School of wisdom of the East. Coffee, people, countries, traditions and tastes

Since coffee is originally from Ethiopia, we will start the topic from this country. In Ethiopia, coffee should only be prepared and served by the owner of the house. The coffee should be presented in order of seniority. If the guest refuses the treat, it is considered an insult. Cloves are added to the drink. It is customary to use it with butter. Interestingly, salt is often added instead of sugar. So this is where it came from? Because I also like to drink coffee with salt.

And then we will also consider the traditions of the East and Asia. Any owner of a coffee shop, for example, is considered a very respected person in Iraq. Why? Because it is in the coffee houses in this country that all events take place, only men gather in them. Here they have a rest, communicate, learn the latest news. In these coffee houses, coffee is prepared only from fresh ground coffee made from natural beans. I don't drink more than three cups of coffee in Iraq, it is considered indecent.

Another example in Yemen is coffee as everyone's favorite drink. The grains are fried well on a baking sheet, and then ground in a mortar. Black coffee is prepared in such an interesting way. In a pot, the ground coffee is brought to a boil two or three times, after which the ginger is added. And also in families they often drink coffee with cardamom (and we drink tea with cardamom). Sugar in this country is almost never put into coffee; sugar is replaced with sweet dates.

There is such a country as Japan. And it has long been considered a country where people like to drink tea. Remember their famous tea ceremonies? But today coffee and the Japanese have become the same favorite drink, like tea, which is drunk every day. In Japan today there are many different coffee houses and even coffee machines, of which there are many on the streets of cities and where you can have a cup of coffee on the run. Although the Japanese love very weak roasted coffee. There are also those who like black coffee.

But many people in Thailand prefer strong coffee. And since it is Southeast Asia, here they mainly buy and prepare various finely ground and dark roasted varieties from Indonesia. And this coffee is very different from the one we drink here in Europe. Because the peculiarity of making this coffee is mixing the beans with wheat or even rice. In Thailand, they like to drink sweet coffee with milk or cream.

Interestingly, I did not know at all that the pioneers of coffee are not people, as I always thought, but goats. We must thank the goats for this wonderful discovery. Ethiopian shepherds noticed that when the animals ate the coffee trees, they were more animated. After that, the Ethiopians began to mix animal fat with coffee beans, and from this mixture they rolled balls. They were eaten mostly by nomads during their travels.

There is also such information that in Malaysia they even sell packaged coffee mixed with herbs or cocoa. But I tried coffee with cocoa somehow, I liked it too. And also the inhabitants of this country drink mainly coffee from beans of medium or dark roast and drink coffee with milk or ice. But they like to drink the strongest coffee in Ecuador. They brew coffee immediately with sugar, after which the finished drink is stored in the refrigerator as a concentrate.

Also in Vietnam they like to drink strong and cold coffee, often adding ice to the drink. The Vietnamese always brew coffee in small portions. If you look by country, many people like both hot and cold coffee. And the hotter the country, the more they like hot coffee there, as in the countries of Asia and the Middle East. But in the north in Finland they like to drink unusual coffee with cheese. I have not tried this coffee myself, but I must.

In many countries, there is also such a tradition or belief. They say that if a young girl prepares coffee for a boy or a man, then by this action she gives preference to it, showing that she is interested in it. But here everything is much simpler, and if you invite a girl to a coffee shop, it doesn't mean anything - you just go to chat and relax. Everything is about the same as in Iran, but everyone can go to our coffee shop - both men and women. And this is good.

The school of wisdom of the East, which I will talk about below in my story, in order to understand even more about our favorite drink. We know that coffee was first discovered by the Arabs, as well as that they gave the name to the drink. But that coffee, like this delicious, aromatic and favorite drink, became popular thanks to Islam - I did not know this, because it was in Asia that coffee was later banned. But this did not last long, because the Arabs quickly realized that it was a very good commodity that could be successfully traded. And then coffee beans were first grown for trade in Yemen. Thanks to close trade with other Arab countries, in the 16th century, the drink appears in Syria, Turkey, Egypt, Persia and further in India, and from it in the countries of Europe, where coffee was brought by Dutch merchants and travelers. Since the use of alcohol was prohibited by religion, coffee has become an excellent substitute. Coffee houses appeared, which were called schools of wisdom throughout Asia. And the question is, why did they start roasting coffee? I will answer. Arabs began to roast coffee beans in ancient times so that they could not grow coffee trees in their own countries, and it was necessary to keep this secret as long as possible so that only Arab merchants could trade coffee beans. This is the story of the coffee we all love.