The Past and Future of Coffee
The history of coffee is fascinating. It intertwines cultures and values, and even the simplest recipes speak loudly about the people who harvest, roast, and brew coffee beans around the globe. For the Southern Europeans, the South Americans, Africans, and Middle Easterns, coffee is a matter of national pride; but the most exciting thing is that as rich as the history of coffee is, its future is even more promising than its past.
Globalization and the technological revolution has allowed all of us to enjoy fresher and higher quality coffee. The advances in biology and ecology have encouraged scientists to create new varieties of coffee bushes in order to preserve the plant and prevent its extinction. In simpler words, new forms of coffee beans are in the making!!
There is so much to look forward to when it comes to coffee and the ways we consume it. Interestingly enough, the history of coffee does not stay behind. The ancestral craft methods and some of the traditional brewing methods such as the French press and Turkish stove top are still very much considered important staples, and no innovative method nor recipe trumps the value of these traditional techniques. When it comes to growing and harvesting coffee, industrial methods have allowed for more affordable options of coffee, but the specialty industry has moved closer and closer to the farm to table mentality and techniques passed down from generations are the gold standard for high quality beans.
A place that embodies this mix between the past and the future of coffee is Tahmis Kahvesi. It is one of the oldest, if not the oldest, coffee shop in the world. This establishment has been brewing coffee for foreigners and locals alike since 1635. It’s start was inevitable, as the coffee shop is located in Southern Turkey, one of the main trading posts and specifically a protagonist in helping African and Middle Eastern coffee reach Europe. Due to this location, the availability of beans and foreign exchange in the area made the café a quite unique place. Nowadays, visitors can enjoy traditional and innovative brews at a site deeply rooted in coffee history.
On the brewing subject, The twentieth century witnessed vast innovation on the methods of brewing coffee. Mainly with the invention of the espresso machine and the home-style coffee maker almost everyone grew up with. This journey continues with newer and even more advanced technologies that allow all of us to enjoy better brews. One of the bigger game changers as of recently has been the AeroPress, an easy to-go like espresso machine. It was invented in 2005 by Alan Adler and it is able to brew coffee well and in various methods. The variety is so wide and the quality so high that nowadays there’s an international competition and the top three proposed methods of using the AeroPress are published here!
Coffee can be many things, but never boring. Everything from where it comes from to where it is going is an intricate adventure and relationship between a vast amount of people with economic and cultural interest that meet at coffee beans.