A Brief History of Coffee

-

 Topic: A Brief History of Coffee

Today we are talking about one of the plants that is significant to the Path: Coffee. Both starter fluid and break fluid, depending on what time it is, coffee is enjoyed by seventy-four percent of Americans every single day.

Coffee beans are not actually beans at all, but the seed of a berry that originally grew wild in Eastern Africa. According to an Ethiopian legend, coffee berries were originally discovered centuries ago by a goatherd named Kaldi. He observed that his goats became frisky and energetic and did not want to sleep after eating the berries from a certain shrub. (This, by the way, is why I think that The Dancing Goat would make an awesome name for a coffee shop.) Kaldi took the berries to the local monastery, where the monks roasted the seeds and brewed up the recipe for coffee that has remained unchanged to this day. Coffee has spread across the globe in the years since, and can be found in some form in nearly every country in the world, from dark Turkish coffee to Ethiopian espresso to the many varieties of latte you can find in coffee shops all over the US.

Many important modern institutions got their start thanks to coffee. The insurance company Lloyd’s of London originated as a coffee shop called Lloyd’s Coffee. The First Continental Congress of America held meetings in the Merchant Coffee House in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Thomas Jefferson called coffee “the favorite drink of the civilized world.” It has even been suggested that the Boston Tea Party was planned in the basement of the Boston coffeehouse and tavern the Green Dragon.

Coffee is also partly responsible for modern philosophy. Coffeehouses in 17th-century Britain were known as “penny universities” because you could pay a penny for a cup of coffee and get a free lecture on any number of topics from a resident scholar or philosopher holding forth in the corner. Because it is a stimulant rather than a depressant like alcohol, coffee wakes up your mind and opens you up to the vibrations of the Universe in a way that no other beverage can. Many great thinkers, including Benjamin Franklin and the philosopher Voltaire, were also dedicated coffee drinkers.

If done right, coffee will not even ruin your diet. Since it is basically just a tincture in water, even if you brew it strong enough to destroy planets, black coffee contains no calories, so it is perfect for a quick burst of energy without ingesting a bunch of sugar. Diabetics can consume it without concern. Fun fact, though: The lighter the roast, the more caffeine, so a shot of espresso actually contains less caffeine than a cup of drip coffee brewed from a light roast.

And we owe it all to some dancing goats.

If you drink coffee, did this give you a greater appreciation for your favorite morning beverage?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

On Sacrifice and the Path

-
  On Sacrifice and the Path   Sacrifice is a prevailing theme of many world religions, whether you are giving up life, time, or money. The idea is that you have to pay for salvation somehow; nothing is free, after all. Some religions have an entire laundry list of things you cannot do, things you must give up entirely in order to practice their faith. Some ask for money, either through tithes or “charitable donations.” The entire Christian faith is based on what is an objectively barbaric form of human sacrifice. The message is clear: to be saved, you must offer up something in return, or forgo something you once indulged in. A sacrifice must be made. Pagan spiritual traditions incorporate energetic reciprocity: to invoke the favors of the gods, certain offerings are made. These offerings can be physical or energetic in nature, either cream and honey to please the Fae folk, or personal psychic energy expended during a healing rite. These sacrifices are more personal (as ...
Read more

Beware the False Dichotomy

-
  The appeal of the dichotomy is understandable. It’s psychologically soothing to have two clear options, so we can act accordingly. Unfortunately, life is messy and complicated, and many of the dichotomies we embrace as a society are not only false, they are actively damaging. Consider the false dichotomy of “fight or flight,” of which I’ve written before. If you believe you only have two possible responses to perceived threat of trauma, you won’t realize that freeze, flop, and friend may be more appropriate to the situation. You could end up punching your boss, because running away is for cowards. Even worse, however, are the dichotomies we apply to sex, sexuality, and gender: you’re either gay or straight, male or female. What we are finally beginning to acknowledge is that these things exist on a spectrum, and the old labels just don’t work anymore. But there are still those who cling to these false dichotomies and refuse to recognize anyone’s identity if it doesn’t fit in ...
Read more

Path Doctrine on the Seven Deadly Sins

-
  Topic: Path Doctrine on the Seven Deadly Sins Today’s sermon is about the Christian list of seven “deadly sins” and how they relate to Path teachings. Some of these so-called sins are of the body, some are of the mind. But they must be subject to rational dissection so we can extract whatever value they may have. Lust is a body sin, and an easy one. The sex lives of others are none of our business, as long as everyone involved is a consenting adult and no harm is being done. If you are not hurting anyone or treating other people as things, feel free to lust after and even have sex with as many people as you want. Greed is one of the sins that you only commit in your head; the only problem with greed is that it can turn you into a power-hungry asshole. But there are wealthy people who still try to make the world a better place, so there is nothing wrong with greed itself. Gluttony is a body sin, and is contrary to the Virtue of Balance. If you find yourself overindulging, ...
Read more