Coffee beans - is there a culture of drinking them in Poland?

There is no culture of drinking coffee beans in Poland. If, as Poles, we want to have such a culture, we have to develop it. Because at the moment it doesn't exist. But there was.

Coffee goes global

Coffee gritty was domesticated in Ethiopia, from Ethiopia it made its way outside Africa thanks to the Arab peoples. Because it smelled more beautiful than Princess Scheherazade in the fairy tales of the "Book of One Thousand and One Nights", it tasted better than the "table set" delicacies from the Brothers Grimm fairy tales.

In addition, when drunk in the morning, it gave an energy kick stronger than the seven-mile shoes from Brzechwa's fairy tale. This is why it quickly gained popularity in other parts of the world.

Coffee beans in Europe

In Europe, first there was Istanbul in the Ottoman Empire, then the Balkans and, thanks to Venetian merchants, Italy. There they appeared the first coffee shops in Europe. It is said that the forerunner of coffeehouse drinking in Central and Eastern Europe was a Pole, Franciszek Kulczycki. After the Vienna Victory of John III Sobieski, he was presented with sacks of unroasted coffee beans captured from the Turks by the king for his services to the victory and opened the first coffee shop in Vienna.

And then it went on and each region of Europe in turn learned to drink coffee in its own way.

By the 20th century coffee beans smoked and brewed similarly everywhere. Raw beans coffeeswhether from Africa or South America, where cultivation was well established. The beans were roasted locally, either at home or on the premises in a pan or in a special metal tin. Coffee roasting this was, and IS!!!, a key issue for its subsequent taste. Too little roasted tastes bad, and too much roasted tastes bad too. On top of that, it smells burnt! That is why today roasting process for coffee beans we entrust to professionals. Preferably, I write from experience, to passionate local kraft coffee bean roasters.

Then the coffee had to be ground in a grinder. Then boil it with water in a coffee pot or other saucepan, i.e. prepare it 'Turkish-style'.

Since the only certainty in the life of either individuals, entire communities and civilisations is change, the 20th century brought a number of innovations in the way coffee is prepared. Today, the whole world drinks coffee prepared "the Italian way", because it is to Italian inventors that we owe two of today's most popular ways of making coffee. In 1906, Desidero Pavoni presented the world with a coffee machine. It was created on the basis of a patent Luiggi Bezzera had bought earlier, and thus the world welcomed espresso. Alfonso Bialetti invented the espresso machine, also known as the cafetiere and makinette, in 1933. This device is simpler and cheaper to use than a coffee machine, but further pressurised.

Every European country has local customs for making coffee beans, one is even on the UNESCO world list of intangible heritage. Poland, of course, also has its coffee tradition.

Coffee beans in Poland

In the 19th century coffee beans brewed the Polish way. (Poland was not an independent country on the map of Europe at that time, but of course it was culturally present) was considered to be exceptionally tasty. It was brewed the "Turkish way", served with fat milk or cream and heavily sweetened (thanks to another invention, beet sugar, which displaced expensive cane sugar from the market).

After the restoration of independence, Polish brewed coffee continued to be drunk and, in modern fashion, coffee brewed in espresso machines and cafes. The Polish Factory of Copper and Brass Products Kubś and Gogołkiewicz from Poznań offered "Pol-Ekspress" coffee brewing machines. And then.

And then there was the German occupation, and then the Soviet plague. And it got coffee drinking culture in Poland has been out for almost 50 years.

Because during the communist era, coffee beans were hard to come by and if there was any, it was of unsatisfactory quality, as was the case under socialism. I remember roasted beans being ground before being bought in shops. Because where else would you get it at home? coffee grindery in times of widespread scarcity.

And so coffee gritty brewed in the Polish way and served in cups, turned into an infusion of ground coffee poured over hot water in a glass set in a metal basket, on a saucer, with a spoon-like antenna....

To be clear. This has nothing to do with 'Turkish coffee'.

And that is why, if we as Poles want to have our own coffee culture, we need to reinvent ourselves. A lot of work still lies ahead for coffee bean roasters and other enthusiasts.

Written by Igor Maćkowski