The History of Arabica Coffee's Spread (Part 1) : How Typica Spread Across the World
While Arabica coffee makes up about 70% of the world's coffee production, its story begins with one ancient varietal: Typica. This is the tale of how Typica journeyed from its birthplace in Ethiopia to coffee cups all around the globe.
The True Home of Arabica
The name "Arabica" is a historical misnomer. It leads many to believe the coffee originated on the Arabian Peninsula, but its true home is Ethiopia. The Arabian Peninsula was a critical geographic hub connecting Asia, Europe, and Africa before the great age of sea exploration. It was a melting pot of cultural exchange. Just as Indian numerals became known as "Arabic numerals" after being introduced to Europe by Arab traders, coffee’s name became tied to the region that popularized it, not the one that birthed it.
It wasn't until 1753 that botanist Carl Linnaeus, mistakenly believing the coffee came from the Middle East, gave it the scientific name Coffea arabica. The truth was confirmed in 2002 when a European-funded study on coffee genetics found that the genetic diversity of coffee in Ethiopia was far greater than in Yemen, definitively proving Ethiopia was its origin.
First Stop: Yemen
The earliest known written records of coffee appear in the 9th century, in "The Comprehensive Book of Medicine" by the Persian physician Rhazes. He wrote of a beverage called "bunchum," made from a berry called "bunn," which could cure headaches, energize the mind, and cause sleeplessness in large doses. Later, in the 10th century, another Persian medical text noted that the use of "bunchum" had spread to Persia from Egypt and Ethiopia. This suggests Arabica coffee made its way to the Arabian Peninsula between the 9th and 10th centuries.
Initially used as medicine, coffee took centuries to become a common beverage. Around the year 1500, in the Yemeni ports of Mocha and Aden, a drink called "qishr" was made by steeping dried coffee cherries. This later evolved into "qahwa," a brew made from ground, roasted coffee beans mixed with cinnamon.
Second Stop: India
Around 1600, an Indian Sufi saint named Baba Budan went on a pilgrimage to Mecca. He became so enchanted with coffee that he smuggled seven live Typica coffee seeds out of Yemen—a highly illegal act at the time. He planted them in the Chandragiri Hills of Karnataka, India, where they flourished. This was the first successful cultivation of coffee outside of Africa and Arabia.
Third Stop: Europe
By the 17th century, Yemen's Port of Mocha was the world's coffee capital. To protect their monopoly, Yemen only exported roasted beans that could not be germinated, earning coffee the nickname "black gold." As coffee's popularity exploded in Europe, the Dutch, masters of sea trade, saw a massive commercial opportunity. They knew that controlling coffee meant controlling wealth.
After many failed attempts to steal and grow Yemeni coffee trees in Europe's cold climate, the Dutch finally succeeded. In 1616, a captain from the Dutch East India Company successfully transported a coffee plant from Mocha to Amsterdam and cultivated it in a greenhouse. This single Typica tree, known as the "Noble Tree," became the progenitor of countless coffee plants across Europe and its colonies. Later, in 1699, the Dutch also successfully transplanted Typica trees from India to Java.
Fourth Stop: Southeast Asia
The Dutch first tried planting descendants of the "Noble Tree" in Sri Lanka in 1658, but the attempt failed. Their efforts in 1699, bringing trees from India's Malabar Coast to Java, were a resounding success. By 1718, the Dutch had expanded their Typica plantations to Sumatra and Sulawesi. Indonesian Typica thrived for over a century until a devastating coffee leaf rust epidemic in the late 19th century wiped out the majority of the plants, forcing the introduction of the more disease-resistant Robusta varietal.
Fifth Stop: The Americas
Europe's other colonial powers were also eager to grow coffee. In 1714, the mayor of Amsterdam gifted a coffee seedling from Java to King Louis XIV of France. The French cherished the plant in their own royal greenhouse.
The journey to the Americas was dramatic. After several failed attempts to plant coffee in French territories, a French naval officer named Gabriel de Clieu, in 1720, took a seedling from the royal botanical garden in Paris. He protected it fiercely during a treacherous Atlantic crossing, finally arriving on the Caribbean island of Martinique in 1723. The single plant was carefully cultivated and, three years later, it was bearing fruit. By 1777, nearly 19 million Typica trees grew on Martinique. From this single island, Typica spread throughout Central and South America in the mid-to-late 18th century, with countries like Jamaica, Colombia, Guatemala, and Costa Rica establishing their own coffee industries.
Sixth Stop: A 19th-Century Postscript
The Typica varietal continued its travels. In 1825, a Typica strain from Guatemala was introduced to the Kona district of Hawaii, becoming the world-famous Kona coffee. And in 1904, a French missionary brought a Typica tree to Zhugula Village in Dali, planting the seed that would become the ancestor of all Yunnan coffee in China.