Vienna / Coffee

Over 2.25 billion cups of coffee are consumed in the world daily, and in America, it’s an average of three per day per person.

There are numerous myths about the first discoveries of coffee. In one a 9th-century Ethiopian goat herder noticed the energizing effects his flock nibbled on the bright red berries of a certain bush, and then chewed on the fruit himself. In another, a Moroccan mystic observed birds of unusual vitality feeding on berries, and, upon trying the berries, experienced the same vitality. But the reality according to Steven Topik, co-author of The Global Coffee Economy is that no one person discovered coffee. It was first fried and chewed or eaten in a sort of pancake — but as a drink, coffee dates from the 15th century.

Ethiopians did not drink coffee early on. Christians abhorred it, and Muslims and animists chewed it. Yemen was the first to domesticate the coffee tree and use its fruit for a beverage. They made teas from the cherry-like fruit, leaves and husk, and prepared a roasted, ground drink from the seed.

When Ottoman rulers came to control a large part of Eastern Europe, they spread the coffee-drinking habit to Hungary when they invaded during the Battle of Mohács in 1526. Within a year, coffee had reached Vienna.The first coffeehouse in Austria opened in Vienna in 1683 after the Battle of Vienna, by using supplies from the spoils obtained after defeating the Turks. The Polish military officer who received the coffee beans as spoils of war,opened a coffee house and helped popularize the custom of adding sugar and milk to the coffee.

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