“Coffee - the favourite drink of the civilized world.”
About
Scientific Name: coffea arabica
Cultivation: cultivation of coffee began on the Arabian peninsula by the 15th century. By the 16th century it had spread to Persia, Egypt, Syria and Turkey. We can follow the cultivation through the years but the coolest part is that most plants now can be traced back to a gifted seedling from the mayor of Amsterdam to King Louis XIV in 1714. The king planted this seedling in the Royal Botanical Garden in Paris. Later, in 1723, a seedling was obtained from this plant and sent to Martinique, an island in the east Caribbean Sea. A young naval officer by the name of Gabriel de Clieu was the one assigned to this project and he was successful despite the horrendous weather, a saboteur and a pirate attack. By the end of the century coffee had become one of the world’s most profitable exports and after crude oil it is the most sought after commodity worldwide. Brazil claims more than 10 billion coffee plants and takes home crown as the largest producer of coffee in the world today.
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There are two origin stories for the first human consumption of coffee both shrouded in mystery as they are stories passed down by word of mouth. The first tells of a goat herder named Khaldi from the Ethiopian plateau. His goats, after eating some bright red berries, were full of energy bouncing around and playing with no end to their energy in sight. They wouldn't sleep that night. He took these berries to the abbot of the local monastery and the monks there created a beverage out of them that helped them stay awake to pray through the night.
The second story is about a man, Mahomet, who received a dark drink from the Arch Angel Gabriel and went on to take 40 nights off of their horses (in battle) and satisfy 40 women in the same day. Talk about a stimulant!
The first written evidence of coffee comes from the Persian physician Razi (or Rhazes) who classified it as medicine rather than purely food or drink.
Coffee caught on as a replacement to other drinks, specifically alcohol, and took on the name Wine of Arabia or khave. The modern coffee house stems from this as coffee houses began to spring up all over the place following the coffee plants and popularity itself. The first documented one shows up in 1554 in Constantinople (Istanbul.) Coffee houses spread starting with Venice in 1645, England in 1650, France in 1672 and Boston in 1676 (and we’ll come back to both Venice and Boston.) Although coffee was enjoyed at home it was seen very much as a social drink as well. Similarly to our modern coffee houses (and events we now call coffee houses whether held at one or not) these places had entertainment and intellectual conversation as main tenets. They became known as Schools of the Wise and Penny universities as they spread from the Middle East to Europe and across the ocean.
So, Venice. In 1615 a controversy began as some of the locals, most specifically some of the clergymen wanted to bitter drink condemned over fear and suspicion calling it the, “invention of Satan.” The Pope at the time, Pope Clement VIII, decided to taste the beverage before making any rash decisions. He found it satisfying and gave it approval stating, “This Satan’s drink is so delicious. It would be a pity to let the infidels have exclusive use of it. We should cheat the devil by baptizing it.” And so he did, and with his blessing any negative spirits attached to the drink vanished and so the people could safely drink it.
And now Boston. Though that coffee house opened in Boston and some others may have followed, tea stayed the drink of choice for many Americans. In 1773 however King George III imposed a heavy tax on tea and there was a revolt. We know it today as the Boston Tea Party and it forever changed the drinking preferences in America. The quote at the beginning of this page from Thomas Jefferson is in reference to this, “Coffee - the favourite drink of the civilized world.”
Magical
Correspondences: Mars. Masculine/Yang. Fire, Earth and Air (arguably water when made into a beverage.) Arch Angel Gabriel, Chango. Root and Sacral Chakras.
Energy boost, grounding, happiness, luck, lust, romance, curse removal, dispel ghosts, hex removal, divination, nightmare protection, chakra booster, blockage removal, boost and speed up spell
How to use: as an offering, in sachets, divination of grounds like tea leaves, aromatherapy, kitchen witchery, body scrub, spell jars, bathing, cleansing
Mundane
Health
Another grocery list incoming of all the possible health benefits of coffee. Some of these are backed up with a lot of research and others not as much as per usual so take everything with the idea that you should look into it yourself and just use this as a jumping off point. An interesting thing to note is that a lot of this research shows results specific to women and that is a rarity in research so that's certainly a point to rejoice!
In women (afab is what I assume they mean by this): 26% less likely to develop colorectal cancer (with caff or decaf;) protection against Alzheiemer's (with 2 cups per day;) lowered risk of stroke (with one cup per day;) and less than 200gm of caffeine (or about 12 ounces) of coffee seems to be safe for those that are pregnant. With 4 cups of coffee per day (keep in mind that a lot of coffee and in turn a lot of caffeine) the risk of depression drops by 20%.
On to the stuff for everyone: Dark roast coffee may decrease the naturally occurring breakage of DNA strands meaning that it may help in preventing the formation of tumors and cancer; coffee improves general brain function and can be linked to some specifics as well including memory, mood, vigilance, energy and reaction times; caffeine (the stimulant part of coffee) may boost your metabolic rate (by 3 - 11%) and increase fat burning (by 10% for obese people and 29% for lean people and varying degrees in between;) these contributing factors can obviously lead to improved physical performance (11 - 12% on average; )may help prevent coronary heart disease, diabetes, kidney disease, and Parkinson's Disease (as well as help them control their movement.) Both regular and decaf may have a protective effect on your liver. From that same study (just the one study which is an important piece of information) above, 4 cups of coffee were shown to decrease likeliness of suicide by 53%.
In the Kitchen
We think of coffee beans being used as a beverage more often than not but coffee is great for adding or accentuating flavours. The most common flavour we see paired with coffee for an added kick is chocolate but believe it or not coffee can also add a new layer to more savoury dishes as well; rubs and marinades, vinaigrettes and chili can all be given a new and exciting life with a little coffee.
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Can be used as an exfoliant in body scrubs ( best not used on the face or sensitive skin.)
It smells nice. Try putting it in a bowl surrounding a candle for a gentle coffee scent.
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