The First Coffee Bean of All

All of the different types of coffee beans have a common ancestor. We've prepared an article with information that traces the origins of them all.

Nowadays, coffee is such a basic commodity that it is hard to imagine a time when it was not one of the most consumed beverages in the world. Unbelievable, right? To get to where it is today, it has had to travel a long historical road. Its origins may be a bit mysterious, so tracking down the first cultivated coffee bean is not an easy task. However, there are several stories about the discovery of coffee and its properties, which later led to the spread of this important bean.

The stories behind the first coffee beans

The journey of the coffee bean and the acquisition of the taste for the products based on it, has been long. For example, it was not until the 13th century that beans began to be roasted by the Muslim community that used their properties as a stimulant in the long hours of prayer. Muslims managed to maintain a monopoly on coffee, and it was only between 1500 and 1600 that the coffee plant left Africa to spread around the world. It is said that Baba Budan, an Indian pilgrim, was the one who achieved that feat by leaving Mecca with fertile beans fastened to a strap across his abdomen.

Whatever the true story behind the first coffee bean outside Africa, the reality is that it was the Dutch who set up the first coffee farm, and it is from that moment onwards that the coffee market reaches all regions of the world, including America and Asia. After all these events, coffee gained more and more followers, and several coffee houses were opened all over Europe.

In short, the success of coffee has been historical! But where did it come from? Where did the passion for coffee beans and their properties start? One of the best-known stories refers to an Ethiopian goat herder of the 9th century named Kaldi, who after seeing that his goat was full of vitality and energy when eating the red fruits of a bush, decided to try these red berries himself.

Once Kaldi experienced the effects of the stimulants, he decided to take the fruits to a monk in a monastery that eventually threw them into the fire, generating a toasted smell. After that, the monks of that community began to roast the beans and grind them to mix them with water to produce an exceptional drink.

Another theory places the discovery of the properties of coffee beans in the hands of a Yemenite Sufi mystic called Ghothul Akbar Nooruddin Abu al-Hasan ash-Shadhili. This character would have traveled to Ethiopia and spotted birds with a lot of vitality. Seeing the fruit these animals ate, he decided to taste them too, discovering the properties that they possessed.

Finally, the latest story about the discovery of coffee refers to Omar, an Abu al-Hasan ash-Shadhili disciple, who was recognized for his ability to heal through prayer. One day he was exiled from Mocha to a desert cave and to avoid starvation he decided to try the red fruit of a tree, but it tasted very bitter. Then he tried to roast it, but it was tough; finally, he put those roasted beans to boil in water and discovered a stimulating drink that helped him survive. After the episode of the miracle drug, Omar was called back to the city.

In the end, the story of the first coffee bean may be a mystery. However, uncovered evidence indicates that knowledge about coffee and its properties may date back to the 15th century in Yemen.

World history shows the characteristics and traditions that represent us today. In the field of coffee, it is not different, and we are very aware of this at That Coffee Roasters. If you want to know more about our traditions and origins of coffee, follow us through our social networks and learn why coffee has been one of the most valued drinks in the world since ancient times.

All things begin somewhere. That principle applies to coffee beans too, and to prove it, we've collected some information that we're sure you will find very interesting!

That Coffee Roasters

Phone Number: (305) 821-8811

2697 W. 76 Street, Hialeah, Florida 33016

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How Coffee Houses and Coffee Roasters Can Work Together

As a roaster, you need to ask yourself: who is going to buy your coffee?

Just like the rest of the coffee industry, roasters ultimately work for one customer: the final consumer. If people don’t like the coffee they’re drinking, then they will not buy it from cafés and stores to which roasters are selling it to. This sounds fairly simple, but it’s actually not. Coffee has such a huge range of varieties that, if consumers and café owners don’t know what to expect, they might think that roasters have been selling them a bad product.

Because let’s face it: some coffees are not bad but just different. Some are more acidic and less sweet. Some are more floral and less earthy. It’s completely normal. Flavors depend on both coffee's origins and on which roasting method was used. However, consumers might be used to consuming mainstream types of coffee, so they might not buy exotic varieties. In those cases, café owners might complain to roasters for producing coffees that nobody seems to like.

Roasters can learn a lot about consumers from their clients. They can tell them which coffees are selling better and why, because roasters don’t really get to see the final product. It’s up to baristas and regular consumers to brew it. And if it’s not brewed correctly, then the results can be a bit disappointing. So by having a clear communication with café owners, roasters can learn things like:

• Who consumes their products.
• How educated they are about coffee.
• Which are their favorite flavors and how consistent they are with their preferences.
• What equipment and methods baristas use to brew it.

Does this mean that if you’re a roaster, you should leave specialty coffee roasting behind in favor of a mainstream production? Absolutely not! That’s still an extra value you can give to café owners and baristas. You can, very kindly, educate them about how different coffees taste better when using specific brewing methods and you can teach them how to sell each type of roasting and coffee. Sometimes, the problem isn’t that people don’t want to try something different, it’s that you haven’t sold that new product to them appropriately.

Besides, it could be a great marketing opportunity both for roasters and coffee houses. If you’re a roaster, you can work together with café's owners to organize workshops or live demonstrations in which you can teach your consumers all there is to know about coffee and how to identify and appreciate their different properties. You’ll give an extra value to your clients, and at the same time, you’ll be attracting new people and businesses to your brand.  

Every step in the coffee’s production process has its very own requirements and working styles. At That Coffee Roasters, we know how to seize every one of them to bring the best out of every bean. We want to have a great relationship with our customers so we can keep growing each day and continue to spread our love for the best drink that’s ever existed!

Be receptive to feedback.

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That Coffee Roasters

Phone Number: (305) 821-8811

2697 W. 76 Street, Hialeah, Florida 33016

Facebook: That Coffee Roasters

Instagram: thatcoffeeroasters

Cultural Icons Who Were Huge Coffee Addicts

Did you know they were addicted to coffee?

Art can be exhausting, unforgiving and full of raw passions. The same can be said for politicians', philosophers', and thinkers' job. It's no surprise then that so many people have found solace in the distinct taste and aroma of a great cup of coffee. It's perfect to replenish the energy of those tormented minds of inspired souls who lack a good night of sleep.

Some of these icons went to the extreme when consuming coffee, and others have dedicated part of their work to this beloved drink as it made their lives better in one way or another. From modern comedians to novelists from the XVIII century, coffee has conquered many hearts, and we’ve gathered them all here for you!

If you don’t understand why coffee has been such a great ally to creative people, perhaps realist writer, Honoré de Balzac, can explain it better than anyone else: “Coffee glides into one’s stomach and sets all of one’s mental processes in motion. One’s ideas advance in column of route like battalions of the Grande Armée [...] Were it not for coffee one could not write, which is to say one could not live.”

The novelist was known for consuming as many as 50 cups a day to maintain his extreme creative outbursts when working. Nowadays, there’s even a brand of coffee with his name. Canadian writer, Margaret Atwood, another famous coffee lover, has also lent her name to one of this brand's products.  

But literature hasn’t been the only branch of art benefitted by coffee. Musicians have always been some of the most famous coffee addicts the world has seen. Beethoven meticulously counted 60 beans by hand in each cup of coffee, composer Johann Sebastian Bach wrote an opera named The Coffeecantata, and many modern singers, like Frank Sinatra, Bob Dylan or Ella Fitzgerald, have included their love for this beverage in their songs.

Moving on to more recent days, many popular celebrities are very outspoken about their coffee dependence. Comedian Jerry Seinfeld even went on to make a comedy series called Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, with the appearance of the likes of David Letterman, Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, Jim Carrey and many others.

Many other artists and celebrities have also created their own coffee lines. David Lynch, a famous writer and director, has its own signature brand, as well as Hugh Jackman. Just as one would expect, Leonardo DiCaprio’s line is dedicated to incentivize sustainable production and donate to environmental causes.

In the line of thinkers, philosophers like Søren Kierkegaard, Jean-Paul Sartre or Voltaire had all in common their love for coffee. Actually, the Danish social critic Kierkegaard used to drink his coffee with approximately 60 sugar cubes. And if you think that’s extreme, Voltaire drank up to 50 cups of java per day.

Now, this list wouldn’t be complete without some of the greatest coffee consumers of all time: world leaders and politicians. Perhaps one of the most impressive ones is Theodore Roosevelt, who used to drink a gallon of coffee a day with 5 to 7 lumps of sugar in each cup. Benjamin Franklin also sold his own coffee beans, and Napoleon Bonaparte reportedly asked for coffee on his own deathbed.

Of course, too much of anything will be bad for your health, but sometimes it’s hard to rationalize with passionate people. In That Coffee Roasters we also consider ourselves coffee addicts, but how couldn’t we? What about you? Do you also use coffee to fuel your inspiration and creativity? How much coffee do you drink every week? Let us know in the comments and stay updated with our new content!

If these cultural icons were huge fans of coffee, you can be one too!

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That Coffee Roasters

Phone Number: (305) 821-8811

2697 W. 76 Street, Hialeah, Florida 33016

Facebook: That Coffee Roasters

Instagram: thatcoffeeroasters

Washed and Unwashed Coffee: Key Differences between Them

Generally, people make the mistake of seeing the coffee as a bean. It is originally a fruit that goes through different processes.

There’s something different about drinking coffee not everyone notices at first. Such delicate beans require very specific measures to ensure a cup of coffee that exceeds expectations, and if that’s not enough, there are details like the type of roast and blends. Yes, when it is about this bean, there’s more than meets the eye.

Perhaps you know this already, but when it’s about making coffee, there’s a wide array of factors that can alter the results of your brew. Each factor results in its own distinctive coffee. Today, we’ll break down washed and unwashed coffee: two methods you’ll definitely want to know about, as they have their own characteristics and differences.

Washed coffee

This is usually referred as the wet process. The coffee fruit is removed from its pulp by the pulper, leaving the bean with its mucilage for the fermentation. This fermentation takes one or two days, sometimes longer depending on the results you want to get (more time, more fermentation). Finally, the mucilage is washed away, leaving the essential flavors inside the bean.

Because of the complexity and the skill required, the results are often expensive batches of coffee, which is why they’re considered the finest products in the market.

Unwashed coffee

Perhaps the oldest and most classic method for coffee processing, this is the dry process. Unwashed coffee cherries are first washed, and then they’re put in the sun to dry. After the cherries are ready, the green beans are removed from the dried cherry, which ends the process.

Compared to the washed process, this process doesn’t require that much expertise and skill, but it still has it challenge. Removing the bean of the cherry is somehow risky, and there’s less control of the process. Overall, this is the most used method, and it ensures good, worthwhile coffee.

Which method is better, then?

Each process has its own benefits, pros, and cons; so choosing one over the other wouldn’t be a fair election. Washed, for example, takes hours to get consistent results, whereas unwashed can take several weeks. Regarding costs, unwashed is a lot cheaper, but it poses a higher risk as cherries can rot.

In terms of taste, washed is the choice of demanding drinkers of coffee, as it has a clearer flavor. Unwashed, on the other hand, results in more intense, heavier flavors. In the end, both have their distinctive features that are entirely up to your preferences.

As you can see, coffee is able to suit and mold to each customer because of the many different ways to source, process, and brew it. The team of That Coffee Roasters is aware of the importance of variety, which translates into the products they can offer. Access their website and see the many coffee products they have in store waiting for you!

Both methods go through a different process that results in the coffee bean itself.

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That Coffee Roasters

Phone Number: (305) 821-8811

2697 W. 76 Street, Hialeah, Florida 33016

Facebook: That Coffee Roasters

Instagram: thatcoffeeroasters