Coffee History Essay

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Coffee has been around for quite some time. It has traveled from countries to continents, cultures and customs. In the today coffee is consumed by 100 million Americans every day; that is fifty-four percent of Americans over the age of eighteen. Coffee is a custom that many people have adapted to; they simply can’t live without it, or would rather not try. Coffee its self and inventions for it have recklessly improved over the years. The history of coffee is odd but interesting. Coffee originated in the highlands of Ethiopia, where there is a folk tale about a farmer and his goats, that’s says a lot about how coffee trees grow today, as they have for centuries, in this country. Legends say that he found coffee after seeing that his animals, after eating some so called berries from a certain tree, became so hyper that they didn’t want to sleep at night. Kaldi, this farmer, told this crazy story to the local elders at the church that made a tea with those berries and found that it kept them awake for the long hours of prayer, and soon these berries were the talk of the town…and now the world. The Arabians were the first group of people in Asia to prepare and use coffee and also to begin its trade. In the fifteenth century this product, coffee, had spread to the Yemeni of Arabia and was also known in Persia, Egypt, Syria and Turkey. Many travelers from all over Europe ventured to the near east and brought back the talk of this strange dark beverage. In the 17th century coffee had spread across to Europe and was becoming more and more popular across this continent. As the national demand for coffee continued to spread throughout the countries, there was soon quite a bit of competition to manufacture coffee outside of its originatin... ... middle of paper ... ...on of adrenaline and blocking the action of adenosine, a chemical in the brain that slows brain activity and is important for productive sleep. Excessive amounts of caffeine in your diet can also lead to anxiety and sleeplessness, usually in people prone to these different types of disorders. The caffeine levels in coffee can be different depending on the type of bean, roast, grind, and how it was brewed. Darker roasts generally contain less caffeine than lighter roasts, because longer roasting time breaks down caffeine. Coffee over all affects a substantial amount of people, especially Americans, with just everyday production. It can be very good for the human body with the amount of vitamins and nutrients in it, but too much can lead to an obvious “overdose” of caffeine and can be unhealthy. Coffee has come very long way from Arabia and is still growing worldwide.

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