Coffee

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"A little bitter if you ask me. It just seems lacking somehow....I don't know. Have you considered adding sugar, maybe? Or latte (milk)?"

―Ezio Auditore giving his thoughts on coffee, 1481.

Sacks of coffee

Coffee is a brewed drink prepared from roasted coffee beans, the seeds of berries from certain Coffea species. Originating from Ethiopia, the beverage spread around the world during the Colonial era and became famous for its stimulating effect.

History

In the 9th century, a merchant from the town of al-Ula, situated on the edges of the Abbasid Caliphate, procured a shipment of coffee from Ethiopia, which he referred to as the "wine of the bean" due to the manner in which it was produced. Excited about the new beverage he had discovered, he offered a tasting sample to the Alamut Hidden One Basim ibn Ishaq. However, Basim was not as fond of the drink and suggested adding milk to reduce its bitterness, much to the merchant's offense.

By the 15th century, merchants from the Middle East practiced the trades of coffee through Mediterranean Sea. In 1481, the Italian Assassin and Venetian thief Antonio de Magianis bought coffee from a Turk merchant. Magianis gave a cup of coffee to his ally Ezio Auditore da Firenze, who found the beverage a little bitter and proposed adding milk or sugar to the drink.

By the 17th century, coffee spread across Europe, leading to the creation of coffeehouses, where individuals could meet while drinking coffee. One of the first establishments was the Café Procope in Paris in 1686 by the Sicilian chef Procopio Cutò. By the late 18th century, the cafés in Paris became places for intellectual meetings, as the Procope, reuniting philosophers as Voltaire, Denis Diderot or Benjamin Franklin.

Coffee was also incorporated into the economy of the Americas, with farmers like Manuel Mendoza cultivating coffee beans. In the mid-18th century, the French merchant from New Orleans Philippe de Grandpré sold coffee through the New World, which even became popular in Massachusetts. By 1768, the de Grandpré's coffee was more consume than the tea of his rival Monsieur Bouché, who tried to undermine the selling by a slandering campaign affirming that the coffee erodes the nerves. Philippe's daughter, the Assassin Aveline de Grandpré, resolved this by forcing Bouché to close his business. She also carried on the family business, trading coffee across the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.

During the French Revolution, the cafés of Paris became places where the social classes could meet while being informed on the political and artistic news. By 1791, the French Assassins bought the Café Théâtre in Paris, using it as their intelligence gathering front in the city. The Assassin Council granted to the Assassin Arno Dorian the stewardship of the café while the Assassin Charlotte Gouze became the manager. Together, they revitalized the café, Dorian buying seven cafés through Paris to extend the Assassin network. The coffee sold by the café was a means of revenue for Dorian.

Today, coffee remains a beverage drunk by many people, especially in the context of working.

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed (first appearance)
• Assassin's Creed II
• Assassin's Creed III (mentioned only)
• Assassin's Creed III: Liberation
• Assassin's Creed: Initiates (mentioned only)
• Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag (mentioned only)
• Assassin's Creed: Unity
• Assassin's Creed: Rogue (mentioned only)
• Assassin's Creed: Syndicate (mentioned only)
• Assassin's Creed: Uprising (mentioned only)
• Echoes of History (mentioned only)
• Assassin's Creed: Mirage – Valley of Memory