Koffie

Coffee as a stimulant only became popular in the 16th and 17th centuries, first in the Islamic world and then in Europe, where the coffee houses popped up like mushrooms.

From the 18th century, it was consumed in broad layers of society in Europe. The coffee comes from tall trees, which are however pruned to the level of bushes, so that the fruits can be picked more easily. The fruits look like a kind of cherry, the kernels of which are the actual coffee beans. After picking the 'cherries' they are dried and pounded to get rid of peel and pulp. Before consumption the beans must be roasted and then ground.

That burning and grinding happened in the 17th and 18th centuries in Europe itself. Coffee originates from the area on the south side of the Red Sea, especially from Yemen. In the first half of the 17th century, coffee was already transported to Western Europe via the Mediterranean Sea. Although the VOC fairly early, in 1616, became acquainted with coffee as a product, it was only considered to be an interesting commodity after 1660, because from that time there was coffee import in the Republic from France and England.

The East Indian companies from those countries were therefore the main competitors in Mokka, the Yemeni port city where the largest coffee market in the world was located (map). The VOC had a trading office in that city for many years. Due to the growing demand from Europe and the strong competition, the trade network via the Mediterranean remained intact, at the end of the 17th century the purchase prices in Mokka increased. Another less favorable aspect of the coffee trade there was that the coffee had to be paid with expensive silver. That is why in VOC circles they started looking for an alternative to Mokka.

At the end of the 17th century Dutch merchants succeeded in taking some coffee plants from Yemen, with which they experimented elsewhere.

From 1707, the coffee culture was introduced in the mountain countries of West Java, the so-called Preanger, which were partly controlled from Batavia and partly from the VOC region Cheribon. Partly because of the high price that the producers received, the culture turned out well.

The farmers were forced to deliver all their coffee to the VOC through their heads. Soon the supply of Java coffee by the VOC was overwhelmed by Mokka and there was even a long time fear of overproduction.

The VOC responded to this from 1730 with a reduction in the purchase price, the setting of production ceilings and penalty discounts on deliveries that were considered to be too high. From 1760 onwards, however, producers were again encouraged to deliver as much as they could. The purchase price on Java fell from about 40 cents per pound before 1725 to about 10 cents in the period after 1730.

In the Republic, Java coffee was sold for about 1 guilder per pound until 1730, then for about 30 to 60 cents. Production rose from around 4 million pounds in the mid-18th century to 8 to 9 million in the last decades. The success of the Java coffee meant that the trading post in Mokka was finally lifted in 1739.