Caffeine, Cult & Controversies: The Long Journey of Coffee

20.06.2025 June 20, 2025

Spiritual ritual, revolution, or TikTok hype: coffee is much more than just a beverage. Its ancient history tells of goats, legends, colonialism—and cat cafes.

Coffee has long been part of pop culture —from the iconic Starbucks Frappuccino, which turns 30 this year, to TikTok trends like Dalgona and Cloud Coffee. But all these fads are preceded by a long history: For centuries, coffee has been brewed in rituals, consumed in salons, and served as fuel for revolutions.

At the same time, its history is closely linked to colonialism – and today, to climate change . Due to rising temperatures and unpredictable rainfall, many coffee farmers are struggling to survive, and coffee prices are skyrocketing . And yet, around two billion cups of coffee consumed every day demonstrate how closely the beverage is connected to world culture. A brief overview of its journey through time and continents.

According to legend, an Ethiopian goatherd named Kaldi discovered coffee when his goats suddenly started jumping around wildly after nibbling on red berries. Although the story is likely fictional, Arabica coffee actually originates from the Kaffa region of Ethiopia , where it still plays an important role in ceremonies today. In the traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony, beans are roasted over an open fire and brewed in a clay pot (jebena)—a moment of hospitality and community.

In Senegal, Café Touba is more than just a drink—seasoned with pepper and cloves, it originates from Islamic Sufi tradition and has spiritual significance. Cardamom is added to coffee in many Arab countries.

In Turkey , very finely ground coffee is boiled with water and sugar in a copper pot (cezve) – this is Turkish mocha, which is also prepared this way in Greece and called "kafedaki" there. Once the cup is empty, except for the coffee grounds, the coffee is read – an ancient fortune-telling tradition that has continued to this day.

In Italy, people swear by espresso - it is best enjoyed as a tiny, oily, black sip in an equally tiny, thick-walled cup.

In Brazil, the cafézinho—a small, sweet coffee—is a symbol of hospitality. It's a staple everywhere: whether at home or at a street stall.

And in 2020, in the midst of the Corona lockdown, South Korea, of all places, made coffee a global experience again: With Dalgona Coffee, a fluffy mixture of instant coffee, sugar, and water, it became a viral TikTok ritual – simple, soothing, and beautiful to look at.

There are creative and sometimes curious variations around the world: In Finland and Sweden, for example, coffee is poured over cheese cubes made from cow's or reindeer milk - an ancient tradition.

In Vietnam , after the Second World War, egg coffee emerged due to a milk shortage – beaten egg yolk with sweet condensed milk and coffee – and is now a popular classic.

Then there's Kopi Luwak from Indonesia – coffee beans that pass through the digestive tract of a civet cat and are then collected again. The idea: Fermentation makes the flavor milder. But animal welfare organizations warn: Many animals are locked in cages and force-fed for this purpose. While there are vendors offering "wild-harvested" coffee, their credibility is often questionable.

Coffee traveled not only in sacks, but also along trade routes, spiritual movements, and colonial conquests. Although the plant originated in Ethiopia, the first documented cultivation dates back to Yemen , where it was also given the name Qahwa, originally a word for "wine."

Sufi mystics (Islamic spiritual leaders) used coffee to stay awake during nighttime prayers. The Yemeni port of Mocha became a global trading center for beans.

According to legend, the Indian Sufi saint Baba Budan smuggled seven fertile beans from Yemen to South India in the 17th century—despite an Arab export ban. This marked the beginning of coffee cultivation in India .

European colonial powers soon discovered its potential: The Dutch planted coffee on Java, the French in the Caribbean, and the Portuguese in Brazil – often involving violence, slavery, and forced labor. Brazil thus became the world's largest coffee producer in the 18th century.

Even Australia, a late bloomer, now has a vibrant coffee culture. Fun fact: Australia and New Zealand both claim to have invented the flat white – in the 1980s.

Cafés have always been more than just places to drink coffee. In 16th-century Istanbul, rulers tried to ban them several times, fearing that unrest might brew there.

In Europe during the Enlightenment, cafés became a meeting place for revolutionary ideas - famous coffee drinkers included great thinkers such as Voltaire and Rousseau.

In colonial America, coffee replaced tea, which was taxed by the British—particularly at the Green Dragon Tavern in Boston, where the Sons of Liberty met to organize resistance against British colonial rule. This led to the famous Boston Tea Party, when members of the resistance group threw hundreds of crates of tea from the British East India Company into Boston Harbor. This marked the beginning of the American independence movement in the 18th century.

Today, cafes are experiencing a comeback as "coworking cafes"—as spaces between work and home where people can simply be. Back in the 1990s, many cafes offered internet access, long before Wi-Fi was commonplace at home.

And cafés became increasingly creative. The world's first cat café opened in Taipei in 1998—a place to relax with coffee and purring companionship. Today, the concept is available worldwide—from Tokyo to Berlin, cat lovers can pet and observe the fluffy four-legged friends with a fine cup of mocha, a latte macchiato in their glass, an Americano, Dalgona, or espresso in front of them.

Whether as a ritual, a protest, or simply a pleasure, coffee remains a fascinating reflection of our world (and its history). When you realize this, it tastes even better.