It all started with the dancing goats of Kaldi, the 9th century Ethiopian goatherd. After eating berries from a certain tree they became so spirited that sleep eluded them all night. So goes the legend about the birth of your cup of coffee bursting with the aroma of arabica beans that reminds you first thing in the morning of all the fine things life has to offer. Folklore also says the Oromo people, an ethnic group of Ethiopia, would customarily plant a coffee tree on the graves of powerful sorcerers. They believed the coffee bush sprang up from tears that the God of Heaven shed on the corpse of a dead sorcerer.
All coffee in the world is grown in the bean belt, between the tropics from the species of an evergreen shrub of the genus Coffea. The Arab traders initially took coffee from Ethiopia to the Middle East and at present countries in South America, Southeast Asia and Africa are responsible for its cultivation. Brazil is the world leader and India stands 5th in global production.
Coffee was used in Sufi monasteries and was banned as a satanic invention in Europe. The first coffee house was opened in Italy in 1645. In 1675, the King of England banned coffee houses claiming people congregated there to conspire against him. With time coffee has been recognised as a human connection, not a luxury or indulgence, an axis around which social conversation revolves.
The kick of caffeine in the coffee lands squarely in the face. With the first few sips the magic begins, then the high and then the crash! The Oatmeal Shop advertising their Caffeine High Mugs say “drinking from one of these is like making out with a Pegasus”.
Now, coffee has many names and you should know what your coffeescope says. If you are an espresso enthusiast you are friendly and adaptive. If mocha, you are fun-loving and creative, iced coffee you’re assertive and outspoken, so on and so forth. While there are several chains of coffee cafes across the world the best known is the Seattle-based Starbucks where the barista with outstretched hand offers a cup of coffee and a lifestyle to match. Its mission is “to inspire and nurture the human spirit, one person, one cup, and one neighbourhood at a time”.
The Coffee Board of India with its tagline of “mystical blends, divine flavours” serves as the guide to our coffee industry. The board’s mascot for is the Coffee Swami. Born in 2006, a true connoisseur of coffee, a store house of coffee wisdom, someone who’s “bean” there, done that, seen it all. Guru of coffee gyan! The international coffee festival 2012 held in Delhi, the centre for the growing coffee culture, had a representation of 17 countries. An international festival where coffee is the only conversation.
As a college student I remember the coffee house in College Street, Kolkata, with its high ceiling and grimy walls and deafening student conversation, a rendezvous for artists, writers, and scholars. The adda sessions inspired many a literary talent and spawned cultural and political movements. So, here’s to the Cup!
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Opinion / by Sudha Devi Nayak / October 03rd, 2013
