There is lack of information about the history of coffee. The coffee history is being updated over time regarding to emerging information. You will find some landmarks on the following pages.

1. www.toper.com
The history
of coffee
at a glance
the history
of coffee
at a glance
"Efes" drinking coffee
(Ramazan
Karakundakoğlu
collection)
13

2. There is lack of information about the
history of coffee. The coffee history is
being updated over time regarding to
emerging information. You will find
some landmarks on the following
pages.
The discovery of coffee
Studies on the fossils recently found in
Yemen are still in progress.
Figures like coffee beans are seen in
hieroglyphs of Luwians, lately taken
over by Hittite Kingdom which first evi-
denced around 1650-1600 BC (~3.500
years ago) and dominated a large
region around their capital Hat-
tusa/Boğazkale of modern-day Çorum,
Turkey.
Recently, most people agree that
wild coffee trees were first seen in
mountainous areas of Ethiopia.
A coffee-like figure on a
Luwian tablet
(Toper Coffee Academy
collection)

3. 1. Coffee Europa Magazine
2. Naskali, Emine Gürsoy. Türk Kahvesi Kitabı. 2012
There are evidences in the
latest researches describing the
southern region of Sudan as the
origin of Arabica cultivation.
Ethiopian tribesman used to
bake a kind of bread after
flouring seeds of coffee plant in
around 900 BC. The juice of the
coffee berries so called “the
magical fruit” was boiled and
drunk for medical purposes.
Coffee and its knowledge
rapidly spread along the Arabian
Peninsula and people continued
to prepare and drink it the way it
was discovered in Abyssinia 300
years ago. 1
Regarding the origin of coffee,
there are various rumors in Arabic
- Islamic literature. The most
known is that the Gabriel Angel
proposed Muhammad coffee to
give him more strength, resistance
and stamina. 2
According to a rumor in
Cihannüma, the well-known
geography book of Katip Çelebi,
when Sheikh Shazili (d.1418) and
his disciples, who were exiled to
Usab mountains by the Yemen
Emperor, suffered from finding
food, they ate coffee fruits and
drank the boiled juice of coffee
berries, and they found out that
coffee gave them endurance
and energy. The disciples drank
coffee especially at night to stay
vigorous and awake.

4. 1. Kuzucu, Kemalettin-Koz,
M.Sabri. Türk Kahvesi. 2015
It is recorded in the epistle
"Umdet-üs Saffe fî Hill-il Kahve"
(14th century) of El-Cezîrî, one of
the earliest texts about coffee,
İbn Abdülgaffar told that coffee
was a very popular beverage in
Yemen and was spread all the
way to Cairo.
El-Cezîrî also reports that coffee
was consumed by Sûfis at night
rituals to keep their minds clear. 1
Western researchers notify that
in preislamic period, a kind of
North Arabian red wine was
called "gah-va".
Though the West has limited
information about the
Middle-Eastern coffee culture,
almost all the popular western
sources declare that coffee is a
considerable part of the Arabic
culture for more than 700 years.
Coffee, as a common
beverage in Arabian Peninsula
and Northern Africa, was once
consumed excessively. Since
coffee is addictive and became
to be over-consumed, a fetwa
was given in 1511 in Mecca
forbidding coffee drinking and
trading in order to avoid the
stimulant effects.
The word bunn ("me" in Turkish),
which the Western nations based
it on "bin" in Arabic language,
actually means coffee in Amhari
language of Ethiopia.
According to El-Cezîrî, the 16th
century Arabic author, the first
person who drank coffee is

5. 2. Naskali, Emine Gürsoy. Kahve, Kırk Yıllık Hatırın
Kitabı. 2012
3. Heise, Ulla. Kahve ve Kahvehâneler. 2001
Cemalleddin Ebu Abdullah
Muhammed İbn’ i Said from
Yemen, known as Arab
Ez-Zebhânî.
El-Cezîrî tells that during a trip to
Ethiopia from Aden, Zebhânî met
people drinking coffee and when
he got back to Aden, he became
sick and suddenly remembered
to drink coffee. Getting well,
Zebhânî discovered coffee;
overcoming the fatigue,
exhaustion, and giving freshness
and energy.
Another rumor from generation
to generation describes Solomon
as the first person drinking coffee.
The rumor continues as; Solomon,
while traveling, saw many people
suffering from an unknown
disease, and served them a
beverage extracted by boiling
the roasted coffee beans upon
the Gabriel Angel's order. The
patients who drank coffee got
well. 2
Following this method of
roasting and grinding, coffee
started to be consumed in Aden
in 1470s and Cairo in 1510. 3
The claim about calling the
coffeehouses in Arabia "kaveh
kanas" is based on the journeyers
writing "Gahva (Arabic) Hâne
(Farsi)” in Latin words as “Cahveh
Kaneh, Cahveh Khaneh” or
“Cahwe Khane. 4
Since the temporary prohibition
in Mecca was limited in time and

6. 4. Ellis, Markman. Eighteenth- Century Coffee-Hou-
se Culture.Volume 4
5. Kuzucu, Kemalettin-Koz, M.Sabri. Türk Kahvesi.
2015
region, the custom of
coffeehouses rapidly spread
among the Arabs and Muslims by
muslim hadjis. So coffeehouses
became popular places where
people played chess, rumored,
sang and danced.
Coffee penetrated Turkish
Empire in Yavuz Sultan Selim
period (1517) following Özdemir
Pasha, the Yemen Governor,
bringing coffee
to İstanbul from Yemen for he
was very fond of it. Within a very
short time, coffee took its
prestigious place in the court
kitchen and attracted great
attention.
"Chief coffee maker" was
added to palace task description
list as a new rank. The chief
coffee maker who was in charge
of making the emperor's or any
statesman's coffee was selected
among the most trustable, faithful
and secretive men. Moreover,
some chief coffee makers were
seen to become grand viziers in
Ottoman. 5

7. Coffee penetrated first the palace
then mansions, and later houses, and
became a passion for people living
in İstanbul. The raw coffee beans
were respectively roasted in pots,
ground in mortars, and made in
cezve.
Coffee was initially consumed by
highincome merchants and literates,
and then served in hajj destinations,
caravansaries and inns for
merchants. Then numerous
coffeehouses were opened in
Baghdad, Palestine, İstanbul and
İzmir, following Mecca, Medinah,
Jerusalem and Cairo.
During the empire, the shops
where the coffee was roasted called
"Tahmishâne" (tahmis : roasting in
Arabic) and the artisan who roasted
and ground the coffee "tahmisci".
A Yemen village, coffee
terraces and roofs where
coffee was dried

8. 1. Yaşar, Ahmet. TALİD, Türk Şehir Tarihi Dergisi,
Kahvehâne Literatürü. 2005
Coffee was among the "Yed-i
Vâdid (monopoly) products of
the empire treasury e.g., alum,
salt, metals, etc. Like all the other
products in this context, coffee
was under a regular full scope,
regarding its origin, quality,
trickiness, whether smuggled or
not. The ones who did not obey
the rules and imperial orders were
strictly punished. 1
Just like raw and roasted
coffee beans, coffee growing
was organized with prohibitions
and limitations right after the
conquest of Yemen in 1536. The
use of coffee seeds which were
not properly processed (cleaned)
was forbidden within the
boundaries of the empire.
The first coffeehouse opening in
İstanbul, although not certain, is in
1554 according to İbrahim Peçevi
and in 1551 to Hafız Hüseyin
Ayvansarayi. On the other hand,
the chronicler Mustafa Ali states
the dateas 1553. There is a
consensus that the first
coffeehouse was opened in
Tahtakale by a merchant called
Hekim from Halepa (Hakem to
Western) and Şems Effendi from
Damascus. 1
Primary coffee plantations
Coffee was primarily cultivated
in Kaffa (Kefa) of Ethiopia.
Thereafter, coffee plantations
were located on the
mountainside in Yemen by Sûfis.

9. 1. Wallin, Nils Bertil. Coffee: A Long Way From
Ethiopia. Yale. 2002
In 1600s, everybody rich, poor,
male, female were drinking
coffee everywhere on caravan
routes, at commercial harbors,
military stations and in maisons,
hamams (Turkish bath), etc.
Coffee was carried over
Europe by pilgrims and hajjis
coming to Jerusalem from
different religions, and travelers
who visited the Middle East.
On the other hand, the rich
merchants of Venice coming to
İstanbul brought this very liked
beverage to Venice.
In 1600, the leading Roman
cardinals began to put intensive
pressure on Papa Clement VIII to
The French
consulate before
İzmir Kadı, serving
coffee and jam,
1699.
Gravure.
Jean Du Mont,
1667-1727,
Lucien Arkas
collection

10. damn this devilish beverage of
Turkish empire brought to Italy by
the Italian merchants. Papa
Clement VIII canonized coffee
after he tasted and admired it.
Moreover, he declared that
coffee is canonize-worthy and
strengthens the faith. 1
So the coffee was widely
spread throughout Europe after
1615.
The Eastern India Company
(VOC) of Netherlands started
coffee trading from Moha harbor
in 1616.
İzmir (Symrna) was then a
trading city where huge number
of levantines transferred various
goods from Asia and Africa to
Europe via Venice and Marseille.
Jean Baptiste Tavernier wrote in
his books that when he visited
İzmir in 1632, the qadi served him
coffee, and coffee drinking is a
significant ritual of the Turks.
Other sources also indicate
that there were numerous
coffeehouses in İzmir then.
1. Wallin, Nils Bertil. Coffee: A Long Way From
Ethiopia. Yale. 2002

11. The oldest Turkish coffeehouse,
still existing from the empire
period, is Tahmis Coffeehouse
opened in Gaziantep Şahinbey in
1638.
This coffeehouse, known to be
founded in order to provide rental
revenue for the next door Tekke
Mosque and Mevlevi dervishes'
lodge (Mevlevihâne), was
founded by Mustafa Aga, a
Türkmen landowner and flag
officer.
The coffeehouse was ruined
twice by fires in 1901 and 1903,
and was rebuilt by Feyzullahoğlu
Sheikh Mehmed Münip Effendi,
the head of the Mevlevihane,
who then endowed the
Mevlevîhâne in 1904.
According to a story, Ottoman
Sultan Murad IV had a rest there
and was served coffee during his
campaign to Baghdad.
Tahmis Coffeehouse,
Gaziantep

12. In Marseille, substantially
controlling the Mediterranean
trade, coffee was consumed
since 1644 and many discussions
were made whether it is
deleterious or not.
In Italy, coffee was first sold on
the streets by the lemonade men,
and then started to be served in
the first coffeehouse, opened in
1645. The coffeehouses, being
rapidly increased in number,
became popular places where
artists, students and the public got
together and conversed with.
Coffee came up to Paris in
1643 and London in 1651. The first
coffeehouses in cities like London,
Paris and Viena were opened by
Greek, Armenian, Turkish,
Lebanese, Egyptian and Syrian
people.
In many European cities coffee
was first attracted by the rich,
contrary to some regions where
by the workers, middle class and
artists.
In Ottoman, coffee was first
consumed by the rich and
Coffeehouse by Golden Horn in İstanbul,
William Henry Bartlett, 1835,
Antiquarian Hasan collection

13. 1. Akgündüz, Ahmet-Bostan, İdris.İslâm Ansiklopedisi
literates but then it rapidly spread
all of İstanbul and Anatolia and
numerous coffeehouses were
opened. The social characteristic
of coffee suddenly appeared.
Coffeehouses became the media
where people drank coffee while
playing backgammon, chess,
draught, and communicate with
each other and rumored about
the House of Ottoman.
As coffee spread across the
empire, just like in the West, the
savant (ulemâ) declared various
arguments in favor or against
coffee.
Kânunî, Süleyman the
Magnificent, prohibited coffee
depending on the suspects
regarding wrongful gossiping and
conspiracies at the coffeehouses.
Mehmet Bedrettin Kosoni, the
chief doctor of Kânunî, declared
that coffee might be medically
harmful unless sufficiently
consumed.
Though Ebüssuûd Effendi,
Shaikh al-Islam of the period, was
against drinking coffee, he gave
a fetwa allowing coffee unless no
conspiracies are murmured and
no intoxicant syrups are
consumed at the coffeehouses.
Shaikh al-Islam Bostanzâde
Mehmet Effendi, with his fetwa of
52 couplets in 1592, responded to
all the objections and social
suspicions about coffee. 1

14. Although prohibitions were made for
familiar reasons during Selim III, Murad III
and Ahmet I periods (15-16th C), they all
had been short-lived.
The records on the balance-sheet of
Hatice Sultan Foundations between
1687 and 1688 show the figures
regarding roasting, roasting income,
roasting bailee, and wage shares.
According to The Travel Book of Evliya
Çelebi (Seyahatnâme), there were 55
coffeehouses and 300 coffee
warehouses in İstanbul in 17th century.
There are figures regarding the
income of coffee sales on the
balance-sheets of many foundations in
17th century. Particularly the Egyptian
merchants appeared in coffee trade.
The coffee man in İzmir in 1850s,
postcard, APKAM collection

15. 1. Coffee Magazine
Coffee became more expensive
and taxed due to overconsumption
and blockages of coffee trade routes.
Therefore, Janissaries mixed coffee
with chickpea, etc., at roasting
facilities especially in Eminönü. So,
coffee quality started to be keenly
inspected and the tradesmen in Mısır
Çarşısı had a significant role on the
task.
During the first half of the 17th
century, the Nederlands traded
coffee with Arabs and Asians while
Europe had no coffee demand then.
Adrian Van Ommen, the Dutch
governor of Malabar in India, sent
Arabic coffee seedlings to his Dutch
governor friend in Batavia Islands
(currently Jakarta, Indonesia). 1
The peddler coffee man in İzmir,
postcard, APKAM collection

16. 1. Coffee Traveller Magazine 2. Fresh Cup Magazine
3. Bean Scene Magazine
4. Erkal, Ali. A study on introducing and endearing
Kızlarağası Hanı and its environment.. 1996
Coffee growing was started in
Java in 1712 where the climate
and nature were convenient.
Then coffee growing was
excessively boomed in the
countries by the tropical zone
due to convenient conditions. The
Dutchmen and the other
European colonists set plantations
everywhere from Indonesia to
Brazil, South America to Central
Asia when they realized that they
can easily grow coffee. 1
So, coffee was globally spread
and started to be grown in many
places for the first time.
In 1720, French captain Gabriel
Mathieu brought a coffee
seedling to Martinique via Atlantic
Ocean. When it was 1777 there
were 18,791,690 coffee trees and
seedlings grown in Martinique. 2
Brazil started to export coffee
to Turkey in 1727. There had been
several attempts for growing
coffee in Anatolia but they all
failed. 3
Green coffee growing first
started in Jamaica in 1730.
In the account books of
Kızlarağası Hanı Foundation, built
in 1744 and opened in 1745, it is
registered that the roasting bailee
Mehmet Ağa rented a store as a
coffeehouse for monthly 480 akçe
(Ottoman Empire monetary unit)
under the left and right public
stairs. 4

17. Foreign travellers visiting İzmir in those
years determined that there were numerous
coffeehouses in French neighborhood
(currently Kordon promenade).
Coffeehouse
in İzmir,
postcard,
APKAM
collection

18. Green coffee was started to be
grown in Santo Domingo and Cuba
in 1748, Guatemala 1750, Brazil
1752, Puerto Rico 1755, Venezuela
1784, Mexico and Colombia 1790,
and Australia 1876. 1
Coffee trade changed hands
from merchants to big trading
companies in 18th and 19th
centuries.
Commercial coffee production
globally started from the
beginning of 1900. Coffee was
spread to houses, offices and
streets, and the industrial period
started with coffee producing
factories. The instant coffee got
into packages, and advertising
campaigns promoting high
volumed coffee production,
marketing and consumption were
launched.
Japanese-American chemist
Satori Kato 2
first discovered the
instant coffee.
Luigi Bezzera discovered the
first commercial espresso
machine in the same year.3
Coffehouse in front of İzmir Alsancak Train Station,
postcard, Toper Coffee Academy Collection
1. Coffee Fest Magazine
2. The Specialty Coffee Magazine
3. Coffee Talk Magazine

19. Instant coffee started to be
popular after the World War II.
Nurettin Karakundakoğlu
founded Toper and started to
manufacture coffee roasters and
grinders in 1954.
In 1970s, Nescafe first started to
produce instant coffee.
In 1971, Starbucks was founded
and started a new coffee shop
concept in US.
Second wave coffee
movement was generated by
Tchibo. New espresso-based
coffee types i.e., cafe latte,
Americano, Mocha and Frape
showed up as the new coffee
shops were opened.
Along with this new coffee
shop concept and second wave
movement, coffee was started to
be served with cookies, cakes,
etc., at social environments, and
coffee shops and diners started to
compete with each other.
Growing interest in coffee origins
and roasting techniques caused
higher taste and quality standards
to be developed.
The second wave coffeehouses
in many countries increased in
number in those years of
quality-coffee consumption.
Meanwhile, being classified as
luxury food, coffee import is
prohibited due to the economic
crisis in Turkey between 1977 and
1982.

20. 1. CoffeeMag
Third wave coffee movement
Trish Rothgeb came up with a
new idea of third wave coffee
movement in 2002. 1
Coffee quality is exactingly
kept at upmost standards from
seed to cup during the third wave
period.
In this period, knowledge,
training and experience became
of great importance for obtaining
high quality product all the time.
Third wave coffeehouses have
their own roasters. Their
knowledge about coffee is at
high level. They select different
types of green coffee beans from
different countries, or from
different plantations of the same

21. Article from
The Roast Master book
country, roast them with high
quality advanced machines, and
grind them in several ways, and
serve in various cooking and
brewing methods.
Owners of the third wave
coffeehouses share their
knowledge with their customers.
Coffee fans started to discover
coffee as they learn about the
secrets of it, and take journeys to
new tastes by third wave coffee
movement.
Coffee making is regarded as
an art and the coffee itself as a
masterpiece for third wave
coffee fans. Coffee, just like
chocolate, wine and bear,
became a gourmet delicacy.
Third wave coffee concept
allows us to test different aromas
and tastes of the same type of
green coffee of a particular
country.
Baristas, with personal skills,
make their customers to
experience new tastes of different
coffees, and surprise them joyfully
with the topping latte-art figures.
You can visit to the
www.toper.com/blog.aspx
for more article.