I don’t know about you, but a good cup of coffee is comparable to nailing a guitar riff, or writing that perfect piece of literature. A full bodied long black, with a crema that sites succulently on top is my little piece of heaven. But have you ever taken the time to wonder. How on earth did we get from looking at this weird bean ground out of the ground to blasting ground up, roasted, coffee bean with hot water under 18 bar of pressure, to get just the “right” cup of heaven?

One of the problems with going back into the history of coffee is that, you’re going back a very, very long time. To the point that we don’t have reliable records, so we’re relying on legends, stories and the like.

Apparently, according to legend, it first came from Ethiopia, where a traveller noticed the birds where very energetic, and full of vigour, after eating a particular red berry. The traveller took some, and brought them back to the holy man, who disapproved so much that he threw them in the fire, releasing their intoxicating aroma into the air. From the ashes, the bean was collected, ground up and boiled, like many other herbs and beans like it. And as the legend goes, the first cup of coffee was thrust into existence.

Since then, coffee has had an extroverted life, causing stirs not only in
coffee cups, but in politics, communities and churches than any rock or pop stars you can name. But despite all that, the simple coffee bean has caused caffeine to be the most sold, legal, drug in the world, namely from its enhancing properties and small (known) side effects, with extractions happening by the millions every day.

The Extraction process has far advanced from the oh-so-basic to some quite advanced coffee extraction mechanisms, with the first espresso machine being built in 1884. I don’t know about ou, but if I could meet Mr.
Angelo Moriondo (the
espresso machine creator) I think I’d hug him uncontrollably. Maybe even buy him a coffee, espresso of course. And for those of you that want it now, there are plenty of places online where you canbuy commercial coffee machines and coffee beans, even if you live in a far off town, and love coffee in Toowoomba.

But even with such complex coffee makers and machines nowadays, using high pressure pumps and steamers for milk. I don’t think any coffee lover will turn down a good plunged coffee, which has to be the closest extraction process to that original first ever coffee that comes up in legend.