|
There are many
stories, anecdotes
and legends
interwoven around
the cultivation and
consumption of
coffee in the world.
Despite their
discrepancies, all
agree that it
derives from the
Kaffa’s region, in
Ethiopia.
One Southeast
Ethiopian legend
tells that coffee
was a wild shrub
discovered by a
goatherd named Kaldi.
He noticed his goats
behaved in an
unusual way upon
eating the berries
of a shrub that grew
in the fields. The
goatherd reported
his findings to the
nearby monks. The
monks prepared a
brew with the fruits
that were thrown to
the fire for their
bad taste, but a
pleasant aroma
wafted from the
burned beans.
This gave them the
idea of preparing an
infusion, which had
an invigorating
effect. From there
the consumption of
this drink extended
to Arabia and the
rest of the world.
This discovery was
made between the
twelfth and
fourteenth
centuries. The ways
of drinking coffee
were varied. First,
they prepared an
infusion of the
beans’ leaves. Then,
when leaves dried
up, they started
roasting the beans.
From that on,
gourmets have
invented thousands
of different ways to
drink coffee.
We owe the word "QAHUAH"
to the Muslims,
which means
“infusion”. It was
pronounced "QAHVE"
by the Turks, and
later shifted into
the European
versions of "CAFFE",
"COFFEE", "CAFFE",
and "CAFÉ".
INTRODUCTION OF
COFFEE IN AMERICA
Until early
seventeenth century,
coffee was an import
product in the New
World. Coffee began
to be cultivated in
Haiti and Puerto
Domingo in 1715.
From that date
coffee cultivation
is extended to
countries with
favorable
environmental
conditions. They
began growing it in
Brazil in 1732, in
Cuba in 1745, in
Venezuela in 1735
and in Mexico in
1775. |
Córdoba, a beautiful
province in
Veracruz, is
recognized by
journalists as the
place where the
first coffee
plantation in the
region took place.
José Antonio Gómez
de Guevara has the
merit of having
brought the first
coffee beans to
Mexico, and the
first coffee
plantations took
place in Hacienda de
Guadalupe.
In 1808, presbyter
José Santiago
Contreras and parish
priest Andrés
Domínguez planted in
Coatepec and Teocelo,
state of Veracruz,
some seeds brought
from Cuba by another
Spaniard, Mr. José
Arias. In 1809 there
is the first
plantation in the
city of Xalapa,
Veracruz. The same
year, Mr. Jaime
Salvet starts
growing coffee in
Cuernavaca and
Yautepec, in the
state of Morelos.
Today well tended
plantations produce
an internationally
recognized quality
bean.
An Italian named
Jerónimo Manchinelli
introduced coffee in
Sierra del Soconusco,
Chiapas. In 1828
General Mariano
Michelena took
coffee to Uruapan,
Michoacán. In 1854
Mr. José Ma Cortés,
San Agustín’s parish
priest grew the
first coffee
plantation in
Loxicha, Oaxaca.
Coffee quickly
started to be
exported from
Córdoba to Spain. In
1802, 272 quintals
departed from the
Port of Veracruz,
and 493 quintals in
1804. In 1825
exports decreased to
33 quintals, and in
1826 to 20 quintals.
No reliable data is
provided regarding
the others years.
Nowadays, the
Mexican coffee has a
prominent place in
the international
market, after more
than one century of
tradition and
experience in its
cultivation.
Note: Quintal
is an old Spanish
measure equal to
57.5 kg. |
