02/02/2017
Small description about HISTORY of coffee...
Coffee growing has a long history that is attributed first to Ethiopia and then to Arabia, mostly to Yemen.
The Indian context started with an Indian Muslim saint Baba Budan while on a pilgrimage to Mecca, smuggled seven coffee beans (by tying it around his waist)
from Yemen to Mysore in India and planted them on the Chandragiri Hills 6001 ft, now named after the saint as Baba Budan Giri in Chikkamagaluru district.
It was considered an illegal act to take out green coffee seed out of Arabia. As number seven is a sacrosanct number in Islamic religion,
the saint’s act of carrying seven coffee beans was considered a religious act.
This was the beginning of coffee industry in India and in particular, in the state of Mysore now part of the Karnataka State.
This was an achievement of considerable bravery of Baba Budan considering the fact that Arabs had exercised
strict control over its export to other countries by not permitting coffee beans to be exported in any form other than as in a roasted or boiled form to prevent germination.
Majority of coffee is grown in KARNATAKA, TAMIL NADU AND KERALA.
