THE STORY OF COFFEE

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLV, Issue 21180, 29 October 1938, Page 31 (Supplement)

THE STORY OF COFFEE

IL is said that there was once a devout holy man in the East, who was disturbed by the knowledge that he could not prolong his maditations through the night for as long as he wished, since sleep always overtook him.

He tried to keep awake, but each night he fell asleep despite his efforts, and at last in despair, he confided his troubles to a friend.

The friend looked thoughtful, then said perhaps he could help the holy man. “How?” asked the holy man eagerly. “Well, I have seen a flock of goats frisk and caper through the whole night after they have eaten the berries of a shrub that grows on the mountain side. Perhaps, if you were to eat these, you, too, would keep awake.” The holy man thanked his friend and hastened to find one of these plants. He came upon one, gathered some berries from it, and decided to make an infusion of them with hot water. He drank the infusion, and found, to his great delight, that the unpleasant-tasting brew did keep him awake. He told of his discovery and soon the drink came to be widely used by others

who desired to combat sleep. The taste of the drink was so unpleasantj however, that it was not surprising some men tried to make it more palatable, and much less severe in its effects.

It was in this way, so the legend has it, that coffee first came to be used as a beverage, but, though it does have the effect of keeping some people from sleeping, coffee, as we know it, has only a mild stimulating effect which makes it a pleasant and refreshing drink. It was the brew from the green berries that had such powerful qualities of stimulating the nerves. The coffee plant grows in warm countries, where it can receive plenty of moisture. It is native to Abyssinia and probably obtained its name from the province of Kaffa in that country, where it grew most abundantly. Much coffee is still produced in Abyssinia, but perhaps the finest kind comes from Mocha, in southern Arabia, whence also comes great quantities of the world’s coffee supply. The first Europeans to learn of the beverage prepared by roasting the hard seeds inside the berries,

and grinding them up to make them easy to infuse, were the Dutch. They managed to take some plants to their East Indies possessions, where they grow very well—as they still do. A few plants were also sent to Holland, to be grown in hot houses, of course, and one of these was sent as a present to the Botanical Gardens in Paris. A man named Declieux was entrusted with this plant, and told to take it to the French possession of Martinque, where it was likely to flourish, and, it was hoped, give birth to a new industry. So Declieux set off on the long sea voyage with his coffee plant in a little pot. Contrary winds, however, made the journey longer than expected, and supplies of fresh water

were so low that crew and passengers were strictly rationed, receiving only one glass of water each day. But coffee plants need water, and if Declieux were to keep his plant alive he would need to give most of his scanty ration. And that is what he did. One day he gave it all his glass of water, the next he shared half a glass with it, and so on during the rest of the voyage. The plant remained alive, flourished and furnished seeds for the huge coffee plants in the Antilles.

Nowadays we obtain coffee not only from Abyssinia, Arabia and West and East Indies, but also from South America, particularly Santos and Rio in Brazil, Central America and Mexico.