Coffee culture describes a social atmosphere or series of associated social behaviors that depends heavily upon coffee, particularly as a social lubricant. The term also refers to the diffusion and adoption of coffee as a widely consumed stimulant by a culture. In the late 20th century, particularly in the Western world and urbanized centers around the globe, espresso has been an increasingly dominant form. People that participate in cafe culture are sometimes referred to as "cafe au laiters" and "espressonites"
The formation of culture around coffee and coffeehouses dates back to 16th century Turkey. Coffeehouses in Western Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean were traditionally social hubs, as well as artistic and intellectual centers. For example, Les Deux Magots in Paris, now a popular tourist attraction, was once associated with the intellectuals Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir. In the late 17th and 18th centuries, coffeehouses in London became popular meeting places for artists, writers, and socialites and were also the center for much political and commercial activity. Elements of today's coffeehouses (slower paced gourmet service, tastefully decorated environments, or social outlets such as open mic nights) have their origins in early coffeehouses, and continue to form part of the concept of coffee culture.
In the United States in particular, the term is frequently used to designate the ubiquitous presence of hundreds of espresso stands and coffee shops in the Seattle metropolitan area and the spread of franchises of businesses such as Starbucks and their clones across the United States. Other aspects of coffee culture include the presence of free wireless Internet access for customers, many of whom do business in these locations for hours on a regular basis. The style of coffee culture varies by country, with an example being the strength of existing cafe style coffee culture in Australia used to explain the poor performance of Starbucks there.
In many urban centers around the world, it is not unusual to see several espresso shops and stands within walking distance of each other or on opposite corners of the same intersection, typically with customers overflowing into parking lots. Thus, the term coffee culture is also used frequently in popular and business media to describe the deep impact of the market penetration of coffee-serving establishments.
Day in the Life of Coffee Drinking
As the World’s favourite beverage, it is not surprising that coffee is consumed in many different ways at different times of the day and served in many different ways, so here is a snap shot of how coffee is consumed across the globe and perhaps it might inspire you to explore your coffee horizons !
If you are in Europe, it is common to be served a glass of water with your coffee, however, it is best to drink the water first contrary to popular opinion as this clears any odour from your mouth so that you can appreciate the taste of the coffee. Drinking water after your coffee will not only get rid of that great taste in your mouth but will also wash away the health benefits of the coffee in your stomach. Of course you may want to wash away that coffee breath if you have an important meeting afterwards bjt do it gently and don’t erase that lovely coffee feeling inside your mouth.
In Italy, cappuccino and lattes are traditionally drunk in the morning only and never after 11-am - WHY ? Well ! milk based drinks after meals clog up your digestive system with fat solids, making digestion difficult and so espresso and ristretto are the most popular choice of coffee drinkers amongst Italians for most of the day and night.
In Ethiopia, where coffee was discovered, coffee drinking is more about building good relationship and encouraging that neighbourly feeling. Coffee is never drank alone by one person or even by one household. As soon as someone decides to prepare coffee, they invite as many neighbours as possible, sit down, drink the freshly made coffee, chat for about 30 minutes, drink more coffee, chat again for another 30 minutes and have what may be the final round of coffee - usually 3 cups is the standard. In a way you can say that this is caffe culture at its essence - drinking coffee and socializing, fostering good relations with friends and family.
In Brazil - the world’s largest producer of coffee - they love coffee so much that the word for breakfast is actually cafe da manha which means morning coffee. Coffee is traditionally drunk every morning for breakfast.
Contrary to popular opinion, the country that probably produces the highest quality of coffee, Costa Rica, consumes more coffee per day than in Italy. They keeps flasks of coffee with them like people keep water with them to drink when thirsty, so coffee is like water to them. They know they have the good stuff, so why let everyone enjoy it and not them - good on them.
Sudanese Coffee
No other country prepares coffee as the Sudanese do, and if this country acquired culinary fame, it will be for its Jebana (right).
Briefly, in Sudan, poetry is recited during the roasting procedure to entertain the crowd - green coffee beans, usually from nearby Ethiopia, are roasted in a special pot over charcoal. It is then grinded with spices like cloves, ginger and sometimes with cinnamon, using a fundug and mudugga (mortar and pestle). The ground roasted beans are then steeped into hot water and poured into a Jebana, which has a filter made from palm leaves, before being served tenderly in an elaborate presentation into generously filled sugar tiny coffee cups, glasses or more traditionally, a fingan .(Courtesy: Khalid Jaily)
In media
Coffee culture frequently shows up in comics, television, and movies in a variety of ways. TV shows such as NCIS show characters constantly with espresso in hand or people distributing take-out cups to other characters. The comic strips Adam and Pearls Before Swine frequently center the strip around visiting or working at coffee shops.
Daily Mail writer Philip Nolan stated that the spread of the coffee culture in Ireland is largely accredited to American television shows Friends and Frasier, saying, “we saw it reflected in the lifestyles of our TV favourites the Friends gang in Central Perk drinking coffee instead of alcohol; Frasier and Niles having latte and biscotti in the [Café] Nervosa; every cop on TV being called out on a 911 just as he ambled back to his car with Dunkin’ Donuts and a cup of strong, black coffee.
Coffeehouses
A "coffeehouse or "café" is an establishment which primarily serves prepared coffee or other hot beverages. Historically cafés have been an important social gathering point in Europe. They were—and continue to be—venues where people gather to talk, write, read, entertain one another, or pass the time. During the 16th-century coffeehouses were banned in Mecca because they attracted political gatherings.
In addition to coffee, many cafés also serve tea, sandwiches, pastries, and other light refreshments. Some provide other services, such as wired or wireless internet access (thus the name, "internet café" — which has carried over to stores that provide internet service without any coffee) for their customers.
Social aspects
Many social aspects of coffee can be seen in the modern-day lifestyle. By absolute volume, the United States is the largest market for coffee, followed by Germany and Japan. Canada is another large coffee consuming country. Tim Hortons is Canada's largest coffee chain, making millions of cups of coffee a day. The Nordic countries consume the most coffee per capita, with Finland typically occupying the top spot with a per-capita consumption in excess of 10 kg per year, closely followed by Norway, Sweden and Denmark. Consumption has also vastly increased in recent years in the traditionally tea drinking United Kingdom, but as of 2005 it was still below 5 kg per year. Turkish coffee is popular in Turkey, the Eastern Mediterranean, and southwestern Europe. Coffeehouse culture has a high penetration in much of the former Ottoman Empire, where Turkish coffee remains the dominant style of preparation.
Coffee has also been important in Austrian and in French culture since the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Vienna's coffeehouses are prominent in Viennese culture and known internationally, while Paris was important in the development of "café society" in the first half of the 20th century.
In some countries, notably in northern Europe, coffee parties are a popular form of entertainment. Besides coffee, the host or hostess at the coffee party also serves cake and pastries, sometimes homemade.
Coffee plays a large role in much history and literature because of the large effects the coffee industry has had on cultures where it is produced or consumed. Coffee is often mentioned as one of the main economic goods used in imperial control of trade, and with colonized trade patterns in "goods" such as slaves, coffee, and sugar, which defined Brazilian trade, for example, for centuries. Coffee in culture or trade is a central theme and prominently referenced in much poetry, fiction, and regional history.
Coffee Drinking Culture
Coffee consumption as beverage spread to all over Europe during the 17th century, with great profit for the only then exporting country, Yemen. Coffee houses were established in Constantinople (1554), Venice (1645),London (1652), Marseilles (1659), the Hague & Amsterdam (1663), Paris (1675), Hamburg (1679), Vienna (1683), Leipzig (1964) and Stuttgart (1712).
Coffee drinking in South-West of Ethiopia is not well documented. However, in the Northern provinces it gained popularity. At the end of the 17th century, because it was used so frequently by the Moslems, opposition to coffee drinking was widespread through the Christian dominated areas of Ethiopia. The church strongly opposed the bean and had forbidden its use. Despite such strong dislike of coffee, it was interesting to note that no restriction was placed either on its sale within the country or to its export.
James Bruce (1768-1773) observed coffee consumption in Northern Ethiopia, mixed with oil or animal fats (as is now described as bunakela). People even preferred bunakela to a loaf of bread or pieces of meat. A billiard ball sized bunakela mix sufficed a day's need.
Currently, in Ethiopia coffee is consumed in different ways. Bunakela is still popular in most coffee growing areas of the country. Long distance travelers or hunters in Gedio and Borena still use bunakela , while in Wollega bunakela is prepared in special cultural and family occasions. Bunakela has got high social values and is a respected (holy) food to be served as the first dish in a new born child party, as well as a means of expressing success in arranging marriage between young couples.
In most areas, coffee is prepared from roasted and pounded green beans described as Bunna, Buno, bun, etc. In Hararge infusions of coffee roasted leaves, kuti, and husks mixed with milk, hoja are used.
In Kaficho and Shakicho zones, where coffee was first domesticated, coffee leaves collected from wild coffee plants are brewed, and spiced with pepper and ginger, to prepare Chamo. The drink is a favorite one and used as medicine for the sick and the weak people.
All this is to state that coffee is a specialty and used in special ways in the country of its origin. Specialty coffee did not need to be invented, as it did and does exist since a long time.
In Ethiopia, coffee is culturally prepared and drunk 2 to 3 times a day. The people of Ethiopia have different special cultural ceremonies related to coffee. Namely, during child delivery, wedding, possession of new animals, burial, holidays, etc. These cultures present a strong heritage for the country's sustainable coffee production.
Economy
Coffee is the most important agricultural commodity in the world, and worth up to 14 billion US dollars annually. More than 80 countries, including Ethiopia, cultivate coffee. Coffee is exported as raw, roasted and soluble product to more than 165 countries. Over 121 countries export and/or re-export coffee. Over 50 developing countries of which 25 are from Africa depend on coffee. 17 countries earn more than 25% of their foreign currency earnings from coffee.
The agriculture based Ethiopian economy is highly dependent on C. arabica. Coffee contributes over 65% of the foreign exchange earnings. No other product or service in Ethiopia has earned as much as coffee.
Other than its export values, coffee has a vital role in the cultural and socio-economic sectors. The labor- intensive tree-crop provides much employment in rural areas and is a means of livelihood for over 15 million people in Ethiopia (some estimates reach even 25 million).
Today, coffee is one of the most popular beverages worldwide. We can actually categorize coffee drinkers all over the world according to the following traditions:
1. Middle East
2. Southern Europe and Latin America
3. Northern Europe, Continental Europe
4. North America and other English speaking countries.
As the oldest coffee drinking and production region, Saudi Arabia's coffee culture has a long history just like its civilization. Nowadays, the Saudi Arabians are still very particular in the taste, style, and ambiance of coffee drinking. In Saudi Arabia, if you are invited to someone's home for a cup of coffee, that means the host is expressing his respect for you in a most sincere manner. Therefore, as a guest, you must also respond to the invitation with the most appreciation from the bottom of your heart. When you visit your host, be sure to behave humbly and respectfully; pay compliments to the taste of the coffee while drinking it. One thing you must remember is never to drink water even your mouth is full of coffee grinds. Otherwise you are showing the host your dissatisfaction towards the coffee and can hurt his feelings.
Saudi Arabians are very serious about coffee drinking. They pay great attention to their coffee drinking etiquette and procedures. They have a set of traditional coffee drinking rules, very much like the Chinese and Japanese have their set of procedures when drinking tea. Before they drink coffee, the Saudis will burn incense and spread spices around where the coffee will be consumed. After that, the guest and host will talk about the quality of the coffee in detail from the color to aroma and appreciate the precious coffee severing set. Finally, the coffee is ready to be brewed.
People from Southern Europe and Latin America typically drink a cup of coffee in the morning and afternoon or evening. They favor coffee from dark roasted coffee beans, half bitter, half sweet and mixed with a mild burned taste. The best is the coffee brewed with an Espresso machine; it is dark and aromatic, with a foamy layer on top and a small grinds at the bottom of the cup. In the morning, people enjoy a small cup of Espresso mixed with hot milk in a bowl or cup. The coffee drinker will hold the bowl or cup with two hands: the heat from the coffee will warm their hands as they sniff the aroma. People from Southern Europe have similar taste as Middle Easterners as they favor a small cup of dark, bitter, and sweet coffee.
People from Northern Europe and continental Europe favor something different from the Middle Easterners. First of all, theirs contains no coffee grinds and the coffee is light and smooth. The color of the coffee beans is brown instead of black; the cooking method is drip brew or from a machine (an Espresso machine can make Italian style, Cappuccino, Vienna , and French milk coffee....).
For English speaking countries, people like to drink a cup of coffee mixed with milk and sugar. Because the coffee they drink is lighter, as a result, the taste of milk and sugar will affect the original taste of coffee.
Coffee drinking became popular during World War II in North America. In order to lower the cost of coffee, American style coffee was made from a large pot and left to sit on a warm heater. As a result, the taste of coffee was very light.
Today, a typical American coffee drinker will treat coffee as a daily drink and drink it out of the office coffee pot all day long. Or they would drink coffee while performing house chores. They drink coffee not only after a meal but also before work a shift starts and during breaks.
In Europe, drinking coffee is an established tradition. From the time coffee first entered Europe to the appearance of the first coffeehouse, coffee culture developed rapidly there.
In Vienna, Austria, coffee combined with music and waltz dance became “Three treasures of Vienna”.
There is a famous saying in Italy: Men should be like good coffee, strong and passionate! In a culture, when even men are compared with coffee, one can imagine the value of it.
Italians love coffee and coffee is the most basic and important item in their daily lives. The first thing they do right after they get out of bed is make a cup of coffee. From morning till night, they have a cup of coffee in their hands regardless of their gender.
France without coffee, is just like France without wine. It is unthinkable. It was learned in the past at some point, due to the tight supply of coffee, everyone in France fell lifeless.
In 1991, when the Gulf War broke out, the French were afraid that the war might alter their lives and they all ran to the supermarkets to grab what they could. The camera of a TV station showed people in the supermarkets buying large quantities of coffee and sugar cubes. Those images soon turned into a legendary joke.
In France, people are not only particular about the taste and quality of coffee itself but also the ambiance where the coffee is consumed. They want their surroundings to be as graceful, romantic, and poetic as the beautiful art works in the Louvre.
