EVERYTHING YOU WANT TO KNOW ABOUT COFFEE...AND MORE

Coffee Universe is the Web's #1 coffee information and resource site. Whether you are a specialty coffee professional, a new start-up business, a barista or simply passionate about coffee, Coffee Universe has what you are looking for.

Resources
Coffee Universe features the largest on-line coffee industry databasewhere suppliers of coffee-related products and services can list their businesses and retailers can find what they need. Coffee Universe also includes a Retailer's Expo, where companies can highlight their products and services in an on-line virtual tradeshow.

If you are a barista, Barista World gives you a schedule of upcoming competitions and events, profiles of outstanding practitioners and information to help you further develop your skills.

Information
Coffee World will teach you all about the bean, from an overview of the countries where it is grown to the specifics of roasting and blending.

Tips on preparing, grinding and storing coffee will help you make terrific coffee at home and increase your enjoyment of the beverage.

Stay on top of your coffee education by reading the latest coffee news on-line in our What's Brewing section.

Community
In addition to bringing suppliers and retailers together, Coffee Universe is dedicated to creating a community of coffee lovers. By joining our social network, My Café, you can make friends with others who share your enthusiasm for coffee.

Friends of the Universe gives you an insider's look at the coffee industry by presenting a photo gallery of specialty coffee professionals on the tradeshow floor at recent industry exhibitions.

Fun
Take one of our Coffee Quizzes and find out if you're a coffee aficionado, or, perhaps, a tea drinker!

COFFEE'S JOURNEY AROUND THE WORLD

Coffee was first discovered in Eastern Africa in an area we know today as Ethiopia. A popular legend refers to a goat herder by the name of Kaldi, who observed his goats acting unusually frisky after eating berries from a bush. Curious about this phenomenon, Kaldi tried eating the berries himself. He found that these berries gave him a renewed energy. The news of this energy laden fruit quickly spread throughout the region.

Hearing about this amazing fruit, Monks dried the berries so that they could be transported to distant monasteries. They reconstituted these berries in water, ate the fruit, and drank the liquid to provide stimulation for a more awakened time for prayer.

Coffee Leaves Africa
Coffee berries were transported from Ethiopia to the Arabian Peninsula, and were first cultivated in what today is the country of Yemen.

From there, coffee traveled to Turkey where coffee beans were roasted for the first time over open fires. The roasted beans were crushed, and then boiled in water, creating a crude version of the beverage we enjoy today.

Coffee Arrives in Europe
Coffee first arrived on the European continent by means of Venetian trade merchants. Once in Europe this new beverage fell under harsh criticism from the Catholic Church. Many felt the pope should ban coffee, calling it the drink of the devil. To their surprise, the pope, already a coffee drinker, blessed coffee declaring it a truly Christian beverage.

Coffee houses spread quickly across Europe becoming centers for intellectual exchange. Many great minds of Europe used this beverage, and forum, as a springboard to heightened thought and creativity.

Coffee Travels to America
In the 1700's, coffee found its way to the Americas by means of a French infantry captain who nurtured one small plant on its long journey across the Atlantic. This one plant, transplanted to the Caribbean Island of Martinique, became the predecessor of over 19 million trees on the island within 50 years. It was from this humble beginning that the coffee plant found its way to the rest of the tropical regions of South and Central America.

Coffee was declared the national drink of the then colonized United States by the Continental Congress, in protest of the excessive tax on tea levied by the British crown.

Espresso
Espresso, a recent innovation in the way to prepare coffee, obtained its origin in 1822, with the innovation of the first crude espresso machine in France. The Italians perfected this wonderful machine and were the first to manufacture it. Espresso has become such an integral part of Italian life and culture that there are presently over 200,000 espresso bars in Italy.

Coffee in the 21st Century
Today, coffee is a giant global industry employing more than 20 million people. This commodity ranks second only to petroleum in terms of dollars traded worldwide. With over 400 billion cups consumed every year, coffee is the world's most popular beverage. If you can imagine, in Brazil alone, over 5 million people are employed in the cultivation and harvesting of over 3 billion coffee plants.

Sales of premium specialty coffees in the United States have reached the multi billion-dollar level, and are increasing significantly on an annual basis.

History Of Coffee

According to a coffee history legend, an Arabian shepherd named Kaldi found his goats dancing joyously around a dark green leafed shrub with bright red cherries in the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula.  Kaldi soon determined that it was the bright red cherries on the shrub that were causing the peculiar euphoria and after trying the cherries himself, he learned of their powerful effect.  The stimulating effect was then exploited by monks at a local monastery to stay awake during extended hours of prayer and distributed to other monasteries around the world.  Coffee was born.
Despite the appeal of such a legend, recent botanical evidence suggests a different coffee bean origin. This evidence indicates that the history of the coffee bean beagan on the plateaus of centralEthiopia and somehow must have been brought to Yemen where it was cultivated since the 6th century.  Upon introduction of the first coffee houses in Cairo and Mecca coffee became a passion rather than just a stimulant.