The monks each in turn, as the evening draws near,
Drink ’round the great cauldron—a circle of cheer!
And the dawn in amaze, revisiting that shore,
On idle beds of ease surprised them nevermore!
According to the legend, the news of the “wakeful monastery” spread rapidly, and the magical berry soon came to be in request throughout the whole kingdom. And so the popularity of Turkish Coffee began..
The legend begins that an Arabian herdsman in upper Egypt, or Abyssinia, who complained to the abbot of a neighboring monastery that the goats in his care became unusually frolicsome after eating the berries of certain shrubs found near their feeding grounds. The abbot, having observed the fact, determined to try the virtues of the berries on himself. He, too, responded with a new exhilaration. He directed that some be boiled, and the decoction drunk by his monks, who thereafter found no difficulty in keeping awake during the religious services of the night.
Many believe that coffee originated in the Ethiopian region of Kaffa or in Yemen where it was known as “qahwaw ” – meaning ‘fitness’ or ‘strength’ in Arabic.
Wherever the beginnings came from, In 1593, Ozdemir Pasha, the Turkish Governor learned about a new beverage made of coffee beans in his region. He was so impressed with the beverage that he decided to serve this beverage which he brought from Yemen to Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent.
Using mortars and pestles to grind the roasted beans, they began to prepare it in specially crafter hand hammered copper pots, Cezve. Coffee became so popular that it soon turned into a business with coffee house popping up all over the city and expanding into Europe.
In 1657, Sultan Mehmet IV gifted coffee beans to King Louis XIV. This gesture initiated the introduction of Turkish style coffee to the French society. This step played a crucial role in introducing coffee to the rich European countries.
In 1683, the Turkish troops during the battle of Austria happen to leave behind bags of coffee beans. The Austrians who discovered this new beverage developed it into a new blend. This event traced in the Turkish coffee history proves how important coffee was to soldiers at war.
By 1850, coffee became one of the most valuable commodities in Turkey. Documents in the Turkish coffee history show that many merchants in Europe had started trading coffee just as they were trading wheat.
And the rest, they say, is History..coffee, and Turkish Coffee had made it’s mark on the world!
