During that time, coffee beans were available only in their native habitat, Ethiopia, but, when the Arab world began expanding its trade horizons,
the beans moved into northern Africa and were mass-cultivated.
From there, the beans entered the Indian and European markets,
and the popularity of the beverage spread.
Origins
The word "coffee" entered English in 1598 via Italian caffè.
This word was created via Turkish kahve,
which in turn came into being via Arabic qahwa,
a truncation of qahhwat al-bun or wine of the bean.
Traditional Islam prohibits the use of alcohol as a beverage,
and coffee provided a suitable alternative to wine.
There are several legendary accounts of the origin of the drink itself.
One account involves the Yemenite Sufi mystic Shaikh ash-Shadhili.
When travelling in Ethiopia, the legend goes,
he observed goats of unusual vitality, and, upon trying the berries that the goats had been eating, experienced the same vitality.
A similar myth attributes the discovery of coffee to an Ethiopian goat herder named Kaldi and the Legend of Dancing Goats.
One possible origin of both the beverage and the name is the
Kingdom of Kaffa in Ethiopia, where the coffee plant originated
(its name there is bunn or bunna).
The Muslim World
The earliest mention of coffee may be a reference to Bunchum
in the works of the 9th century CE Persian physician Razi,
but more definite information on the preparation of a beverage from the roasted coffee berries dates from several centuries later.
The most important of the early writers on coffee was Abd al-Qadir al-Jaziri, who in 1587 compiled a work tracing the history and
legal controversies of coffee entitled "Umdat al safwa fi hill al-qahwa".
He reported that one
Sheikh, Jamal-al-Din al-Dhabhani,
mufti of Aden, was the first to adopt the use of coffee (circa 1454).
Coffee's usefulness in driving away sleep made it popular among Sufis.
Al-Jaziri's manuscript work is of considerable interest
with regards to the history of coffee in Europe as well.
Coffee beans were first exported from Ethiopia to Yemen.
Yemeni traders brought coffee back to their homeland
and began to cultivate the bean.
The first coffee house was Kiva Han,
which opened in Constantinople in 1457.
Coffee was at first not well received.
In 1511, it was forbidden for its stimulating effect by conservative,
orthodox imams at a theological court in
Mecca.
However, the popularity of the drink led these bans to be overturned in 1524 by an order of the
Ottoman Turkish
Sultan
Selim I.
In
Cairo, Egypt, a similar ban was instituted in 1532, and the coffeehouses and warehouses containing coffee beans were sacked.
Similarly, coffee was banned by the
Ethiopian Orthodox Church some time before the 17th century, along with smoking tobacco and chewing the mild stimulant
khat, as it was seen as a Muslim and pagan practice.
Europe
Coffee was first imported to Italy, according to historic sources.
The vibrant trade between the Italian city of Venice and
the Muslims in North Africa, Egypt, and the East brought a large variety of African goods, including coffee, to this leading European port.
Venetian merchants decided to introduce coffee to the wealthy in Venice, charging them heavily for the beverage.
In this way, coffee was introduced to Europe.
Coffee became more widely accepted after it was "baptized" by Pope Clement VIII in 1600 despite appeals to ban the Muslim drink.
The first European coffee house opened in Italy in 1645.
England
Largely through the efforts of the British East India Company and the Dutch East India Company, coffee became available in England no later than the 16th century according to Leonhard Rauwolf</