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MERRY CHRISTMAS & A
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!

A LIL HISTORY OF COFFEE

The history and development of the beverage that we know as coffee is
varied and interesting, involving chance occurrences, political intrigue, and the pursuit of wealth and power.
According to one story, the effect of coffee beans on behavior was noticed
by a sheep herder named Kaldi as he tended his sheep. He noticed that the sheep became hyperactive after eating
the red "cherries" from a certain plant when they changed pastures. He tried
a few himself, and was soon as
overactive as his herd. The story
relates that a monk happened by
and scolded him for "partaking of the devil's fruit." However the monks soon discovered that this fruit from the
shiny green plant could help them
stay awake for their prayers.

Another legend gives us the name for coffee or "mocha." An Arabian was banished to the desert with his
followers to die of starvation. In desperation, Omar had his friends
boil and eat the fruit from an
unknown plant. Not only did the broth save the exiles, but their survival
was taken as a religious sign by
the residents of the nearest town
Mocha. The plant and its beverage
were named Mocha to honor this event.

One early use for coffee would have
little appeal today. The Galla tribe
from Ethiopia used coffee, but not as a drink. They would wrap the beans in animal fat as their only source of
nutrition while on raiding parties.
The Turks were the first country
to adopt it as a drink, often adding
spices such as clove, cinnamon,
cardamom and anise to the brew.

Coffee was introduced much later to countries beyond Arabia whose inhabitants believed it to be a delicacy
and guarded its secret as if they were
top secret military plans. Transportation of the plant out of the Moslem nations was forbidden by the government. The actual spread of coffee was started illegally. One Arab named Baba Budan smuggled beans to some mountains near Mysore, India, and started a farm there. Early in this century, the descendants
of those original plants were found still growing fruitfully in the region.

EVERY year, according to Nicholas Matti, co-chair of the National
Coffee Development Board and
president and general manager of
Negros Coffee & Grains, Filipinos
consume about 55,000 tons of coffee.
Thanks to the high-street coffee war
waged by popular coffee shops, whose
extensive menus woo our palates and
central nervous system, our country
is one of the few that produce four
varieties of commercially viable coffee:
Robusta, Excelsa, Arabica and Liberica.

^shai^ is the owner of #pinoycafe built on
January 17, 2003 at server Irc.Austnet.Org.
We proudly serve not only coffee lovers but non-coffee lovers as well.
All of our coffees have been selectively chosen with utmost discretion

Coffee, on the surface, appears to be a simple commodity.
But what we don't know is the Philippines stands to save close
to 1.5 billion pesos in coffee imports every year should the country
be successful in rehabilitating the ailing coffee industry.

If you thought Philippine coffee ends with Batangas' kapeng barako...
well, think again. Presenting our signature brands of coffees.
Exclusively named according to aroma, body and flavor.

PINOYCAFE'S PRIDE : OUR OWN FLAVORED COFFEES