

The Myth of Hydration: In Texas, we have a plethora of 105 degree days. I’ve constantly heard the admonishment by radio and tv personalities to drink lots of fluids, but to avoid caffeine. Yes, you’ve got it, this is a myth! Studies on the health benefits of coffee reviewed last year found that people who consumed drinks with up to 550 milligrams of caffeine produced no more urine than when drinking fluids free of caffeine. Even a Grande Starbucks Coffee has only 330 milligrams of caffeine, and a 12 oz. Coca Cola has a mere 35 milligrams of caffeine.

Coffee and Heart disease. If you’re a heart patient, especially one that has been diagnosed with high blood pressure, you may have been told to avoid caffeine, one of the world’s oldest stimulants. However an analysis of ten studies of more than 400,000 people did not find any increase in heart disease among regular coffee drinkers, whether their coffee included caffeine or not.

“Contrary to common belief,” said cardiologists at the University of California, San Francisco, we’ve found “little evidence that coffee and/or caffeine in typical dosages increases the risk” of sudden death, heart attack or abnormal heart rhythms.

Rather, in the Iowa Women’s Health Study, among 27,000 women followed for 15 year those women who drank one to three cups of coffee a day reduced their risk of cardiovascular disease by 24 percent, although this benefit decreased as the quantity of coffee increased.

Coffee and Cancer. In 1981 a Harvard study sent the general public into a panic when our coffee loving public heard the text tied coffee to a higher risk of pancreatic cancer.  The coffee industry took a temporary pluge until researchers concluded that it was probably smoking and not coffee drinking that was the cause.

In 2007 a global review of 66 studies found that coffee consumption had little if any causal effect on the risk of developing kidney or pancreatic cancer.  And, quite to the contrary, another scientific review suggested that coffee drinkers, in comparison to non coffee drinkers had half the risk of developing liver cancer.

Similarly, a study of some 59,000 women in Sweden concluded that there was no connection between coffee, tea or caffeine consumption and breast cancer.

Coffee and Blood Pressure. But what about hypertension and coffee? Well, caffeine does induce a small, temporary rise in blood pressure. However, in a study of 155,000 nurses, those women who drank coffee with or without caffeine for a 10 years were no more likely to develop hypertension than non coffee drinkers. But take note you diet cola addicts…. a higher risk of hypertension was found from drinking colas. A Johns Hopkins study that followed more than 1,000 men for 33 years found that coffee drinking had little overall effect in the development of hypertension.

Coffee and Bone loss. Isn’t coffee like coke? Can’t it eat through metal?  Although some studies by observation have linked caffeinated beverages to bone loss and fractures, human physiological research has  found only a slight decrease in calcium absorption and no effect on calcium excretion, suggesting the observations may show a decreased intake of dairy-based beverages among coffee and tea drinkers.

Creighton University professor Dr. Robert Heaney says that caffeine’s negative effect on calcium can be offset by as little as one or two tablespoons of milk. He advised that coffee and tea drinkers who drink the currently suggested amount of calcium don’t need to worry about caffeine’s effect on their bones.

Types Of Coffee

It can sometimes be daunting walking into a coffee house and seeing the long list of coffee varieties and drinks on the menu. What’s the difference between a latte and an Au lait? How does a cappuccino differ from an Americano? We’ll try to make it all clear for you below:

Americano: A single shot of espresso with about 7 ounces of hot water added to the mix. The name for this coffee drink stemmed from an insult to ‘uncouth’ Americans who weren’t up to drinking full espressos.

Black coffee: A drip brew, percolated or French press style coffee served straight, with no milk.

Cafe au Lait: Similar to Caffe Latte, except that an au lait is made with brewed coffee instead of espresso. Additionally, the ratio of milk to coffee is 1:1, making for a much less intense taste.

Cafe Breva: A cappuccino made with half and half milk, instead of whole milk. The theory is that the mix gives a richer, creamier flavor. You should be aware, before trying this for yourself, that half and half is much harder to foam.

Caffe Latte: Essentially, a single shot of espresso in steamed (not frothed) milk. The ratio of milk to coffee should be about 3:1, but you should be aware that latte in Italian means ‘milk’, so be careful ordering one when in Rome.

Cafe Macchiato: A shot of espresso with steamed milk added. The ratio of coffee to milk is approximately 4:1.

Cappuccino: Usually equal parts espresso, steamed milk, and frothed milk, often with cinnamon or flaked chocolate sprinkled on top. Some coffee shops will add more milk than that so that the customer will get a bigger drink out of the deal, but that makes the coffee itself far weaker.

Double, or Double Shot: Just as it sounds, this is two shots of espresso mixed in with the regular amount of additional ingredients. So, for example, if you were going to make a double hammerhead, you would put two shots of espresso into a coffee cup, and fill it with the drip blend, rather than the usual single espresso shot.

Dry Cappuccino: A regular cappuccino, only with a smaller amount of foam, and no steamed milk at all.

Espresso Con Panna: Your basic standard espresso with a shot of whipped cream on top.

Flavored coffee: A very much ethnic tradition, syrups, flavorings, and/or spices are added to give the coffee a tinge of something else. Chocolate is the most common additive, either sprinkled on top or added in syrup form, while other favorites include cinnamon, nutmeg, and Italian syrups.

Frappe: A big favorite in parts of Europe and Latin America, especially during the summer months. Originally a cold espresso, it has more recently been prepared putting 1-2 teaspoons of instant coffee with sugar, water and ice. The brew is placed in a long glass with ice, and milk if you like, turning it into a big coffee milkshake.

Hammerhead: A real caffeine fix, this drink consists of a shot of espresso in a regular-sized coffee cup, which is then filled with drip coffee. Also known as a Shot in the Dark, although many cafes rename the drink further to suit their own needs.

Iced coffee: A regular coffee served with ice, and sometimes milk and sugar.

Indian (Madras) filter coffee: A common brew in the south of India, Indian filter coffee is made from rough ground, dark-roasted coffee Arabica or Peaberry beans. It’s drip-brewed for several hours in a traditional metal coffee filter before being served. The ratio of coffee to milk is usually 3:1.

Instant coffee (or soluble coffee): These grounds have usually been freeze-dried and turned into soluble powder or coffee granules. Basically, instant coffee is for those that prefer speed and convenience over quality. Though some prefer instant coffee to the real thing, there’s just no accounting for taste.

Irish coffee: A coffee spiked with Irish whiskey, with cream on top. An alcoholic beverage that’s best kept clear of the kids, but warms you up plenty on a cold winter night.

Kopi Tubruk: An Indonesian-style coffee that is very similar to Turkish and Greek in that it’s very thick, but the coarse coffee grounds are actually boiled together with a solid piece of sugar. The islands of Java and Bali tend to drink this brew.

Lungo: One for the aficionados, this is an extra long pull that allows somewhere around twice as much water as normal to pass through the coffee grounds usually used for a single shot of espresso. In technical terms, it’s a 2-3 ounce shot.

Melya: A coffee mixed with 1 teaspoon of unsweetened powdered cocoa and drizzled honey. Sometimes served with cream.

Mocha: This popular drink is basically a Cappuccino or Latte with chocolate syrup added to the mix. Sweeter, not as intense in coffee flavor, and a good ‘gateway’ coffee for those who don’t usually do the caffeine thing.

Oliang/Oleng: A stronger version of Thai coffee, Oliang is a blend of coffee and other ingredients such as corn, soy beans, and sesame seeds. Traditionally brewed with a “tung tom kah fe”, or a metal ring with a handle and a muslin-like cloth bag attached.

Ristretto: The opposite of a Lungo, the name of this variety of coffee means ‘restricted’, which means less water is pushed through the coffee grounds than normal, even though the shot would take the same amount of time as normal for the coffee maker to pull. If you want to get technical, it’s about a 0.75 ounce pull.

Turkish Coffee (also known as Greek Coffee): Made by boiling finely ground coffee and water together to form a muddy, thick coffee mix. In fact, the strongest Turkish coffee can almost keep a spoon standing upright. It’s often made in what’s known as an Ibrik, a long-handled, open, brass or copper pot. It is then poured, unfiltered, into tiny Demitasse cups, with the fine grounds included. It’s then left to settle for a while before serving, with sugar and spices often added to the cup.

Vietnamese style coffee: A drink made by dripping hot water though a metal mesh, with the intense brew then poured over ice and sweetened, condensed milk. This process uses a lot more coffee grounds and is thus a lot slower than most kinds of brewing.

White coffee: A black coffee with milk added.

Rarest Coffees Are From Animal Droppings?

Rare Coffee From Animal Droppings

One of the world's rarest and most expensive coffees can't be found at your local Starbucks.

It is made from the beans of coffee berries which have been eaten by the Asian Palm Civet and other related civets, passing through its digestive tract. This process resulted in coffee beans with much less bitterness. Usually villagers in the Philippines then find the piles of digested beans.

Fans of the coffee believe the digestive process in the animal's stomach gives the coffee a very distinctive chocolate flavor and a strong aroma.

After it is roasted, the coffee is sold at wholesale for well over $200 per pound

Coffee Cherie Origins

Several species of shrub of the genus Coffea produce the berries from which coffee is extracted. The two main species commercially cultivated are Coffea canephora (predominantly a form known as 'robusta') and C. arabica. C. arabica, the most highly regarded species, is native to the southwestern highlands of Ethiopia and the Boma Plateau in southeastern Sudan and possibly Mount Marsabit in northern Kenya. C. canephora is native to western and central subsaharan Africa, from Guinea to the Uganda and southern Sudan. Less popular species are C. liberica, excelsa, stenophylla, mauritiana, and racemosa.

All coffee plants are classified in the large family Rubiaceae. They are evergreen shrubs or small trees that may grow 5 m (15 ft) tall when unpruned. The leaves are dark green and glossy, usually 10–15 cm (4–6 in) long and 6 cm (2.4 in) wide. The flowers are axillary, and clusters of fragrant white flowers bloom simultaneously and are followed by oval berries of about 1.5 cm (0.6 in). Green when immature, they ripen to yellow, then crimson, before turning black on drying. Each berry usually contains two seeds, but 5–10% of the berries have only one; these are called peaberries. Berries ripen in seven to nine months.

Coffea arabica is predominantly self-pollinating, and as a result the seedlings are generally uniform and vary little from their parents. In contrast, Coffea canephora, C. excelsa, and C. liberica are self-incompatible and require outcrossing. This means that useful forms and hybrids must be propagated vegetatively. Cuttings, grafting, and budding are the usual methods of vegetative propagation. On the other hand, there is great scope for experimentation in search of potential new strains. 

Brewing Coffee

Coffee beans must be ground and brewed to create a beverage. The criteria for choosing a method include flavor and economy. Almost all methods of preparing coffee require the beans to be ground and mixed with hot water long enough to extract the flavor, but without over extraction that draws out unnecessary bitter compounds. The spent grounds are removed and the liquid is consumed. There are many variations in the fineness of grind, the ways in which the water extracts the flavor, additional flavorings (sugar, milk, spices), and spent ground separation techniques. The ideal holding temperature is 79 to 85 °C (174 to 185 °F) and the ideal serving temperature is 68 to 79 °C (154 to 174 °F)

The roasted coffee beans may be ground at a roaster, in a grocery store, or in the home. Most coffee is roasted and ground at a roaster and sold in packaged form, though roasted coffee beans can be ground at home immediately before consumption. It is also possible, though uncommon, to roast raw beans at home.

Coffee beans may be ground in several ways. A burr mill uses revolving elements to shear the bean; an electric grinder smashes the beans with blunt blades moving at high speed; and a mortar and pestle crushes the beans. For most brewing methods, a burr mill is deemed superior because the grind is more even and the grind size can be adjusted.

The type of grind is often named after the brewing method for which it is generally used. Turkish grind is the finest grind, while coffee percolator or French press are the coarsest grinds. The most common grinds are between the extremes; a medium grind is used in most common home coffee-brewing machines.

Coffee may be brewed by several methods: boiled, steeped, or pressurized.

Brewing coffee by boiling was the earliest method, and Turkish coffee is an example of this method. It is prepared by grinding or pounding the beans to a fine powder, then adding it to water and bringing it to the boil for no more than an instant in a pot called a cezve or, in Greek, a bríki. This produces a strong coffee with a layer of foam on the surface and sediment (which is not meant for drinking) settling on the bottom of the cup.

Coffee percolators and automatic coffeemakers brew coffee using gravity. In an automatic coffeemaker hot water drips onto coffee grounds held in a coffee filter made of paper, plastic, or perforated metal, allowing the water to seep through the ground coffee while extracting its oils and essences. The liquid drips through the coffee and the filter into a carafe or pot, and the spent grounds are retained in the filter.

In a percolator, boiling water is forced into a chamber above a filter by steam pressure created by boiling. The water then seeps through the grounds, and the process is repeated until terminated by removing from the heat, by an internal timer, or by a thermostat that turns off the heater when the entire pot reaches a certain temperature. Coffee may be brewed by steeping in a device such as a French press (also known as a cafetière or coffee press).

Ground coffee and hot water are combined in a cylindrical vessel and left to brew for a few minutes. A circular filter which fits tightly in the cylinder fixed to a plunger is then pushed down from the top to force the grounds to the bottom. Because the coffee grounds are in direct contact with the water, all the coffee oils remain in the beverage, making it stronger and leaving more sediment than in coffee made by an automatic coffee machine. The coffee is poured from the container; the filter retains the grounds at the bottom. 95% of the caffeine is released from the coffee beans within the first minute of brewing.

The espresso method forces hot pressurized and vaporized water through ground coffee. As a result of brewing under high pressure (ideally between 9–10 atm), the espresso beverage is more concentrated (as much as 10 to 15 times the quantity of coffee to water as gravity-brewing methods can produce) and has a more complex physical and chemical constitution. A well-prepared espresso has a reddish-brown foam called crema that floats on the surface. Other pressurized water methods include the moka pot and vacuum coffee maker.

Coffee may also be brewed in cold water, resulting in a brew lower in acidity than most hot-brewing methods produce, by steeping the coarsely ground beans in cold water for several hours, then filtering them. 

Coffee Roasting

The next step in the process is the roasting of the green coffee. Coffee is usually sold in a roasted state, and with rare exceptions all coffee is roasted before it is consumed. It can be sold roasted by the supplier, or it can be home roasted.


The roasting process influences the taste of the beverage by changing the coffee bean both physically and chemically. The bean decreases in weight as moisture is lost and increases in volume, causing it to become less dense.


The density of the bean also influences the strength of the coffee and requirements for packaging.
The actual roasting begins when the temperature inside the bean reaches approximately 200 °C (392 °F), though different varieties of beans differ in moisture and density and therefore roast at different rates. During roasting, caramelization occurs as intense heat breaks down starches in the bean, changing them to simple sugars that begin to brown, changing the color of the bean.


Sucrose is rapidly lost during the roasting process and may disappear entirely in darker roasts. During roasting, aromatic oils and acids weaken, changing the flavor; at 205 °C (401 °F), other oils start to develop. One of these oils is caffeol, created at about 200 °C (392 °F), which is largely responsible for coffee's aroma and flavor.

Coffee Processing.

Coffee berries and their seeds undergo several processes before they become the familiar roasted coffee. Berries have been traditionally selectively picked by hand; a labor intensive method, it involves the selection of only the berries at the peak of ripeness. More commonly, crops are strip picked, where all berries are harvested simultaneously regardless of ripeness by person or machine. After picking, green coffee is processed by one of two methods—the dry process method, simpler and less labor intensive as the berries can be strip picked, and the wet process method, which incorporates fermentation into the process and yields a mild coffee.


Then they are sorted by ripeness and color and the flesh of the berry is removed, usually by machine, and the seeds—usually called beans—are fermented to remove the slimy layer of mucilage still present on the bean. When the fermentation is finished, the beans are washed with large quantities of fresh water to remove the fermentation residue, which generates massive amounts of coffee wastewater. Finally, the seeds are dried.
The best (but least used) method of drying coffee is using drying tables. In this method, the pulped and fermented coffee is spread thinly on raised beds, which allows the air to pass on all sides of the coffee, and then the coffee is mixed by hand. In this method the drying that takes place is more uniform, and fermentation is less likely. Most African coffee is dried in this manner and certain coffee farms around the world are starting to use this traditional method.


Next, the coffee is sorted, and labeled as green coffee. Another way to let the coffee beans dry is to let them sit on a concrete patio and rake over them in the sunlight. Some companies use cylinders to pump in heated air to dry the coffee beans, though this is generally in places where the humidity is very high.


Some coffee undergoes a peculiar process, such as kopi luwak. It is made from the beans of coffee berries which have been eaten by the Asian Palm Civet and other related civets, passing through its digestive tract. This process resulted in coffee beans with much less bitterness, widely noted as the most expensive coffee in the world with prices reaching $160 per pound. 

Coffee? and History

Coffee is a brewed beverages with a dark, acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries


Coffee cherries are commonly found in Latin America, Southeast Asia, South Asia and Africa. Green (unroasted) coffee is one of the most traded agricultural commodities in the world. Coffee can have a stimulating effect on humans due to its caffeine content. It is one of the most-consumed beverages in the world


Coffee has played a crucial role in many societies. The energizing effect of the coffee bean plant is thought to have been discovered in the northeast region of Ethiopia, and the cultivation of coffee first expanded in the Arab world.


The earliest credible evidence of coffee drinking appears in the middle of the 15th century, in the Sufi shrines of Yemen in southern Arabia. From the Muslim world, coffee spread to India, Italy, then to the rest of Europe, to Indonesia, and to the Americas. In East Africa and Yemen, it was used in religious ceremonies. As a result, the Ethiopian Church banned its secular consumption, a ban in effect until the reign of Emperor Menelik II of Ethiopia. It was banned in Ottoman Turkey during the 17th century for political reasons, and was associated with rebellious political activities in Europe.


Coffee berries, which contain the coffee seeds or "beans", are produced by several species of small evergreen bush of the genus Coffea. The two most commonly grown are the highly regarded Coffea arabica, and the "robusta" form of the hardier Coffea canephora. The latter is resistant to the devastating coffee leaf rust (Hemileia vastatrix). Once ripe, coffee berries are picked, processed, and dried. The seeds are then roasted to varying degrees, depending on the desired flavor. They are then ground and brewed to create coffee. Coffee can be prepared and presented in a variety of ways.


An important export commodity, coffee was the top agricultural export for twelve countries in 2004, and it was the world's seventh-largest legal agricultural export by value in 2005. Some controversy is associated with coffee cultivation and its impact on the environment. Many studies have examined the relationship between coffee consumption and certain health conditions; whether the overall effects of coffee are ultimately positive or negative has been widely disputed. The method of brewing coffee has been found to be important to its health effects.