The Coolidge examiner., 1931-08-28

"HE recent announcement tnal
coffee consumption in the
United States climbed to a to-
tai of 13 pounds per person in 1890,
adds interest TO the checkered
career of the beverage since it was
first brewed in the Near East a
millennium and a half ago.
There are about 50 species of cof-
fee plants, but only a few of them
are cultivated for commercial use.
The coffee plant is a cousin of the
cinchona tree from the bark of
which quinine is produced. Gam
bier, which furnishes tanning ma
terial and dyes that bear the same
name, and madder from the roots
of which a substance is extracted
that is important in some red dyes,
also are related to the coffee plant.
The coffee plant started its world
wide ramblingS centuries ago. Be-
ginning in the hills of Ethiopia it
Jumped" the Red sea and coffee
plantations began to rise above the
soil of the extreme southern tip
of Arabia where the famous Mocha
coffee now is produced. Later it
was carried to Europe (about $50
years ago, and then to the West In
dies and Brazil.
Tradition has it that the dis
cOvery of cOffee's stimulating effect
upon the human system was an ac-
cident One story runs that the
plant was discovered in the Fourth
century by a group of monks who
had been driven out of Egypt and
found refuge in the Ethiopian hills
The monks maintained themselves
by agriculture and sheep and goat
raising. One night a monk report
ed to his leader that the flOcks
would not rest-that they were
wide awake and frisking about dur
ing the hours that they should be
quiet. The leader started inveS-
LEGATIONS that led t. the coffee
plant which he found the animals
consumed while browsing on the
hillsideS. He chewed Il few of the
berries from the strange Oush and
found that they kept him unusually
which were held in accordance with
the religion.
Although coffee did not strike a
popular chord among Europeans
until the Fifteenth century, as early
as the reign of Charles IL, in the
middle of the Seventeenth century
there were more than 5000 coffee
houses in London. Today coffee
is a popular brew in every conti-
nent and on the civilized islands of
the seas, with the United States
as the worlds leading consumer.
More than 1,599,00O,0OO pounds of
coffee were imported by the United
States last year.
First Used as a Paste.
But the coffee berry has had its
ups and downs during its rise to
fame in the beverage world. Its
first use was in the form Of a paste
which was eaten. Early Moslems
were not permitted to drink wine.
so they learned the art of making
a brew from coffee berries. The
name of coffee is derived from the
Arabic word Kahweh, which was
pronounced kahveh by the Turks.
Kahveh was the general Arabic
term for intoxicating liquors.
According to some authorities, the
first cup of coffee was drunk as
refreShment at Alden, Arabia, in
the Fifteenth century. Cairo began
drinking the beverage about fifty
years later. Meanwhile MoSlem
leaders held a meeting at Mecca
where they decided that coffee
should be banned. That was in
1911. AS result of the Mecca de-
cision, coffee warehouses were
burned and coffee houses were
closed in many parts of the Mo-
hammedan world. Some of the cof-
fee house prOprietors were beaten
with their own brewing utensils by
fanatical MoSlemS.
The ban in Egypt lasted only
thirteen years, when Sultan Selim
l gave coffee bis stamp of ap-
proval. He emphasized his ap-
prOval of the brew by ordering the
execution of two Persian doctors
who had denounced the use of cof-
fee as injurious to health. Today
Egypt is among the largest coffee
drinking regions of the world. Some
desert people of Egypt and the Near
East use the beverage in connec-
ton with religious observances.
In the East, coffee is usually used
in powdered form. The coffee beans
pOpularly known in the United
States are placed in a mortar and
pounded. Then the powder is put
into boiling water. The coffee
maker serves the beverage only
after a prescribed ceremony. He
pours a small quantity of the LIQUID
into one cup and then rinses each
cup with the brew. After all cups
have been rinsed the rinSing LIQUID
is poured on the fire as a tribute
to Sheykh esh Shadhiiiy, the cof-
fee drinkers patron. Half a cup
is served first to the eldest and
most hOnOred guest. To hand q
full cup TO guest would be an in
suit.
Coffe Map of the World.
If one were to construct a coffee