Forget drinking, people earlier used to wash hands with coffee
A captivating novel beverage became the talk of the Middle East during the 15th century and it was none other than coffee, or qahwa as it was known in Arabic. However, coffee consumption was not new in the region as history says that this popular, modern-day beverage was used as an ingredient to wash hands! Many Arabic books on medicine and botany confirm that.
Archaeological findings reveal 'an ancient botanical origin' for Arabica coffee
In her 2019 book A Rich and Tantalizing Brew: A History of How Coffee Connected the World, Jeanette Fregulia references new archaeological discoveries made in southwestern Ethiopia by an American-French team that established "an ancient botanical origin" for Arabica coffee. However, about five centuries before coffee became widely consumed, books on Arabic botany and medicine started mentioning a mysterious ingredient that closely resembled coffee.
This ingredient was called 'bunk'; was used for washing hands
While the Ethiopian and Arabic words for coffee beans were buna and bunn, this mysterious ingredient was called bunk. Surprisingly, this ingredient was mostly used for cleaning and freshening one's hands, rather than consumption! Yes, you read that right. Bunk has been described as having various uses in a multitude of surviving early medieval Arabic resources, including books on dietetics, botany, and perfumes.
Bunk was used to check the unpleasant odors of sweat
Apart from washing hands, bunk had been used for various things over the centuries. Most insightful remarks come from the physician al-Rāzī, who lived in the 10th century and stated that bunk was used to counteract the odors of sweat and quick lime, which was used in baths to remove hair. Physician Ibn Sīnā further added that it could purify the skin.
It was used to make hand washes for sweat-absorbing properties
In the past, doctors discovered that bunk's ability to absorb odors and moisture made it ideal for crafting hand washes. Bunk recipes date back to the 10th century and can be found in two different sources - Kitāb al-Ṵabīkh from Ibn Sayyār al-Warrāq and Kitāb fī Funūn al-ṭīb wa-l-ʿiṭr, a treatise on perfumes and aromatics written by Ibn al-Jazzār.
Fast-forward to 15th century: Qahwa came into existence
Cut to the 15th century, Near East was a flurry of lively debates and discussions about qahwa, a term originally applied to a robust, dark wine. Coffee was drunk in two ways at the time - first, as qahwa bunniyya, in which the coffee beans were toasted before being brewed, and second, as qahwa qishriyya which involved gently toasting the berry husks.
Abd al-Qādir al-Jazīrī: Oldest record of coffee as a drink
Coffee was thought to have been forgotten until the Sufis, who appreciated it as a tool for their lengthy nightly vigils, discovered it again. The first known account of coffee as a beverage dates back to Abd al-Qādir al-Jazīrī. It was mainly written to debate whether or not drinking coffee was permissible in religion. This was followed by several other tales and discoveries.
The Sufis used it as a night beverage
A Sufi, Sheik Al-Dhabḥānī witnessed individuals drinking coffee while in Ethiopia. Later, when he was back home in Yemen, he became sick and poured himself a drink made from coffee beans. Not only did it aid his recovery, but it also provided him with increased energy and kept him awake. He told his Sufi brothers about it, and they adopted its use thereafter.
