Traditional coffee has been drunk in Germany for over 300 years . A lot has happened in that time. There are new preparation methods, new recipes, better processing and, of course, customs have developed to make traditional coffee enjoyment something special . Back then, traditional coffee was a luxury item and almost unaffordable for the average citizen. In this blog article, we will show you everything that happened during that time, which customs developed around traditional coffee and how traditional coffee was roasted then and now.
Traditional coffee - How the preparation has evolved
How traditional coffee was prepared at that time depended greatly on the country and its people . While the Germans prepared their traditional coffee in a filter, in Italy the method of preparing traditional coffee was espresso from the espresso machine developed in the country, or the classic stovetop pot. In the Arab countries, the so-called mocha is considered traditional coffee. The coffee is ground to a fine powder and boiled in a pot. Mocha is considered the most original method of preparation in the world.
Today, the market is flooded with new preparation methods. First and foremost, technological developments have brought us fully automatic coffee machines and filter coffee machines. But the methods of traditional coffee have also been further developed. Today, there are classic filter methods in a new design and with better paper, as well as completely new, futuristic brewers such as the AeroPress or the Chemex . The Chemex can now also be classified as traditional coffee. The third wave of coffee, which is actually still going on today, has reinforced this trend, as people now like to drink specialty coffee and are much more conscious of the countries of origin of the coffee and pay attention to the quality of the beans.
Traditional coffee - coffee culture & coffee customs
German and European coffee culture began with the import of the first traditional coffee around 1650. The first coffee house in Europe opened its doors in Venice. Year after year, other cities in all countries followed suit and the coffee house culture really began to boom. In the coffee houses, traditional coffee typical of the country was served in a convivial atmosphere . These coffee houses have survived to this day and have also developed further as cafés.
By the middle of the 19th century, coffee was already established as a national product and so various customs developed in which traditional coffee was firmly involved. In Germany, the well-known Kaffeeklatsch (coffee klatch) was born, where people met in the afternoon for traditional coffee and cake and discussed moving topics together. We Germans still keep this custom alive today, albeit in a modified form.
Italy has also developed its own traditions with its traditional coffee, espresso. Italians always drink from the typical espresso cups. Paper cups are a no-go and instead of taking the espresso away, people quickly drink it at the bar. In Italy, the café is generally referred to as a bar. The now world-famous cappuccino is considered a complete breakfast in Italy , as milky coffee drinks are considered full meals.
How was traditional coffee roasted?
It used to be common practice for traditional coffee to be roasted at home using roasting pans on a wood or coal-fired stove. However, this method was actually banned for a short time. In 1781, Frederick the Great wanted to ban coffee roasting in households for a good six years. So-called coffee sniffers were employed to track down illegally imported coffee. Despite this ban, coffee consumption did not decrease and the black market flourished. Frederick had to admit defeat and his successor reversed these decisions. This meant that traditional coffee could once again be roasted in a pan. This method actually lasted for a very long time . Traditional coffee was roasted in a pan until the 1950s , when the German economic miracle began.
The economic boom was also responsible for the fact that traditional coffee was now processed in large industrial roasters . These had existed in smaller form before, but were not nearly as established. The economic miracle, however, then ensured the decisive breakthrough of these roasting plants.
Traditional coffee - The first roasting machines
The home-roasting of coffee by housewives of the time may sound like coffee romance, but traditional coffee from roasting pans was usually not particularly tasty . The beans burned and were roasted too unevenly. This fact bothered the Offenburg businessman Adolf Spinner so much that he took it upon himself to further develop the existing ball roasters.
Spinner worked with a master metalworker to make the roasting process easier to control and registered three patents during this phase. He then founded a factory to manufacture ball roasters in Offenburg with his two brothers Andreas and Leopold. After producing 100 machines, Spinner decided to concentrate fully on his work in the goods trade. He then sold his patents for just under 1,000 marks to the Emmericher Maschinenfabrik & Eisengießerei, which is now known as Probat. Probat is still the market leader in the manufacture of coffee roasting machines today and, with its 70% market share, is considered the "hidden champion" of German engineering. Thus, traditional coffee was gradually overtaken by machine roasting and coffee became an industrial product.
Conclusion - Traditional Coffee
Traditional coffee varies depending on the country and the respective coffee culture that has developed over the centuries. While in Germany filter coffee was and still is traditionally drunk, in Italy, for example, other recipes have become established with the invention of espresso machines . In Arab countries, it is mocha that symbolizes the Arab coffee culture and is considered traditional coffee. The popularity and long tradition of coffee has also led to the development of country-specific customs such as coffee and cake in Germany or espresso at the bar in Italy.
Traditional coffee used to be roasted at home in so-called roasting pans until machine roasters became popular. The machine roasters ensured that traditional coffee could be roasted more evenly and did not burn. In general, the roasting process could be controlled much better thanks to the advanced ball roasters , which gradually developed coffee into an industrial product that could be produced consistently. Today, coffee and the methods of preparation have developed significantly. We are in the middle of the third coffee wave and most people pay attention to the origin and quality of the coffee. Filter methods are still popular today and are now available in a wide variety of configurations .
