The Chinese Invented Everything! Including Coffee? The Origin, Development, and Spread of Coffee History

Professional coffee knowledge exchange. For more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat public account: cafe_style)

For more specialty coffee beans, please add the private WeChat FrontStreet Coffee, WeChat ID: qjcoffeex

Introduction: A French Perspective

Before the article begins, let me make one thing clear: the title wasn't said by me, but by a French person, and it's also a recent hot topic of discussion.

Regarding this point, whether coffee was invented by the Chinese remains to be discussed. However, the discovery of coffee definitely has little to do with the Chinese... But the emergence of coffee cups was indeed inspired by the Chinese.

Zheng He's Influence and Tea in Arabia

Recently, a coffee book written by a French author mentioned: During Zheng He's seventh voyage, he reached Aden in Yemen and the Arabian Peninsula, hoping to exchange Chinese porcelain for local medicinal herbs. At the same time, during the exchange process, he promoted the spread of tea in Arab countries, especially in the Yemen region.

At that time, Muslims in the China region were very fond of drinking tea because it could refresh the mind and help them pray continuously for several hours at night. Therefore, after arriving in the Arab region, they gradually led the local believers to start drinking tea.

The Search for Tea Substitutes

But after Zheng He's team left, local tea supplies began to dwindle. Yemenis and Ethiopians also discovered that tea could not be grown in the African region, so they began looking for another plant that could be dried and steeped for drinking, and started considering coffee leaves and other plants.

Jamal al-Din and Coffee Leaf Tea

According to legend (this is really just legend), the first person to start making tea with coffee leaves was a Muslim named Jamal al-Din. When Zheng He arrived in Yemen, he often visited Chinese believers and tasted Chinese tea multiple times during church activities, experiencing the refreshing effects of tea.

As he grew older, Jamal al-Din became the local Islamic leader. During every church activity, he would serve tea. Until tea became scarce, he began to fire-dry coffee leaves and then brew them, calling it "Kati/Kotea." Phonetically, this is a combination of the Arabic word "Gahwa" (coffee) and "Tea." Fresh coffee leaf tea, however, would be called "Amertassa."

The reason Jamal al-Din used coffee leaves was likely because he was from the Ethiopian region. Before coffee beans were widely used for refreshment, the Oromo people of Ethiopia had already developed the habit of making small balls or cakes from coffee leaves mixed with fat, as well as consuming fresh coffee cherries.

They would also brew coffee cherries into a juice called "Bunchum" to treat headaches, but drinking too much would cause sleeplessness and mental confusion. Perhaps Jamal al-Din understood that coffee leaves had the same refreshing effect as tea, so he tried using coffee leaves instead of tea.

How Coffee Spread to Arabia

Interlude: Regarding how coffee spread to Arabia, some botanists believe that when Arabs captured Oromo people, these individuals might have carried coffee leaves, fruits, and even seedlings with them. Thus, coffee spread to neighboring Yemen, and with the help of pilgrims, it reached the hands of Islamic believers and merchants in the Arabian region.

Various ways of consuming coffee leaves and fruits gradually spread throughout the Arabian region. However, the method of making coffee tea did not become popular. Instead, coffee fruits were fully utilized by the Arabs.

Qishr: The First Coffee Drink

According to records, between 1400-1500, a hot drink called "Qishr" was popular for a time in the ports of Mocha and Aden in Yemen. It was made by drying ripe coffee cherries and using only the flesh part (the seeds, i.e., coffee beans, would be discarded), then lightly roasting and crushing the flesh over a gentle fire, adding spices like ginger and cinnamon, and brewing with hot water to be consumed while hot.

The flesh part still contains 1% caffeine and also has a refreshing effect, and its flavor is much sweeter and more palatable than directly chewing coffee cherries. This practice quickly spread throughout the Arabian Peninsula. At that time, people chose to discard the seed part, perhaps because when coffee was in its raw bean state, it was too hard and bitter, so it was not liked.

The Birth of Gahwa

Around 1450, someone discovered that if the seed part was roasted longer and cooked together with the flesh, the hot drink would be more aromatic and stronger, while doubling the refreshment effect! To distinguish it from "Qishr," this hot drink made with roasted coffee seeds became known as "Gahwa."

From the birth process of coffee, we can see that coffee was not invented by the Chinese. At most, it could be said that the Chinese were a factor that induced the appearance of coffee. The discovery of coffee was by Ethiopians, the spread of coffee was by Arabs, and the true emergence of coffee was also by Arabs.

Chinese Influence on Coffee Culture

After Gahwa appeared, it became one of the essential beverages in religious ceremonies in the Arabian region. Before the ceremony, believers would pass around a small bowl called "Madjur," and everyone would take a sip from the bowl's edge. The shapes, sizes, and patterns of these coffee-drinking small bowls were deeply influenced by Chinese porcelain tea sets.

Today, the small cups used by Arab people when drinking coffee are an evolution of "Madjur." However, in terms of design, we can still see the influence of Chinese porcelain tea sets.

Image source: Internet

Some content cited: The Complete Book of Coffee

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473