The coffee plant originates from Africa’s Horn, specifically from Ethiopia, where even nowadays it grows wild. However, it was in Arabia that the diffusion and spreading of the culture and consumption of coffee began.

A legend exists that tells the way in which a group of Sudanese slaves, in transit to Yemen, acquired some coffee berries to help them through the rough trip. These berries were probably the first to be introduced to Ancient Arabia.

Some say that coffee culture started in Yemen in 575 d.C. but there are no doubts that in the 15th century it was highly developed in the region, and it was from here that coffee started its long journey around the World.

In the 17th century, French, Italian and Dutch merchants competed among themselves to obtain coffee seedlings for subsequent introduction into their overseas colonies. In 1616, the Dutch managed to obtain the highly desired plant that was taken from Mocha to the Netherlands. In 1658, they started coffee culture in Sri Lanka.

One of the prominent figures in coffee’s history was Amsterdam’s mayor, Nicolas Witson. In 1696, Witson suggested to a Malabar commander that he should take coffee seeds to Java, a Dutch possession of the time. These were planted at the Kedawoeng plantation in Batavia. Unfortunately a flood destroyed the plantation. In 1699, at a second attempt, Henricus Zwaaydecroon took cuttings from Malabar to Java, where they were transplanted with great success, thus starting the first European plantation. The profits that were produced after a short while quickly encouraged other colonists.

In 1714, a coffee plant one and a half metres high was sent from Amsterdam to Louis XIV. This coffee seedling, then planted at the Paris Garden of Plants, has been identified as the predecessor of the first coffee plants that were cultivated in most of the French colonies in Central and South America, Caribbean and Bourbon Island.

Coffee’s trip to the West and the East
In 1718, the Dutch took coffee plants to Surinam, in the Northeast coast of South America, which adapted so well that soon this zone of the continent was transformed into coffee’s World centre. After a short while, the first plantation was established in Pará (Brazil), with plants from the French Guiana. These were followed by a different variety from Goa, which was planted in the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro.

In 1730, the British introduced the coffee plant to Jamaica, beginning the long history of the Jamaican “Blue Mountain” coffee. Between 1750 and 1760, coffee started being cultivated in Guatemala. In 1779, Don Francisco Xavier Navarro transported some plants from Cuba to Costa Rica and, in 1790, the first coffee plants were planted in Mexico. In 1825, seeds were taken from a plantation in the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro to Hawaii.

In 1887, the French established a plantation in Tonquim (Vietnam) and in 1896, the first coffee seedlings were planted in Australia.

The secret that the Arabs had so jealously kept, and for so long, was now known throughout the World.

The first coffee houses
It was at Mecca that the first coffee houses appeared, known by the name of “Kaveh Kanes”, and although their objective, originally, was of a religious nature, they were quickly transformed into centres of chess, gossip, song, dance and music. From Mecca the idea spread to Aden, Medina and Cairo.

At first glance, it is not easy to understand the reason why coffee became so explosively popular in the Middle East and in Europe. Before coffee appeared, there were practically no places where a gratifying and relatively inexpensive drink could be enjoyed, in a pleasant environment.