Interesting facts on the occasion of World Coffee Day

2022. 09. 28.

Discovering coffee

According to some sources, coffee as a drink was born in Yemen, sometime in the middle of the 15th century. It spread through Sufis, merchants and pilgrims in the following century, and in the first decades of that century it was already drunk in Egypt and Syria. The Muslim tradition therefore definitely links the birth of coffee to the Sufis and 15th century Yemen. Although based on these, coffee berries have long been consumed in the region as a stimulant. However, the mentioned religious leaders started to use it, albeit in a form different from what is customary today. Moreover, the purpose of drinking the drink at that time was a mysterious union with God. At least during the related ceremonies, the drink helped to stay awake. 

By the way, according to legend, Ethiopian goat herders discovered the plant itself, as they noticed that the animals that ate it were much more lively. The plants discovered in this way began their career in Yemen, in the form of a drink. Thanks to Muslim ceremonies, the drink spread throughout the Muslim world, and eventually spread to Europe thanks to the conquests.

Turkish coffee: when there were no coffee machines

Turkish coffee is therefore the very first form of coffee. Steam pressure was not used at that time. Turkish coffee is brewed with sugar and spices. These are still unfiltered, together with the dregs. For example, it often contains cardamom, which is a typical spice of the oriental world and gives the coffee a very exciting taste. Boil the ingredients in a pot with a handle, the jezva, with water.

In general, 2/3 of the pot, the jezva, is cold water, to which we add 1-2 teaspoons of ground coffee, as well as the same amount according to taste, so approx. 1-2 teaspoons of sugar. We can also add cardamom seeds, 1-2 seeds. Mix it with a small spoon, then cook it all over a slow fire until it boils. 

Turkish coffee can be served with cinnamon and other spices. We recommend that if you try this specialty, you should definitely not leave out either the cardamom or the cinnamon.

The birth of the coffee maker

The coffee culture has slowly but surely infiltrated Europe as well. As a result, not only the drink itself, but also the machines that make it underwent changes. The jug-like solution reminiscent of today's coffee maker was born in the early 1800s, this vessel was used to brew coffee. We had to wait another hundred years for the technical change that made the taste and texture of coffee much, much better. And that was the vapor pressure. Thanks to the pressure, the coffee will be sufficiently thick and oily, foamy.

Nowadays, we can make divine hot drinks even with home coffee makers. Of course, coffee machines also have their own hierarchy. At the pinnacle of this are coffee makers with a lever, in which case you can control the finished drink with the lever itself. However, this also requires expertise. Manual preparation also comes with responsibility. 

Single-lever coffee makers do not have a grinding function, so we have to buy a professional coffee grindert separately. Manual preparation gives you the opportunity to experiment with the quantity, taste and density of the coffee, to manually prepare the perfect espresso or macchiato or cappuccino.

We briefly explained the path that coffee had to travel in order to be able to drink today's creamy, densely flavored ristrettos or delicately steaming lungos on the terrace of a pleasant coffee house. Just click, and you can order a brand new, modern coffee machine!

Sources: Pál Fodor: The cultural history of coffee, Rubicon, 1993 1.-2.