The Devil's Brew

(My husband's coffee maker. We call it THE HOLY OF HOLIES!)

What do church history and coffee have in common, you ask?

In her aptly titled book, "Coffee," Claudia Rosen explains that 16th-century priests wanted Pope Clement VIII to ban "the devil's drink." They insisted that Satan had forbidden his followers--Muslims--from drinking wine because it was used in Holy Communion. Instead, the devil provided this "hellish black brew".


The elixir made from coffee beans does in fact have a long history in Islamic regions.
--African tribes mixed the crushed beans with animal fat and molded them into balls to eat as a stimulant before battle.
--Arabs made the first hot coffee beverage, in 1000 A.D.
--Dervishes--mystic devotees of Islam's Sufi sect--consumed coffee at all-night ceremonies as fuel for achieving religious ecstasy.
--Arabs also invented the ibrik, or coffee broiler.
--As coffee lost it's strictly religious significance, the first coffee houses appeared in Mecca.

Clemente VIII,wisely, decided to give it a taste test!

"Why, this Satan's drink is so delicious," he declared, "that it would be a pity to let the infidels have exclusive use of it. We shall cheat Satan by baptizing it."

And so, I am now able to enjoy my coffee, which my husband makes and serves me each morning. Now that's romantic!



My favorite coffee is a Venezuelan blend. Cafe Madrid! We are out of it now, but are substituting with a Brazilian coffee we purchased here. My son in law recently left us some great Costa Rican coffee too.

Do you drink coffee? How much and how often? Any favorite blend?

The Devil's Brew

(My husband's coffee maker. We call it THE HOLY OF HOLIES!)

What do church history and coffee have in common, you ask?

In her aptly titled book, "Coffee," Claudia Rosen explains that 16th-century priests wanted Pope Clement VIII to ban "the devil's drink." They insisted that Satan had forbidden his followers--Muslims--from drinking wine because it was used in Holy Communion. Instead, the devil provided this "hellish black brew".


The elixir made from coffee beans does in fact have a long history in Islamic regions.
--African tribes mixed the crushed beans with animal fat and molded them into balls to eat as a stimulant before battle.
--Arabs made the first hot coffee beverage, in 1000 A.D.
--Dervishes--mystic devotees of Islam's Sufi sect--consumed coffee at all-night ceremonies as fuel for achieving religious ecstasy.
--Arabs also invented the ibrik, or coffee broiler.
--As coffee lost it's strictly religious significance, the first coffee houses appeared in Mecca.

Clemente VIII,wisely, decided to give it a taste test!

"Why, this Satan's drink is so delicious," he declared, "that it would be a pity to let the infidels have exclusive use of it. We shall cheat Satan by baptizing it."

And so, I am now able to enjoy my coffee, which my husband makes and serves me each morning. Now that's romantic!



My favorite coffee is a Venezuelan blend. Cafe Madrid! We are out of it now, but are substituting with a Brazilian coffee we purchased here. My son in law recently left us some great Costa Rican coffee too.

Do you drink coffee? How much and how often? Any favorite blend?

Great American Invention

We all know that the British invented 'Tea Time' but do you realize that we Americans invented the 'Coffee Break'?

Coffee has been consumed in this country since the early 1700 hundreds as the British had acquired a taste for it and most tea houses also offered coffee. Coffee became the preferred drink of Americans after the famous Boston Tea Party. The Americans considered it unpatriotic to drink tea during that time and turned to coffee. The colonists realized they could import coffee from South and Central America, cutting out the necessity of importing through England. By the early 1900 hundreds, Americans were already consuming half of the worlds coffee production.

We all know the cowboys were keen on their coffee and took it out west where it became a symbol of the cowboy and his camp fire.

The military also was responsible for spreading the love of coffee. The GI's in WWII drank coffee in large canteen mugs and even expected packages of instant coffee to be in their C-rats. The term 'Cuppa Joe' came from the GI Joe and his love for coffee.

Upon their return to the USA, the soldiers were heavily addicted to their coffee and it was soon available at every lunch counter in this country.

The next evolutionary event for the coffee bean, was with the invention of the drip coffee maker. This made a better tasting coffee than the peculator and housewives preferred it for it's easy clean up. Shortly after, we were introduced to the Travel Mug. This allows us to carry our coffee with us. Before this, one had to stop and drink their coffee at a road side diner, but now, we could carry it along for the ride.

The American 'coffee break' which was implemented after WWII as a time of rest for workers became a standard for the American work environment. The GI Joe's needed their caffeine jolt and began to expect it as a matter of fact. General Eisenhower even had an 'Operation Coffee Cup' during his presidential campaign. He would meet with voters at their place of work during their coffee breaks. This helped spread the social impact of the American coffee break.

Just one more reason to be proud to be called an America!

This may well be the next big thing in the coffee market!