[ h o m e p a g e A n t i c a T o s t a t u r a T r i e s t i n a ]

THE HISTORY AND LEGEND OF COFFEE :

The legend of the coffee plant is curious and fascinating. It is said that a shepherd by the name of Kadi, while grazing his flock in the mountains of Ethiopia, noticed that the sheep were quite lively after having eaten some berries.

There was a monastery nearby and the monks within studied plants, their medical properties and other usages. They steeped the berries and the resulting infusion was pleasantly bitter, they also noticed that the more one drank the more one could stay awake and dedicate time to one's prayers.

Another tale speaks of the Archangel Gabriel offering coffee to Mohammed.

The infusion became so loved for its taste and qualities that it became part of the daily life of the Arab world. It is believed that the word coffee derives from Kaffa a region located in the mountain valleys of Ethiopia. From there it spread to Yemen and Turkey.

THE HISTORY

It seems that coffee is mentioned as being present in 15th century Rome although not as the pleasant drink we are all familiar with but rather as an infusion steeped with the leaves and berries of the coffee plant.

Coffee takes root in Europe during the Renaissance around 1580 when hordes of barbarians and adventurers roam all over the "old continent"

In 1683 coffee makes its debut in Vienna, due to the Ottoman invasion of the city. Although the Austrians didn't know it yet this was to give birth to Vienna's world renown coffee houses and what in the future would be known as the "Viennese coffee".

When the defeated Ottoman army retreats, it abandons an incredible amount of sacks filled with coffee beans. The Turks had learned in the course of centuries to "roast" and grind the beans and were never without their beloved drink..

The Austrians at first thought that these bags contained food for dromedaries and began to burn the beans. A certain Polish citizen by the name of Georg Kolschitzky who worked in Vienna as an interpreter, became aware of the aroma pervading the city. He was familiar with coffee because he had enjoyed it during his trips to Ethiopia and that is why he contacted the Austrian army to ask them to give him the sacks of beans for free.

Wisely and with foresight he opened the first coffee house in Vienna; he called it The Blue Bottle
(Zur Blauen Flasche)

To commemorate the defeat of the Turkish army he commissioned a pastry in the form of a crescent moon (Turkish symbol) to be enjoyed with one's coffee. Strange as it now may seem he was in effect the father of the croissant so familiar to all of us.

At his death in 1696, the coffee house was bought by four men who then founded a new guild called "Masters Roasters of Coffee".

It is during this period that coffee is exported to Venice and the first coffee houses are born