By Max B.

Coffee. Every adult’s favorite drink, one they can’t seem to survive without. It is a good drink that can help you get through the day, but can also make you so shaky you can’t do anything. 

Before coffee was a drink, the beans were a snack. Back in the years 500 to 600 CE, people in Ethiopia would harvest the beans and bring them back to their tribes where they would be crushed up and mixed with animal fat. These coffee-fat balls would be given to soldiers to make them more peppy and ready for battle. Later, around 1000 CE, they made wine out of the beans. To do this, they would dry the beans and ferment them in water. 

Later, around the 11th century, people in the Arabian peninsula discovered the beans. They began cultivating them and when the people dried and crushed the beans rather than making them into wine or fat-filled energy balls, they made them into an early version of the drink that we all know and love. 

During this time, coffee was also thought to have medicinal value. In the 11th century, Sheik Schadhedi made a brew much like the coffee we have now by boiling the beans, roasting them, crushing them, and putting them in boiling water. This drink he had made was given to sick townspeople with an undiscovered illness, and it somehow cured them. Shortly after, Schadhedi became a well known physician of his time.

Not only is coffee a great drink, but there are lots of cool facts to know about it. Some of these things include the fact that coffee is a cherry-like berry and it’s the pit that we roast and consume. Or that Brazil produces about 3.5 million metric tons of coffee beans yearly. Or how the first coffee house was established in 1475. 

 Known as the Kiva Han, and built in Istanbul, Turkey, this coffee house served a variety of coffee drinks and became a place where politicians or writers could discuss, debate, or share stories. The drinks were made from beans brought by traders in Yemen and Ethiopia. They served traditional Turkish coffee, which is thick, strong, unfiltered, and dark. This was commonly served in an ibric (a small metal pot).

In modern times, the art and culture of coffee still exist. People still enjoy going to coffee houses to talk and get a drink, but now you can buy a bag of pre-ground beans, pop them in water, and you have a cup of coffee, right in your home. World trade has made coffee more accessible, which has lowered the value of a cup but has given everyone access to the drink that helps you get up in the morning. There has also been a boom in the amount of coffee houses/shops more recently which has supported the economy.

Coffee is a great drink that is rich in flavor and history. Some people like the drink and some hate it. Personally I think it tastes great but many people around me would disagree. It is a neat drink that can give you energy or help with focus for people with ADHD. I give coffee four stars.