Coffee Recipes

Use of the coffee plant originated in Ethiopia during the 9th century. Its popularity soon spread through the Africa, the Middle East, and Europe and is now harvested in Columbia, Brazil, and Indonesia. The plants from each region have their own distinctive taste and coffee seeds are often blended to reach a desired flavor.

During the mid-1600s, coffee was more prized for its stimulating effects than for its taste. Apothecaries stocked the bean for medicinal uses, which ranged from ridding the body of bad humors to preventing plague.

Coffee Bars

Members of the business classes in the seventeenth century soon discovered coffee's stimulating properties leading to the rise of coffee bars, the equivalent of taverns for the caffeinated beverage. Coffee was so popular that some felt it must be evil and many religious leaders railed againsts its use.

Coffee drinkers found themselves able to maintain alertness and mental stamina for longer periods than their less-caffeinated peers. By natural selection, the business world is now fueled by coffee. A shortage might have as damaging an impact on our economy these days as a worldwide shortfall of oil.

Below are a variety of recipes for brewing your own coffee as well as making coffee-based drinks.