A Brief History of Coffee – The Noble Tree, The Dutch and Stolen Seeds

Coffee was, and still is a very valuable commodity with both social and economic benefits. Because of these values, legend has it that the Arabs closely guarded the fertile seeds of the Coffea Arabica tree.

Sometime around 1650 AD, Baba Budan, a Moslem from India pilfered coffee seeds from the Ethiopia region of Africa and returned with them to southern India. Once he was back in India, he planted the stolen seeds in the Chikmagalgur hills. These few seeds began to grow and flourish, marking the beginning of the growth of the original Indian coffee trees known as Old Chick. This variety now provides approximately one-third of India’s coffee crop.

Sometime around 1715 AD, Louis XIV of France learned of this heaven sent beverage, coffee. He quickly developed a passion for the beverage and soon after, he had to have a tree. At that time, he was granted a favor from the Dutch, who went to great lengths to obtain a coffee tree. This tree came to be known as the infamous Noble Tree. Through the Dutch, this tree traveled from the Arabian port of Mocha then to Java across Holland to its final destination in Paris, France. Louis was so happy with his prize, the he felt it needed a special place to grow and live. The first greenhouse in Europe was built to shelter the Noble Tree.