Hyderabad: Whether it is to beat work stress, chat with friends, kick-start a business deal between prospective partners or set off on a morning routine in a South Indian family, a cup of coffee is the only constant.
Millions of people relish this ubiquitous beverage every day and their daily routine may remain incomplete without this drink. But if you ask them about the journey of coffee over several hundreds of years, most of them will draw a blank.
An Arab from Dubai, Khalid Al Mulla, however, found a way to chronicle the journey of this brew through The Coffee Museum.
The museum, which is housed in a sandstone-coloured building that reflects Dubai’s heritage at Al Fahidi in Bur Dubai, showcases the story of the coffee bean — how it was discovered in Ethiopia, and travelled around the world, taking different avatars in different regions by assimilating local tastes.
According to legend, the coffee plant, Coffea to be precise, was discovered in Ethiopia by a goat herder named Kaldi nearly 1,175 years ago. The story goes that Kaldi’s goats showed increased activity after they ate the coffee cherry fruits, hitherto an unknown plant. Surprised at the behaviour of his goats, he consumed the fruits and became the first person in the world to realise the potential of the new fruit.
Apart from chronicling the history of coffee, the museum ensures that its visitors enjoy the traditional coffee cultures of different regions. Visitors, upon their entry into the museum, are served Arabic coffee in a traditional set-up. The traditional Arabic coffee (qahwa or gahwa) is brewed in a dallah, a traditional Arabic coffee pot used for centuries, and is served with bitter-sweet dates.
On the other side of the room, a giant Turkish coffee maker could draw one’s attention, and serve as a jumping-off point to a train of thought on the importance people gave to the coffee-making process.
Going further into the building, visitors are greeted by a lady from Ethiopia, the land where coffee was born, who serves visitors a warm cup of coffee with popcorn.
The Coffee Museum is a treat for antique lovers, as it showcases an array of equipment used to roast and brew coffee that date several centuries back, from around the world.
The first floor of the building offers more details about coffee’s journey to Italy, Portugal, Brazil, Netherlands, Russia, and the European stretch. It also has a collection of books that chronicle coffee’s centuries-long journey. It has a kids’ section as well, for parents to drop off their children to take the journey unencumbered.
