History of the Coffee Maker

 

Blogger: Amber Lemus

Image by Pfüderi from Pixabay

Coffee. It is one of my favorite drinks, and I thoroughly enjoy my morning cup. In modern times, coffee has become an icon, a status symbol, and an obsession. But even in ancient days, folks were enjoying this delicious brew. 

 

The Turks were drinking coffee way back in 575 A.D. It was referred to as "Bunchum" and was first mentioned in written form by the renowned Arabian physician, Rhazes. From that time until around 1818, the brewing of coffee was an art form, and done by boiling or brewing it similarly to how you might brew a tea bag. 

 

The first appearance of coffee pots was in the 1350's when pottery maker in Turkey, Egypt and Persia began making clay ewers for the brew. 

 

In 1475, the first coffee shop was established by the Ottoman Turks in Constantinople called Kiva Han. The Turks were taking coffee very seriously at this point, because their law allowed a woman to divorce her husband if he did not supply her with a daily quota of coffee. Although, as the years went on, the Turks and Arabian people went between bans on coffee, fighting over it, and obsessing over it. 

“O Coffee, thou dost dispel all care, thou art the object of desire to the scholar.” ~Arabic Poem

 

 In 1691, France introduced a portable coffee maker. These would allow people to roast,, grind, and boil their coffee anywhere they went. 

 

In 1710, it was again the French who brought us the linen bag used to filter coffee, which is a precursor to our modern filters. 

 

Diagram of a Coffee Percolator
By UnknownFerret - Black-Label-Coffee, CC BY-SA 3.0

Around 1800, Du Belloy invented the original drip pot in Paris. Various models used tin, porcelain, and then silver filtration systems. Since Du Belloy never patented his invention, it has been the base of many inventions since. 

 

The French continued to dominate in coffee maker development. (Americans seemed more interested in the roasting methods.) In 1827, a Frenchman named Durant received a patent for a percolator which had an interior percolator, much like our modern ones. About 15 years later, Madame Vassieux received a patent for a coffee maker with double glass balloons. This model became very popular in the United States.  

The Wigomat - First drip coffee maker
Image by www.acosta.eu, CC BY-SA 3.0

 

All these models featured percolation methods, and this method easily made bitter coffee because it was easy to over-brew the coffee and make it too strong. Thus comes the drip method coffee maker. 

 

Around 1954, the first electric drip coffee maker was invented in Germany by Gottlob Widmann, known as the Wigomat. This model became extremely popular, and most of our modern machines use a similar system. 

 

If you're a coffee person, do you have a favorite coffee maker? What method do you prefer? 

 

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 P.S. I've finally managed to get my author name switched over from my maiden name, Amber Schamel, to my married name, Amber Lemus. Same person, but a new look with my new last name. :) If you noticed the change, drop your name and disguised email in the comments to be entered in a drawing for an ebook copy of one of my books. 

 

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Two-time winner of the Christian Indie Award for historical fiction, Amber Lemus inspires hearts through enthralling tales She has a passion for travel, history, books and her Savior. This combination results in what her readers call "historical fiction at its finest".  

She lives near the Ozarks in her "casita" with her prince charming. Between enjoying life as a boy mom, and spinning stories out of soap bubbles, Amber loves to connect with readers and hang out on Goodreads with other bookish peoples.

Amber is a proud member of the American Christian Fiction Writers Association. Visit her online at http://www.amberlemus.com/  and download a FREE story by subscribing to her Newsletter!