Did you know about International Coffee Day?

Every year, on September 29, we celebrate the International Coffee Day. The history of this "vice" begins more than 1000 years ago, its first documentary mention dating back to the 9th century. In the Western countries, however, the history of coffee begins only three centuries ago. Originally from East Africa (Ethiopia) - the Kaffa region, where it seems to have taken its name - the coffee was spread first by Arabs, followed by Turks and then by Europeans. Europeans have expanded their cultural areas (in Asia, America and even Oceania), while also contributing to the spread of the coffee drinking habit. According to the documents, the first coffee plants were brought to the coasts of the Red Sea in Africa, initially being considered food. Thus, in the East African tribes, the raw coffee bean were ground and by mixing with animal fat a paste was obtained, which was shaped like balls, and these were consumed by the tribe's warriors to have more energy during the battles. There are also older legends in Arab countries, about a mysterious bitter drink with stimulating effects. Around year 1000, the famous healer Avicenna, administered the coffee as a medicine. The Ethiopians obtained some kind of wine from the coffee fruits, by fermenting in the water the dried berries, and from the eleventh century, the coffee was prepared as a hot drink in The Arabian Peninsula. But there are two legends that draw attention: in the first of these, an apocryphal history dating to the early fifteenth century mentions that a Yemeni goat guardian by the name of Khaldi noticed how his goats became insidious and energetic after eating fruit, tomatoes growing in the bushes. Khaldi took these fruits to a nearby monastery, where the abbot boiled the fruit in water, obtaining a bitter but aromatic liquid, very stimulating, which drove away fatigue and drowsiness. The second legend says that a Muslim dervish who was condemned by his enemies to wander through the desert and thus starve to death, heard a voice urging him to eat the fruit from a nearby coffee tree. He tried to soak the fruit in water and drank that liquid. Thus he returned to his ideas of divine properties and the recipe of this drink. In fact, coffee is the seed of the coffee tree of the Coffea species - the family Rubiaceelor, a species that includes almost 80 varieties, of which four are cultivated for industrial purposes, namely: Coffea Arabica, Coffea Robusta, Coffea Liberica and Coffea Maragogype. • Arabica coffee is the most popular coffee tree. He does not come from Arabia, but from Africa, specifically Abyssinia. This coffee tree currently supplies about 75-80% of the world's coffee production. It is usually planted at an altitude of between 600 and 2000 m. The quality of the Arabica coffee is excellent. • Robusta coffee is a fast growing species and is more resistant to weathering and pests compared to the Arabica species. It provides about 20% of the world's coffee production and is usually cultivated at an altitude of about 600 m. It is found in tropical areas of Africa, India and Indonesia, regions where the Arabica species is weakly growing. The quality of the coffee from this shrub is average, the taste being pungent and bitter. • Liberica coffee also has fast growth and good weather and disease resistance. It is native to West Africa (Liberia) and is grown exclusively in the tropical and subtropical plains of Africa and South America, where the humidity is very high and the temperature varies between 20 and 25 ° C. The quality of this type of coffee is medium. • Maragogype coffee is the product of a coffee tree discovered in the vicinity of the city of Maragogype in Brazil. It is a hybrid resulting from the cross between the Arabica and Liberica species, which, except for the grain size, retained the Arabica species, but the overall yield of this shrub is still inferior and its culture is extremely widespread (Brazil, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Mexico, Colombia), at an altitude ranging between 600 and 1000 m. New York City has long been the main commercial coffee market. However, important coffee reserves are also stored in the European ports of Antwerp, Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Hamburg and London. In New York, all US and South American coffee lots are traded in US dollars, and African-origin coffee lots are mainly traded in London, with prices being set at pounds. The global consumption of coffee is influenced by many factors, such as: the profit made, the standard of living, the fluctuation of prices, as well as the preference of the respective market granted to other drinks. However, the balance between supply and demand is often disrupted on the international coffee market. As it is known, coffee is the main source of profit for many Latin American and African countries. For International Coffee Day, many coffee chains offer a free coffee to those entering by their door, especially in America. In Europe, they organize coffee fairs where people can learn more about the different types of coffee and how they are collected.