The Arab Coffee Monopoly is Over and the Entire World Now Enjoys Coffee
For centuries coffee distribution was controlled by the Arabs. The Arabs held a tight and zealously protected monopoly on the cultivation of the coffee plant. However, in the 17th century, Dutch traders stole viable seeds and started commercial plantations in the East Indies (Indonesia).
A French officer, Gabriel Mathieu de Clieux, under King Louis XIV thought the plant would grow equally well in the French colonies of the West Indies.
Gabriel Mathieu de Clieux conspired with a gardener to steal a cutting from a coffee plant in King Louis XIV’s botanical gardens. He then planted it in a glass trunk and sailed for the West Indies. It was not an easy journey for him. He risked his life on more than one occasion for his precious cargo of coffee plants. At one time he fought off a Dutch spy who managed to tear off one of the plant’s limbs. He even shared his meager ration of water with the plant while all the other sailors with him were near to perishing of thirst.
Finally, they arrived at the island of Martinique and this single plant was the start to commercial coffee plantations that successfully rivaled the Dutch. It is also ironic to note that the initial cutting was taken from a coffee plant given to King Louis XIV as a gift from the Dutch.
Under King Louis XIV, coffee established itself in the French court. King Louis XIV had a great passion for coffee and enjoyed preparing it for guests in his golden coffeepot.
After plantations started in Martinique, a handsome young Portuguese officer from Brazil won the heart of a French governor’s wife in French Guiana. As a showing of her love for him she secretly gave him some coffee cuttings. He planted the gift of coffee cuttings in neighboring Brazil. Those plantings began what are now the largest coffee plantations in the world.
Coffee plantations began to spring up in other parts of South and Central America and the Caribbean. More and more people around the world began enjoying the coffee beverage.
The coffee beverage is the drink of choice for millions of people around the world today. Coffee is the focus for numerous social occasions from cozy gatherings of friends to large gatherings of business meetings and conferences. Coffee is usually the beverage of choice for millions of people first awakening in the morning. Its rich wafting aroma transcends all political, ethnic, and class borders, and sometimes the aroma is ever more pleasing to our senses than the actual taste.
Those who enjoy coffee include:
• The farmers in Tanzania cradle an earthenware mug of coffee in their hands before starting out a long day in the fields
• Colombian women prepare a pot of breakfast milk coffee for their children
• New York stockbrokers kick off their busy day with a cup of coffee
• Campers all over climb out of their cozy sleeping quarters to embrace their early-morning mug of hot coffee
• Italians stop by a café for a quick espresso before work
• Japan is basically a tea drinking nation; however, they now import some of the best coffee in the world. Spas in Tokyo replaces the traditional tea bath with a coffee bath that contains 13 tons of soggy coffee grounds to soak in
We all drink coffee, however, each culture seems to drink or use the coffee beverage a little differently.
Source: The Coffee Book
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© 2007 Connie Limon All Rights Reserved
By: Connie Limon
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