2. Etymology
The first reference to
coffee in the English language
is in the form chaona, dated to
1598 and understood to be a
misprint of chaoua , equivalent,
in the orthography of the time,
to chaova. This term and
"coffee" both derive from
the Ottoman Turkish kahve, by
way of the Italian caffè.
The expression "coffee
break" was first attested in
1952. The term "coffee pot"
dates from 1705
3. History
Legendary accounts:
According to legend, ancestors of today's Oromo
people in a region of Kaffa in Ethiopia were believed to have
been the first to recognize the energizing effect of the coffee
plant, though no direct evidence has been found indicating
where in Africa coffee grew or who among the native
populations might have used it as a stimulant or even known
about it, earlier than the 17th century.
4. Historical transmission:
The earliest credible evidence of coffee-
drinking or knowledge of the coffee tree
appears in the middle of the 15th century in
the accounts of Ahmed al-Ghaffar in Yemen. It
was here in Arabia that coffee seeds were first
roasted and brewed, in a similar way to how it
is now prepared. Coffee was used by Sufi
circles to stay awake for their religious rituals.
5. Biology and Cultivation
Biology
Several species of
shrub of the
genus Coffee produce the
berries from which coffee is
extracted. The two main
species commercially
cultivated are Coffee
canephora and Coffee
arabica
Cultivation
The traditional method of
planting coffee is to place 20
seeds in each hole at the
beginning of the rainy season.
This method loses about 50%
of the seeds' potential, as
about half fail to sprout. A
more effective method of
growing coffee, used in Brazil,
is to raise seedlings in
nurseries that are then
planted outside at six to
twelve months.
7. Health effects
Findings have been contradictory as to
whether coffee has any specific health benefits,
and results are similarly conflicting regarding the
potentially harmful effects of coffee
consumption. Furthermore, results and
generalizations are complicated by differences in
age, gender, health status, and serving size.
